The working mind-set

I listened to another Matt Chandler sermon yesterday as I was mowing the yard and he mentioned something that reminded me of how some people see/perceive Christianity to be. How it is viewed or how it is to act as a Christian.

He mentioned how in the "Bible Belt" the custom or basis for Christianity is to live by omission. That means having the listings of what , as Christians, we should not do. This life by omission is what draws me away from Fundamentalism and how it has warped into this list of things we should not do. It's no wonder young people say "Christianity is no fun" because with a list that makes it legalistic and bounding how can it be fun?!?

I'm not saying I don't consider myself a fundamentalist, but that stance has taken a huge hit by how it has been warped. I'm sure most of you who read this will also consider yourself a fundamentalist given the five points of it, which include:

• The inspiration of the Bible by the Holy Spirit and the inerrancy of Scripture as a result of this.
• The virgin birth of Christ.
• The belief that Christ's death was the atonement for sin.
• The bodily resurrection of Christ.
• The historical reality of Christ's miracles.

Those are pretty much the foundations for the Christian faith. When did the smoking, having long hair, dancing, enjoying an alcoholic drink, and proper baptism technique (dunking/sprinkling) get thrown into that list?

They are irrelevant to the Gospel as a whole if you ask me.

Being a Christian gives you freedom not limits to what you can do. But that freedom comes from Christ. Not freedom to go get drunk and fornicate freely, don't get me wrong here.

Ephesians 2:10 says it this way:

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

We have a life of commission that He has laid out for us! Lets freely work out the plans that He has for us without the fear of failing. I'd rather try working it out at the risk of failing anyway, than not try at all.

He doesn't call us to a list of things we should not do but calls us to a higher standard to know the difference in what He wants us to do for Him. Lets drop the life by omission and live a life by comission.

After listening to Chandler and reading I got worked up about this so I had to blog...I'll get off my soapbox now.

Also...check our my friend's blog about their work while out on the road on tour. I commend them for doing the work God has called on them (also a reason I posted today). http://loveautomatic.blogspot.com/