Off Course! is a great little book by Rick Sundblad. Rick highlights eleven perils, which the early church faced, that threw the church off course. If you want to learn about the early church fathers and how their theology changed the direction of the true church, this book is for you. The excerpt below is from a chapter addressing how to get back on track.
Discipleship is designed to help us become more like Christ. Biblically it is done when believers share their lives in Christ through meaningful discussions focused on the directives of the Scriptures and learning how to apply God’s truth to our daily lives. This is what true biblical fellowship, or the Greek word koinonia, is supposed to be about. It is life sharing, spiritual nurturing, a bonding together of the body of Christ. We could look at this like receiving a spiritual life transfusion, helping one another in the preparation process God uses to make us like Jesus to be servants of his grace. “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 4:10).
But if you are discouraged from talking openly about your relationship with God how can you ever hope to really improve it? I know some may say, “I can talk about God whenever I want!” But please be honest, how often, if ever, do those conversations get to where the rubber meets the road spiritually? Where iron sharpens iron and genuine repentance is seen in people’s lives, and the relationship and connection with the body of Christ are made stronger? Or do those types of exchanges nicely end up with, “You should talk to our pastor.”
Living a life of true discipleship involves a daily walk with Christ that will be reflected in a desire to constantly focus on things that have eternal value. If we are closely walking with Jesus, not at a distance, we will have a much better chance of staying on his course. If we get too far apart, out of sight from WHO we are to be following, we will surely lose our way.
In Renaissance: The Power of the Gospel However Dark The Times, author Os Guinness gives this admonition against losing our way and the hard work it takes to prevent it.
“Do we know the world well enough to know how and where it is likely to be squeezing us into its mold? And do we know our faith well enough to know where the mold of our world will be beneficial and where it would be harmful? We are to be as close as we can be to our Lord’s call to us to be in the world not of it-a challenge that requires not only faithfulness and obedience, but discernment and the willingness to count the cost and say no to the world.”
“God loves the world-the people of the world, that is and in this sense so must we. But God does not love the spirit and system of the world that is set against his kingdom, and neither must we. Thus one positive reason to understand the world is our desire to love the world too and to witness to the world, for the world is the social setting within which people hear what we have to say. Equally, one negative reason to understand the world is the danger of worldliness, for unless we discern its spirit and its shape, the world will always threaten to squeeze us into its mold unawares.
When we truly live in the world but are not of it, the church becomes-under God-the greatest transforming agency the world has ever seen. The glory goes to God and the credit to the truth of the gospel. It is not we ourselves, but our living-in-truth that changes the world. Our small part is simply to live the truth of the way of Jesus to which we have been called [p. 88].”
Sadly, it appears we may have collectively wandered off course and gotten stuck in the morass of self-righteous pride, time-ignorant worldliness, lukewarm complacency and blind selfishness. Such a pity. We miss so much of what he wants. And don’t forget, if one part of the body is stuck, we are all stuck. “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it” (1 Cor. 12:26). May we sincerely repent and ask God to forgive us, and help all of his true church to get back on his charted course for his glory.
“For whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement from the Scriptures. Now may the God who gives endurance and encouragement allow you to live in harmony with one another, according to the command of Christ Jesus, so that you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ with a united mind and voice” (Romans 15:4-5 HCSB).
Amen.
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One reply on “Off Course!”
I ordered it off Amazon. High hopes! Will review.
The concepts from my books are probably in concert with his conclusions, and I offer four dialogues the first century church likely enjoyed in their home assemblies. So, we could return to those and return to the origins of the faith.