User-friendly Christianity is now widely promoted as the best way to grow a church.
Yet jesus never made an effort to go to any church-growth seminars. He didn’t seem worried about attracting crowds. Pity, too. He could have avoided a lot of problems in ministry.
Consider this incident in John 6:60-71. He had just fed the 5000, then claimed He was “the bread of life.” Next, He told people no one could come to Him unless the Father draw s him or enables him.
“This is a hard teaching,” many of the disciples protested. “Who can accept it? (verse 60).
“Does this offend you?” Jesus asked. “There are some of you who do not believe” (verse 61,64).
Now that is no way to treat rye unchurched. These sincere “seekers” needed a chance to reexamine His claims in light go their own experience.
This was no time to get tough with them. Didn’t He want a large following?
Think of the impression that would have made on the boys in Jerusalem.
Jesus, however, was completely disinterested in such tactics.
In fact, He drove these men away! “Many of His disciples turned back,” the Bible says, “and no longer followed Him” (verse 66.)
Then Jesus had the audacity to ask the Twelve if they wanted to leave as well. Didn’t He understand anything about attracting and holding crowds?
“Go ahead and leave!” He might as well have said.
But the twelve knew better. Thyat’s why they were the twelve. And yet, even one of them wasn’t for real!
“Lord, to whom shall we go?” Peter asked on their behalf. “You have the words of eternal life. We believe that you are the Holy One of God” (verses 68-69).
The fact is, Jesus had His own style of church growth.
It was addition by subtraction, on thinning out the ranks. If you’re not sure, leave!
He never begged anyone to follow Him. He called. He commanded. He demanded. But He never begged.
If you think you have a better option, then go ahead and try it. But you won’t find anything better or more satisfying than real christianity. It works because it’s genuine. It truly does transform the heart and regenerate the soul. Nothing can compare to it.
Personal relationship with Christ is not the same as void religion. Religion has its set of rules you must adhere to in order to be pleasing in the sight of God. Relationship fulfilled the rules in order that we may have life and have it abundantly. In turn, we obey the command He summed up in “Love your God with all your heart, soul and mind and your neighbor as yourself” because we love Him. And we love Him because He first loved us while we were sinners…Christ died for US!!!
Portion taken from No Greater Savior.
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About Disciple of Christ, Wife, Mommy of 5 blessings & NM Top Earner.
As a wife, homeschooling stay at home mom of 5 beautiful blessings, taxi, chef, doctor, philosopher etc, my life is full of adventures everyday. Most of the adventures lead me to find another lost piece of my identity concealed deep within my heart. I have always felt that there was more to life than just “making it through”. After 5 little ones (4 under 4 & in diapers), I lost all the pieces I had found along the way. I was left with thinking my identity was being a wife and mom. “This can’t be all there is to me!”, I reasoned. Who am I? What’s in my heart? Why do I thrive around beauty and my heart leaps for joy when experiencing something as simple as a sunset. A feeling like I am free, inside. My heart can breathe again as if it had been holding its oxygen all along. Did God make me like this, I wondered? I felt guilty for longing to let my heart be free once again. After all the picture we have of a “perfect” woman is one that is ALWAYS busy! Always volunteering, always giving of herself with never once a thought of the state of her inner being. That is why we lose our hearts. Vulnerability is not welcomed anywhere. Femininity in its purest form is frowned upon. Why? Because women are supposed to be tough! The kind of tough that is just wrong. We are trained to hide our vulnerability, along with our femininity, very early in life. The wounds we have received as little girls leave us reacting as women like that wounded little girl would: we retreat, we regress. The message we received? You can’t trust anyone! Your femininity and vulnerability is a weakness. Most of us walk through life “playing” or pretending to be someone we’re truly not. As adults, we make choices based on how we were programmed when we were young. The real us hides somewhere inside, waiting to be rescued. Like a wounded animal hiding from its master, wanting to trust and soar again, but so afraid of the uncertainty that awaits. The risk is not worth it, we think to ourselves. To be quite honest most of you have not found a safe place to be yourselves. Embarking on a quest to find the real you takes courage. God created you in His image. Adam bears the image of a warrior God. A man is supposed to tell the world, on God’s behalf, He will come through for you. Eve bears the image of a captivating God and her heart is made to show His beauty. A woman is supposed to tell the world, everything is ok. She is that calm & quiet spirit. Safety; a place of refuge and healing beauty. This is what our hearts long for; Eden. The place for which we were created. The place in our hearts we know we belong. I am just a simple girl on a quest to finding my heart. Not the way I was “shaped” by the world but the way God created me. I pray that this journey will be encouraging and uplifting to others. I am going on an adventure and invite you to come with me! I am very transparent because that is what this world needs!
With all my love,
Laire
Beautiful By Laire Lightner 
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