Who Is Listening Determines Who Cares.

The Gospels portray the Son of God’s practical approach to teaching centered around relationships: towards God, our fellow believers and with the world. Sadly, as Spurgeon put it, “…it is far from savory to the sickly sentimental Christians who do not care much for the practical…”. Spurgeon, the master of the practical further stated, “…whether you like it or not…but of this I have little care.” These quotes are from his sermon concerning the command to love thy neighbor as thyself.

Why is it that churches today deem it necessary to make the Gospel less relevant to the Truth but more relevant to the way of the world?

Your dictionary's definition of practical:

Of, relating to, governed by, or acquired through practice or action, rather than theory, speculation, or ideals.

Why is it that theory, speculation and ideals appear to be the modus operandi of the majority of questionable Christian posts now proliferating the social media. It is not the questionable doctrines or even the lack thereof that is the main problem; it is the fact that they care for no one else except those who agree with their theories, speculations or ideals. As Hank, the old cow-dog would be heard to say; "these people have activated their scriptural avoidance systems". The evidence across the board is very consistent:

• A few pet verses upon which to hang their belief system, and
• Ignoring verses that might just contradict their golden few, and
• Disregard for the original languages, allowing the English translation alone to dictate the definition, usage, grammar, etc. and
• Poor (at best) exegesis, avoiding context and at times the entire O.T., and
• Isolating themselves from the treasures of the entire Word of God, and
• Extreme lack of discernment in whom they choose to follow and parrot, and
• Making themselves and fellow adherents unteachable, and the big one…
• Filling the minds of lost souls with a dogma that does not result in salvation.

What now must we do? Seeing that we have so great a cloud of witnesses that have gone on before: we have no excuse but to contend for the Gospel ONCE delivered. Our Lord was perfectly practical, and we must strive to make ourselves consistently practical; the war that rages around us demands our utmost.

• His teaching never wavered from the Old Testament laws and precepts.
• His teaching was filled with compassion but never shirked from the Truth.
• He confronted the traditions of the priesthood; several became followers.
• He was extremely blunt and direct towards the sect of the Pharisees, an elite separatist group that ignored the weightier precepts of the Law and demanded strict adherence to their select ordinances. There truly is nothing new under the sun, as today’s modern separatists practice the age old believe as I do, or it is hell for you.
• Jesus stressed sola scriptura as every person must live by the Word of God alone; not to pick and choose what seems to your liking, and lastly the most apropos for us today…
• Jesus left no one behind, friend or foe; He made time for every need under heaven whether it was healing of the body, of the soul or instruction in righteousness.

Here are some points you may want to consider. Always remember, having differing doctrines works both ways: good doctrine under attack or poor doctrine being questioned.

• When another brings up a troubling verse that seems to fly in the face of what you believe to be true or differs from that which you have been taught; you may be listening.
• When you personally come to a troublesome passage that does not strengthen your personal doctrinal position, you may be listening.
• When your very soul is troubled by another’s doctrine; you may be listening.
• When you purposefully search the scriptures, seek extra-biblical aids or enlist the assistance of one you fully trust, you are listening.
• When you have settled upon a doctrinal issue because the Word richly embellished and deepened your understanding in a manner that continues to grow, you have listened.
• When you take your understanding and seek to honor our Lord by helping others to see the Truth, you have listened.

Caveat: the above is based upon one seeking to rightly divide the Word to show themselves approved to God; a born-again believer or one who is being drawn by the Father to the Savior.

Conversely, one who does not listen will desperately cling to their beliefs, and will entertain no other scriptural evidence. They blindly follow their leaders, question nothing, seek only like prejudiced believers and avoid any who would question their biblical legitimacy. The pseudo-Christian may seem to exhibit some of the above tendencies, but only to deceive others as to their spirituality. Many in today's churches are pros at deception.

One last note:

The body of Christ, the Church, belongs to Him and no other. He is more than faithful and will draw His own to the Truth. Why our Lord allows some to seemingly struggle along is not of our concern, but according to His will; not according to any standard that man should attempt to impose on another. Where He has placed you and I this very day is our concern. If we are to be found faithful, we must be about His business which is loving the brethren and our neighbors as ourselves. He never said it would be easy. So, before we consider damning another, we need to look into the Law of Liberty and clean our own house first.