Well hello and welcome back my beautiful friend. Is a complete pleasure to have you here sharing with us this simple, yet, VERY important topic.
Working for this ministry (Never Far Enough) has been a blessing and a life-changing decision. We have had the opportunity to preach, remain active in the service of God, help others to some extent... and there's simply no greater purpose in life than to live for God. The "job" comes with heavy satisfaction. As we move along, however, and we've shared our posts and media channel content, we've been exposed to the christian community as a whole (multiple denominations and groups) and we've noticed different "trends" (mistakes really) that many, MANY, christians follow and shouldn't. Living a christian life *should* be the simplest thing in the world, after all God left for us the Bible, a life manual, which contains everything we need... but then we go in as humans do and make things more complicated than what they really are.
This post is the result of observations we've made in the past few weeks and throughout our christian journey. In this post we are outlining five (5) very common mistakes many christians make, yet shouldn't, because doing so can (1) have terrible consequences for them and for those in their surrounding, and (2) can greatly opaque the majesty and wonder of God in their personal lives. With this... let's get right into it:
Mistake #1: Take Bible verses out of context
The Bible is quite a book, isn't it? From it being a book that spanned many years in the making to it being a book written by around 40 authors and adding to that the fact that the book is coherent and consistent... all is a simple a reminder of how great God is. There's a very peculiar thing about the Bible, and I believe God made it that way on purpose, and is the fact that the Bible, if not read with the right mindset, can be the most senseless and contradictory book ever read. If the Bible is not read with a genuine mindset to learn from God and have Him speak to us... it simply won't add any value to our lives. I guess the point we're trying to make is fairly obvious right? The Bible NEEDS to be read with the right mindset, after asking God for guidance, and it needs to be read very, very carefully.
Needless to say, not many so called christians read the Bible with the right mindset. Some read just to read and have a "checkmark" in their mind that they read it, others read it with the specific purpose of finding "mistakes", and others perhaps don't even read the Bible at all... simply take what their Pastor, church friends or family teach them for granted. Excuse the strong language but, it has to be said. We say "so called christians" because every christian needs to constantly work in developing a relationship with God and the Bible is the one book we have that not only we know is His word, but the one way to understand who God really is. If 'christians' don't read the Bible properly (or at all!)... how can they be called christians? How do they know who they're developing a relationship with?
If we want to have a genuine relationship with God, if we have a genuine desire to learn from Him, hear Him, and improve our lives... we NEED to read the Bible in the right mindset. Is as simple as that. Let us be extra emphatic and write you a list of "things you need to do and have when reading the Bible":
Prayer - God inspired and "manufactured" the book, it only makes sense to ask for His guidance when navigating the Bible.
Desire to learn - Like ANY other book in the world, if you don't have a genuine desire to learn, reading will profit nothing.
Get a bible concordance - As we have said over and over again in previous posts, the Bible is a self-sufficient book. This means we need nothing but the Bible to understand the Bible. There might be some words or even verses you don't fully get... well, a Bible concordance can greatly help. It helps connect one verse with another and helps ease Bible interpretation (VERY useful when studying prophecies).
The one quick example that 'pops' into mind is the famous debate in the christian community about which meats we should and we should not eat. In Deuteronomy 14 and Leviticus 11 we're given a very self-explanatory list of the meats we should and should not eat. A look at health and nutrition facts about the meats God forbid will come to show why... God only wants to protect our health. Anyhow, we have heard many MANY christians state that we can now eat ANY meat at all because of the story told in the book of Acts. In the story, Peter the disciple has a dream in which he sees all sorts of animals and God tells him "kill and eat"... well, let's look at the conversation that followed:
“Surely not, Lord!”Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” - Acts 10:14-15
Boom.. that's it. Many use that verse to substantiate the idea that we can eat ANY meat we want but... is this really what the verse is saying? Is this really what the context of the verse is? Could it be that God changed His mind as to what humans should and should not eat? Well... of course not. A read at the full chapter will come to show, very easily, that in that verse God was not (AT ALL) making reference as to the meats we can and cannot eat. Let's look at what we read a few verses later:
"He said to them: 'You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean.'..." - Acts 10:28
Clear now? God was not talking, at all, about meats but instead he was letting Peter know that God's message was to be shared with everyone... not only with the jews. You might recall that the jews considered anyone who wasn't a jew to be sort of an outcast and impure so they would not mix with them... God is here crumbling that wall in Peter's mind. God's message and salvation is for EVERYONE. Amen to that.
So there you go, a simple example about what reading the Bible with the wrong mindset and with little actual desire to study can lead to. Friend, it is VERY important to read the Bible properly and in-context.
Mistake #2: Getting emotional about the news...
