THE 10 DUMBEST THINGS CHRISTIANS DO #1. Slinging Mud on the Bride of Christ.
Imagine, then, how upset the Lord must be when we sling mud on the bride. Consider how it must break His heart when we thoughtlessly besmirch the one He gave His life for with unbecoming words and actions. And think about how angry it must make Him when we do it again and again. But it’s beyond tragic that God’s own people would be caught doing it. And we are, more often that you might think.
There are four types of believers are responsible for most of the mud splatters on the bride of Christ:
- The missing: they are the people who, for whatever reason, have left the church.
- The malcontents: dealing with them is like rubbing up against sandpaper
- The moochers: the people who have somehow gotten the idea that the church exists for the sole purpose of meeting their needs
- The Misbehavers
#2. Winning people to the church rather than to the Lord. People need to know that Jesus, not the church, is the life. It’s good to invite people to church. Getting them into the Lord’s preferred working environment is important. But let’s make sure they understand their hope lies. It’s not in the house, but in the One who holds the hammer and chisel.
#3. Living below the level of our beliefs If you want to be a help to the Kingdom and not a hindrance, make sure your behaviour meets with the King’s approval.
The sins that drag us down: materialism, worry and superiority. We need to root out those sins that have settled comfortably into our daily routines, that diminish our joy, that drain the power out of our witness, and that keep God frustrated and devil entertained.
#4. Speaking above the level of our knowledge A seasoned scholar will often speak humbly, acknowledging that the things he doesn’t know far outnumber the things he does. But a fool will recklessly spew rumor, hearsay, and speculation like it’s gospel.
#5. Hopping from church to church Many
Christians have a tendency to “hop” from church to church without ever settling down in one place and making a long-term commitment. There are 2 breeds of church hoppers: the complainers and the consumers.
#6. Fighting among ourselves The seven that will create a culture of calm
- obey leaders
- confront troublemaker
- refute heresy
- meet needs
- suppres legalism
- discourage arguments
- forgive sinners
#7. Missing golden opportunities There are five practical lessons:
- some opportunities, if they are missed, will be lost forever
- God will give special opportunities to those who are committed and prepared
- some opportunities are much larger than they first appear
- some opportunities bear immediate fruit for the Kingdom
- the goal of every opportunity should be to point people to Jesus
#8. Settling for mediocrity When we hear the word ‘excellence’, we think of God, the Bible and all sorts o seculr business, celebrities, and sports teams, but, apparently, we don’t think of the church. Why excellence matters? The answer is
- God obviously loves excellence
- the Bible commands excellence
- people respond to excellence
What excellence requires? Courage, giftedness, money, thorough planning and preparation, perseverance.
#9. Allowing wolves to live among the sheep There are some fact about spiritual wolves that can be gleaned: spiritual wolves are
- masters of deceptions
- dangerous
- evil
- always reveal themselves
- good people can morph into wolves
- love power
There is one brief passage that serves as a srt of summary of the process God intends for us to follows when dealing with troublemakers. Let’s draw six basic, but essential, conclusions:
- no one should get a free pass when it comes to bad behavior
- not all bad behaviour makes a person deserving of confrontation or removal from the church
- biblical church discipline is a process, not an act
- biblical church discipliene should be carried out with patience, but not to an extreme
- the removal of a person from the church’s fellowship should be the last resort
- there should be no guilty feelings on the part of church leaders who exercise church discipline and no animosity directed toward them by members of the congregation
#10. Accepting the unacceptable Remember that Jesus managed to speak openly about sin and effect change in His culture, while still managing to have a friendly relationship with many hard-core sinners. He never compromised the truth. In fact, some of His comments were so pointed they still make us cringe to this day. Yet many sinners were drawn to HIm. They even invited Him to their parties (Luk 5:29). There's only one way that could possibly have happened. He had to have had love dripping off Him at all times.