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Christian Minefields
| In meekness
instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give
them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they
may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken
captive by him at his will. - 2 Timothy 2:25-26
Paul advises Timothy to deal with the contentious by attempting meek
instruction. Those who are described as contentious and as contention
tends to be of the flesh this may be how they are held in a snare. we
are told that repentance and recognizing truth are key to escaping the
snare of the devil. Contention usually arises from a “we are right and
you are wrong” view of Christian doctrine or tradition.
To cross a minefield one needs a map to avoid stepping on a mine
unaware. The snares Satan has introduced into Christianity can be as
effective at incapacitating a Christian as a land mine is at
incapacitating a soldier. Here are a list of some of the snares.
1. Health and Wealth. Sometimes called prosperity Christianity. People
are attracted to the possibility of getting heald of physical problems
or obtaining wealth. Here Christianity is packaged in such a way as to
seem to promise physical benefits often misapplying Old Testament bible
verses of promises made to the nation of Israel, that do not apply to
us today.
2. LGBTQ. The are what are sometimes called affirming churches as they
redefine what love is. The bible defines love (1Cor 13:4-7) as
selflessness. These churches define it as accepting whatever anyone
wants do do. Sadly they do not recognize when something is harmful or
dangerous.
3. Charismatic. Sometimes called pentecostal or full gospel these
churches attempt to practice the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit
recorded in the early church. Failures of healing or raising the dead
are excused or explained away as speaking in other languages is often
redefined as speaking a “heavenly tongue” when it is really ecstatic
vocalizations (gibberish).
4. Legacy. Some denominations like Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist,
and Catholic continue on inertial momentum. While some may notice the
decline in numbers, most just go through familiar motions. While some
churches add a distinctive activity that adds an identity to the brand,
legacy churches often remain inert and ineffective.
6. Conservative. Sometimes called fundamental these churches often take
as much pride in rules and regulations as liberal churches take pride
in sin. While the King James bible version has a high degree of
accuracy, these churches often see it as perfect. Here the emphasis may
be more looking like Christ rather than being like Christ.
7. Contemporary. These churches usually have an emphasis on the worship
experience. Sadly, this emphasis is often a sort of self-stimulating
emotionalism. The appeal here is the way one feels. This is less about
Christ-likeness than is is a consumer offering to feel “Christiany”.
There are all sorts of other Christian configurations that are designed
to appeal to the flesh. These are called snares because they can hold
one captive by exploiting some characteristic of the flesh that makes
one vulnerable. Vanity, pride, greed, and even lust can all work in
different ways to make someone see something in a snare that is
attractive.
The key to escaping a snare is the gift of repentance (a change of
mind) and seeing truth so that one can untangle himself. For this
reason the diminishment of the flesh and elevation of walking by the
Spirit should be sought as well as the seeking of truth. |
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