This should be a simple and straightforward discussion... listen, Jesus is coming. We all know that. As christians, we all look forward to that day and to enjoy what God has planned for us. Here's the thing, nobody knows the date or time when Jesus will come. The Bible is clear in this aspect:
“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." - Matthew 24:36
Can you take a wild guess of where we're going with this? This world and its society are in decay. Natural disasters are on the rise, economies are fragile, wars and terrorism is the order of the day, everything seems to point to the fact that we *might* be living close to the end of this world's history... still, just because it seems as such, doesn't mean it actually is. I can't even begin to count the number of sensationalist christians that every time some big event pops in the news, they begin preaching that the end is imminent and Jesus is but a few days away. This does nothing but create a wave of emotions (both good and bad) and ultimately can do nothing but take a hit on our faith as christians. Every time people go on preaching that the "end is here" and then is not anymore... disappointment, frustration and even mockery is the result of it.
Live your life the best you can, honor God, pray, read your Bible, help whoever you can, love others... and just LIVE. IF Jesus happens to actually come, then AMEN! But don't link your spiritual strength and search for God for only those moments when your church members think Jesus is near. Live prepared every day so that no matter what happens in this world, you will be ready and nothing will take you by surprise. Good?
Mistake #3: Underestimate the importance of God's law
Not so long ago we wrote a full-post solely to discussing this point; find the post here. Given that we already talked about the topic, we're only going to re-emphasize here that God's law IS STILL IN EFFECT just as it was given in Exodus 20. The law of God is NOT abolished... is not an "old" covenant... it was not 'nailed to the cross'... the law of God simply is.
A very commonly neglected commandment is the keeping of the Sabbath under the excuse that the Sabbath commandment forms part of a law that is no longer valid... or that it was "changed" to Sunday... or that "everyday" is Sabbath... ... ... well, no. In the Bible there is no record, whatsoever, of God changing His law nor of God invalidating His law. The law of God is what determines whether we're living in sin or not. Without law there's no sin, and without sin... Jesus' sacrifice renders useless. Could this actually be? Of course not... As christians we MUST keep the law of God.
Mistake #4: Misunderstand the true purpose of keeping the Sabbath (Saturday)
The Bible says (God's 4th commandment):
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." - Exodus 20:8-11
If we read the gospels book in the New Testament, we get to see Jesus healing, preaching, helping, resting, sharing, and loving on the Sabbath days. So what's the problem? Where are we going with this? Well, many christians (as we mentioned in our previous point) don't keep the Sabbath because they believe that the law is abolished (which isn't), but then many of those who "keep" the sabbath, take way too seriously the "not doing work" part of the commandment. They take that day mainly to go to church and get a checkmark for their day, and then sleep and wait for the day to pass to go on with life. Is this what we're supposed to to do in Sabbaths? Of course not.
As we mentioned, when combining the 4th commandment in God's law with how God made the Israelites keep the Sabbath and with how Jesus Himself kept the Sabbath... we get a clear picture of what's the Sabbath for. We have six days of the week to do as we please (within the law), make money, buy, trade, take care of the day-to-day affairs... but when Saturday comes, IS NOT ABOUT US. On Sabbaths we are asked by God to take a rest of all the personal and work affairs and use the day to honor God and make it not about you. Is as simple as that. Preach, help someone, spent family time, go to church and learn something about God, read the Bible... whatever you do, let it be for God or for others... NOT for you. That is the true meaning of 'keeping the Sabbath' day.
Is this clear?
Mistake #5: Fail to love
The Bible says:
"If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." - 1 Corinthians 13:1-8
Jesus said:
“A new commandI give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” - John 13:34-35
"But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?... " - Matthew 5:44-46
Are these verses clear enough? You see, below one of the posts we published a few days back on Facebook we got this person who kept calling us (forgive the language) "morons". He, for whatever reason, kept insulting and writing terrible things in the comments section simply because apparently he didn't agreed with what we discussed. After reading through the insults we entered his profile page and in it he had all sorts of posts about the love of Jesus, about what we need to do to be saved, posts about christianity in general. If that is not hypocrisy, the not sure what is. How can someone even think for one second to be in "right terms" with God while displaying this unnecessary hate and disrespectful behavior towards a fellow brother/sister that's simply trying to preach the love of God?
Let not anyone be deceived... we can go to church, memorize the Bible, pray all day long, give all our earnings to charity, but if we do all this without learning how to love those around us and treat everyone as the child of God that they are... it profits us NOTHING. Let's write that again... it profit us NOTHING. Jesus is our greatest and best example and what did he did? He loved his people... even when His people didn't love him.
Closing
Friend, the idea that we can be saved on our own terms because 'God is love' is one of Satan's greatest and successful lie. God is indeed love, and because He is love, he is also just. His law and standards are so serious that not even He Himself could void the penalty for breaking the law. Jesus had to come to pay the price that the law demanded.
The Bible is clear, His law is clear, His commandments and requests to us are clear... let no one be self-deceived. Do not think we wrote this up out of thin air, feel free to ask, or even better, study for yourself and then ask. In the Bible we find Jesus telling several parables and referencing the story of Noah which portrayed a picture in which many will be left out and not because of lack of knowledge, but because they voluntarily decided to go against God's law. Study, that you may not be deceived.
Let's aim each day to be better, act better, do better, and above all... do it all for the glory of God. Then, one day, we'll be able to hold hands together in heaven... FOREVER 😍 We want to see you there.
Until next one my friend,
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