When we contemplate the perfection of God’s redemptive plan, the imperfections of the Christian church seem baffling on the surface. Yet beneath the layers of theology combined with the brokenness of humanity, we find in the church, the true nature of the journey of faith that authentic believers endure.
Sometimes it seems as though the errors the Jewish religious leaders made, and Jesus took issue with, have been the hallmark of the Christian religion ever since the first century. And within that discussion, the tension between faith and fellowship vs religion and ceremony surfaces to challenge us.
At the very root of this matter of contention, we find a man who personifies dissidence in the face of the religious norms of the first century Mediterranean region. The apostle Paul was a controversial figure, yet he was exactly what the infant Christian church required both then and now in our comprehension of faith in Christ. Paul of Tarsus exemplifies the challenges of the true church.
Getting To Know Paul
Firstly, Paul was well educated, he had a thorough knowledge of the scriptures and the ability to articulate that knowledge in a convincing manner. He was trained under the renowned Gamaliel “the Elder” (who was a member of the Sanhedrin) in the details of the Mosaic Law (Acts 22:3) and fully understood the Torah.
Born a Roman citizen, Paul was raised in the Greek culture of Tarsus and educated in Jerusalem. Additionally, his father was a Pharisee and his ancestry was Jewish, tracing from the tribe of Benjamin. Additively these attributes equipped him to appeal to the various cultures under Roman rule. Paul had all the tools in his toolbox to effectively reason with the Jews in the synagogues and to explain who the Creator of the universe was to the Romans in contrast to their polytheism.
Paul was a polarizing figure, since he had aggressively persecuted the followers of “The Way” and was responsible for the deaths of many believers in Christ. However it is precisely Paul’s sinfulness that positions him as a powerful mentor for the Christian church. Paul was a disastrous mess of brokenness yet Jesus chose him to proclaim the gospel.
If God can save Paul, then surely he can save anyone who humbles himself in repentance. Paul became a believer and was as zealous in his defense of the gospel as he had been discrediting it. His passion, compassion, humility, honesty, intelligence and simplicity combined to make him a trustworthy ambassador for Christ.
Paul is the author of nearly half of the New Testament. His credibility makes him a role model all Christians ought to aspire to and his life is a testimony that is worthy of recognition as the greatest advocate for Jesus Christ in history.
Paul imitated Christ by making himself vulnerable. He shared his personal frailties and struggle with sin in a way that is easy to identify with, as we all wrestle with temptation in our humanity. His writings stand out today as applicable and meaningful in an educated and literate society. His rationality and conceptual reasoning are able to persevere in the face of philosophical challenges from theologians and secular intellectuals alike. Yet his language is understandable for those who are less learned.
Humanity has grossly underestimated the intellect of God. In choosing Paul to ignite the church, Jesus in His foreknowledge and perspective, established a voice that would transcend the generations and cultures of the world. Even the change in his name from Saul to Paul cannot be downplayed. It signifies the transformative power of Jesus at the most fundamental level.
Two thousand years later, the Christian church has persevered yet is markedly as flawed as Paul. Religion and faith stand diametrically opposed to each other, yet there is a common union that we are all saved by grace, notwithstanding sincere repentance. There are true believers within the collective organized body of Christianity who worship alongside the unrepentant and lost souls of those who don’t belong to Christ. They may sit side by side in pews but belong to two entirely different churches.
Much of today’s Christianity has little in common with the first century church we read about in the book of Acts or the Didache. Without a doubt, many false teachings have sprung up, just as the bible warned would be the case in the last days (Matthew 7:15-21; 1 Timothy 4; 2 Timothy 4; 2 Peter 2). Yet the Lord is patient.
The Parable Of The Weeds And The Wheat
Jesus told a parable that is recorded in Matthew 13:24-30. “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while he was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted, and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
‘No,’ he answered, because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.'”
Jesus explained the parable in this way: The one who sowed the seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.” (Matthew 13:36-39).
The Christian church could very well be embedded in the meaning of the parable of the weeds and the wheat. In the same way that a seed bears fruit, the true gospel has borne the fruit of truth and false doctrines have produced lies. Hypocrites and unbelievers in the church are the work of Satan. They will live side by side until the end of the age. Additionally, true believers live and function within secular culture. Our unbelieving friends and neighbors are also represented by the weeds.
Furthermore, Jesus taught that not everyone who calls Him Lord, will be saved in Matthew 7:15-23. Many who preach in the name of Jesus will be told “I never knew you!” In similar fashion, in Matthew 25:31-46, we are told the parable of the sheep and the goats. Jesus is not speaking about unbelievers since in both of these parables, both groups of people call Him Lord.
Indeed, pseudo Christian organizations such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Latter Day saints preach a different gospel that cannot be accepted as truth. Paul wrote in Galatians 1:8, “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse.”
Similarly, Islam has deceived over 2 billion people, claiming they share the Torah and teaching about a Jesus that never went to the cross, wasn’t divine and never rose from the dead. Again, the words of Jesus warn us, “Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21). Is it God’s will that millions of Christians are persecuted annually at the hands of Muslims? Does that tree produce good fruit?
You Can Tell A Tree By Its Fruit
The Christian church, flaws and all, is producing good fruit. When it comes to helping the poor, comforting the needy, disaster relief, and building schools and hospitals in third world countries, no other collective body does more than Christians. The Panel Study for Income Dynamics revealed that Americans who attend religious services donate to charitable causes over four times as many dollars than those who do not.
Additionally, U.S. churches and synagogues send four and a half times as much money overseas to needy people every year than the Gates Foundation. Much of this religious charity is applied in the most difficult and dangerous places to the extremely poor, where governments and international bureaucracies have no effective reach.
When skeptics look at the Christian church, they see a deeply flawed religious system with immoral clergy, self indulgent and wealthy life coaches, progressive and worldly theologians and sinful and ineffective ambassadors for Christ. They see broken people who have chosen to remain broken.
But within the field of Christianity, there is a crop of the righteous to be harvested. They live and grow among the weeds. They are imperfect but repentant and they have hearts for the Lord as did the apostle Paul. They were broken but have surrendered their brokenness to Christ, who has restored their wholeness and freed them from being enslaved to sin. They are the true church of Christ and they will be gathered to Him and brought into His barn at the end of this age. Praise God!
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