Monday, September 16, 2013

The Enemy Of Witness



Pastors are exhorted to “contend for the faith” (which usually amounts to contending with other pastors, and damning all who disagree with them), and “the faith” is taken to be a set of timeless “doctrines” rather than any distinctive Christian way of living.~Vinoth Ramachandra

All too often doctrine becomes the enemy of witness. It’s not doctrines fault, it’s just the wrong place for it.  Doctrine is a function of the mind, not the language of the heart. It’s how we live out our doctrine that changes hearts, not the doctrine itself.

So if you must contend for the faith, contend with your Christian way of living. Does my life reflect the love of Jesus or the doctrine? Am I caring for the disadvantaged or just preaching at them? Does my life mirror the gentleness and humility of Jesus found in Mathew 11:29 or am I arrogant in my Christian superiority?  

Unbelievers prone to tuning out the cacophony of 30,000 denominational doctrines, can “hear” the heart of a simple follower of Christ.

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