THE GREAT DISCONNECTION—CALLING OUT THE CLERGY

There is a great disconnect between mankind & God.  Societal norms & trends stand opposed to the constraints & restraints from God’s direction in our lives.  Material wealth & sex, two very physical factors drive a wedge in how we live as Christians.  Material possessions, stuff, random ideologies perpetuated by the media, social media, politics, and society have completely caused the great divide & we have been too stupid to see it happen.  This is mainly because as a church we tend to ignore the Old Testament, Catholics tell us we can’t read the Gospels, all too many attempts to discredit the Epistles…& Revelation is just in the too hard category.  Bottom line, we forget Isaiah 26:3 “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”  Do we keep our minds on God?  Jesus exemplified this in His teaching, Paul & other apostles write much about this.  So, I ask, where is your mind & what do you allow to enter in?

When there is a battle with sin & evil, it has become commonplace to ignore it or relegate it through false theology.  The church & clergy certainly contribute to this.  I have sadness & compassion for clergy who don’t teach the Word as they will be judged more strictly as in James 3:1.  This always gives me pause & probably why I am awake at 0330 on an early Sunday morning in preparation.  My words must be clear & concise when I teach.  I am to be held at a higher standard and I take that seriously.  As I have always said, its not a job, it a calling.  To be a good teacher, I have the responsibility to be a good learner…and teachable.

Lately, I have really been praying & researching the life of Jesus, or Yeshua (meaning “salvation” in the Hebrew), as well as Shabbatt (the 4^th Commandment) & truly questioning & researching what Jesus did as our perfect example.    After almost 50 years in the ministry in one shape or another, I am still curious.  That is my calling.

My “disconnects” erupt from societal norms, personal struggles & misconceptions, battles with sin, doubt, & failure, all leading to a sense of unworthiness.  Jesus tells me about this “abundant life,” but I assure you, it is not “abundant” in how we imagine in the physical realm.  I certainly do NOT want my church body to contribute to this disconnection with faith.  Ritual & rites over relationships, dogma over discipleship, and performance art over presence with God—all lead to the disconnection with God.

Philosophically, I think that “being” is more important than “doing.”  Conversely, I also believe that if we “be” then we automatically want to “do.”  Therein lies the spiritual desert like the Israelites wandering around waiting, following, complaining, & falling away for an entire generation.    Therein lies the disconnection & the shift from “being” & “doing.”  We are all physical creatures with free will & desire for fulfillment…always seeking more.  How do we react when God doesn’t fulfill His promises to us that we pray for, read about & hear on Sunday?  This gap between proclamation in the Scripture & the reality of our ugly lives tends to breed distrust, then Satan enters in to question the authenticity of our faith.

Just like government, the church has done a dynamic shift from fostering a deep, personal relationship with God to a military checklist of religious activities—the “have to do list.”  This ends up being very routine.  We no longer develop and execute the great commandment of Jesus in Mark 16:15 to go out into the world & preach the Gospel.  We don’t want to ruffle feathers or offend instead of flipping tables over in the temple as Jesus did.

I think we have fully arrived into what I would call “consumer Christianity.”  We all go to Heaven, no one goes to Hell, & everything is acceptable.  The purpose of the clergy is to equip people with research, study, & dedication to God’s purpose in every individual’s life.  This is authenticity. 

This requires perseverance, faith, & an open curious heart to an undefined transformative power through absolute faith that can only come from a personal relationship with God.  It is deeply personal.  Your preacher can’t pray you into Heaven.  In the end, God doesn’t care how much money you had, how many cars, how much stuff.  He is the final judge.  Like my mom always said, “Its all going to burn anyway, who cares?”  She was a smart, modest & frugal lady, like my father.