The DROSS

If our faith is the gold that secures our denominations, faith in the One who gave Himself for us… Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.  The faith which the Bible calls “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  If it is this faith that will be tested and tried, this faith that needs to be made pure… then what is the dross?  Where are the impurities? 

There are two sides to the DROSS.

First, the dross represents the Dogmatic Rules Of Superficial Systems

These are the things that we, not Christ, not Scripture, require of people in order to be “right.”  Every denomination has these.  These become the things that define our differences.  Rather than focus on the things on which we, as Christians, agree we fight among ourselves for the highest position.  A bit like James and John, whose mother desired of Christ that her sons would have the seats to His right and left, we still jockey for position. 

Second, DROSS represents the Denied Reality Of Satan’s Schemes

These are the things the scriptures declare that we must not do, that we then do!  Do we forget that if we deny the authority and the power of the Word of God that we then have nothing on which to stand to claim Christ as our own?! 

“That was then, this is now.”  “It isn’t that way anymore.”  “The scriptures didn’t mean that.”  “The context has changed.  You have to be with the times.”

Are we serious?  Do we really think that Our Father in heaven could be duped by context?  Do we really think that He was unaware of any changes that might happen? 

To say that we are “Christian” is no longer enough within the Body because our identity has shifted from our unity of faith in the work of the cross to our doctrinal differences.  Have we so lost our ability to forgive (to return to the place before)?  Yes, every denomination has transgression in their past.  We can look back now and see where they were.  But rather than look at our brothers in Christ and say, “Let us be one” we hold grudges and condemn.  Do we forget that there is “now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus?”  Let us stop defending the mistakes of our denominations and let us move forward.  Often people who want “closure” find themselves in a room all alone, with all the windows and doors slammed shut!  But Christ says that those who will open their doors will find Him coming in.

If it is about what we can do… we are done!  We can’t earn heaven. 

There have been men, fathers of the faith, who loved the Lord and sought to serve Him.  They found many ways to show their devotion.  And we can too.  But if we believe that requiring that we replicate their disciplines will make us righteous, we miss the point!  It was there love of the Lord Jesus that fueled them!  It was their relationship with the One that made them desire to give up all else.

Let us cast of the Rules and seek the Relationship. 

Wherever we are, in whichever denomination… serve Him and worship Him out of gratitude and love.  Worship is our response to Who Jesus is.   It is not our way to Him.  He is the Way.

Every major denomination has made allowances for things that the bible teaches against.  Evert major denomination has compromised.  If we look close enough we will find it.  There is always controversy.  I need not list them here.  We deny that the enemy wants to come in.  We deny that “wolves” can creep in unawares.  We want to be politically correct.  We want to please people.  What about God?  Did we stop wanting to please Him?  We exalt men above Jesus.  We are supposed to lift Him up and He will draw all men to Him.  I would to God that all men would lift up holy hands and praise the name of Jesus.  I would to God that when asked “What are you?’ none of us would lead with the identity of our differences! 

We are Christians! 

We may be Christians that worship in the Baptist, or Catholic, or Lutheran, or Methodist, or any other Orthodox or Protestant denomination. (please notice that they are alphabetical order only, not to infer any order of “rightness”)  But we are CHRISTIANS! 

We claim that the Bible is inspired (and it may shock some of the Protestants, but the Catholic Church confesses this as well!) but then we desperately try to move away from it to add to the numbers within our pews.  If it is one thing we can all learn from the Catholic Church it is this… you can stay the same and still last.  It is still the largest single Christian denomination.  It still takes heat for its stance on homosexuality and ordaining only men… but you know what, on these two issues they stand correct.  Let us not throw out the baby with the bathwater.  We can all learn from each other.

In order to avoid the Dogmatic Rules Of Superficial Systems and the Denied Reality Of Satan’s Schemes we must return to the faith that turned the world upside down…

“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.” 1 Corinthians 15:3-8

Jesus prayed that we would be One. The scriptures command, “let there be do division among you.”  The presence of division within the Body of Christ is a sin.  We are not honoring God with our move away from His Word.  No matter how good we think we might be doing.  No matter how much grace He pours out upon us in spite of our sin… No matter how large a denomination we are in… the only number that counts is One.

SDG