Where HAVING is valued and not BEING
Pixabay
Luis Alberto Alves
“I am in the world, but I am not of the world”, John 17:14. Every day the siege is tightened on the evangelical who decides to serve Jesus Christ, obeying his words. It's not as easy as many imagine. Contaminated with the Gospel of Results, tailored to please and never to confront.
The current system seeks, through various resources, to disqualify the Word of God, trying to place it as something despicable, without any value. It criticizes the commandments of Christ, as something straight, contrary to the rules of the current world.
Right is seen as wrong and wrong as right. From the worldly perspective, the evangelical should not continue following the commandments of Jesus Christ, as they keep people away from what is best in this society, where HAVING is valued and not BEING.
World
To make this broth thicker, some evangelical denominations had the sad idea of putting the world inside the church. Chapters and verses condemning wrong are suppressed from preaching. The pulpit is used for amenities only. Just like the doctor who, instead of using all the mechanisms to cure the patient, prescribes drugs that are ineffective.
Prayer is left out. There are rare denominations where, before the beginning of the service, people pray. To make matters worse, some pastors enter the Word without asking Jesus Christ for direction. Instead of the “Peace of the Lord”, they prefer to say hello and move on to the festival of nonsense. They are preaching similar to self-help videos.
In some denominations around this planet Earth, the pulpit is not a holy place. It is just a space to read something written in the Bible, aiming to please the hearts of hopeless people, who perhaps entered there as the last lifeline, before suicide. But none of that matters to the wolves in sheep's clothing.
Bad
The world is seductive. Mind anyone who says otherwise. Sin is sweet at first, then bitter at the end. Lucifer knows how to sell his spoiled fish in a pretty package. Testimonials from drug addicts reveal that the pleasure of using them is what holds the person in that sad ritual of using something that is bad, but with the appearance of good.
This is why many drug addicts find it difficult to give up addiction, because of the pleasure they feel when they are intoxicated with this type of substance. Drugs are presented in a variety of ways, some of them with the “sociable” label, as is the case with alcoholic beverages.
Prostitutes are usually beautiful. They wear beautiful and sensual clothes, to make an impact on the eyes of future customers. They don't scream, but whisper in their ears, words they like to hear, even if they are someone devoid of any beauty. It is the fowler's snare, as described in Psalm 91. Otherwise, they would not be able to attract anyone.
Cash
Making money by stealing, stealing or even through corruption is another trap used by Lucifer to seduce the weak in faith or those who have not yet had a true encounter with Jesus Christ. In the current financial crisis in which several countries are going through, who wouldn't want to see the current account with a lot of money? All earned easily, without breaking a single drop of sweat?
The first few months as a thief and corrupt are good. Luxury becomes routine at home. As well as lunches and dinners in elite restaurants, trips to cities, which were previously seen as dreams to come true, soon come true. High limit credit cards, quality clothes and shoes, top of the line cars.
The simple house in the distant neighborhood on the outskirts is replaced by mansions in luxury condominiums or penthouse apartments, with high quality furniture. At this time, misery will not be present in the life of this person who started to eat the delicacy offered by the devil and his demons. In proverbs it is written that abyss calls to an abyss, and that victim will sink into this mire.
Eternity
What person wouldn't want to see their checking account filled with money? Riding in luxury cars, wearing designer clothes, living in a beautiful property, enjoying the good and the best? All without making any effort. It's a dream world, especially for young people, achieving something without straining, as in the magical world of social networks.
However, the Gospel of Jesus Christ does not guarantee that our life will be like this while we are passing through this world. Our Master warned that we would have afflictions, we would conquer the Heavens by making a lot of effort, to cross the narrow gate that is the path towards eternity.
But the human being does not like to push. He likes to receive everything with a kissed hand. He imagines that life must be like the movies, where ease always gets in the way of making everything okay. Some go to evangelical churches dreaming that the life promised by Christ is something magical. It arrived on the first day, on the second everything is already transformed.
Good
Today much of the Lord's flock is contaminated with anxiety. He is immensely thirsty to put the water of sin in his mouth, most often in beautiful bottles, offered by false shepherds, wolves in sheep's clothing. These people meet inside the churches, not to seek salvation in Jesus Christ, but something good that He can offer.
There is no effort to please the Lord. They come from the world, but they refuse to leave it. They intend to remain hostages of prostitution, vices, idolatries, lies, disbelief, beliefs (how many false evangelicals do not consult horoscopes, fortune tellers, play games of chance, etc.), of pacts made with darkness.
They find it difficult to leave the world where they have lived for many years. They are used to the garbage of sin. They classify the commandments of Jesus as something terrible. “What harm is there in making a “fezinha” in the animal”, say some. “My lover gives me the best and the best, I can't let go of him”, retort some women.
Corrupt
“In this Brazil, everyone steals, especially the rulers. I will not be the one to become holy. If I can get that money, I will”, say the corrupt ones. “Mom and Dad, what a sin is there in having sex with my boyfriend. It is proof of the love that exists between us”, justify some teenagers. “I am a believer, but my revolver has not yet been converted”, assume people who are still hateful.
It is not easy to leave the world. It's like certain stains on clothes. Need to soak, wash with plenty of water, after long period. The impression that remains is that we are against the grain of this society contaminated by sin, where wrong is seen as right. It takes a lot of commitment and faith in the Lord.
For many years I was in the carnival world. It was my habitat. The songs, the frantic drumming of more than 300 percussionists on the drums, the chords of my cavaquinho, the bass sound of the seven-string guitar, the women dancing samba before my eyes, dressed in clothes that only hid their genitals; filled my eyes.
Carnival
It was something that made me ecstatic. He criticized those who didn't like carnival. He classified them as grimaces. When back home, I would meet some brothers, on Carnival Sunday, on the way to church, I would make jokes. In my opinion, the right world was mine, not the one that led to eternity with Jesus Christ.
He forgot that the carnival party lasted only three days, and then he would have to go back to work, sometimes having difficulty paying the day-to-day bills, because the money had been spent on the party. I tried not to see that the beautiful women who paraded beside me were people held hostage by spirits of prostitution, vices and illnesses.
Many of them worked in nightclubs selling their bodies to pay the rent for a tenement room rented in some corner of the city. Others had their husbands serving time and she was forced to support the rest of the family. But the devil, in those days of revelry, blinded all of us, who liked to eat the crumbs he threw from his dirty table.
Sad
It was not easy to get out of this rotten world, just as it is not easy to get out of drugs, prostitution, theft, drug trafficking, corruption, idolatry, sorcery, enchantments. We need to embrace Jesus Christ with all our strength. Ask Him for help. To find support and ways to get out of this vicious circle that is the delicacy offered by the world.
Time waits for no one. It is recommended that you look into your heart and see if there is anything that still holds you to the world. What provokes, even after being converted, longing for something that is not good, because it made him sad after the seconds of pleasure. Does the devil still rule your life?
Don't make the mistake of trying to please both God and the devil. Nobody can do this. Tap your feet on the ground and cry out to Jesus Christ that you need to get out of the world forever. While you're here, may the Lord give you strength to resist the dishes that the devil will continue to offer you. It was difficult for me, but Jesus rescued me from the mud where I had been for many years. I'm no better than you. It will be the same with you.
Luís Alberto Alves is a pastor.
