Cancer

Noun:
1. The disease caused by an uncontrolled division of abnormal cells in a part of the body.
2. A malignant growth or tumor resulting from such a division of cells.

Cancer is a disease that destroys both the body and the spirit. When diagnosed with cancer a once healthy person will submit themselves to the most painful and disfiguring of treatments.

Let me be clear. My intention today is to not mince words. Some of you reading this will be offended. I will be labeled as an extremist. 

I am sorry you may feel that way, but I cannot be silent.

There is a growing cancer in the Body of Messiah and it must be dealt with. It must be cut out! There are a number of presenting symptoms:

• Ignorance
• Complacence
• Self-Interest
• Greed
• Distortion
• Deceit

In the Garden of Eden, one man argued with what God had plainly told him. Listening to the serpent, he thought, “It is just one bite. Surely God doesn’t mind if I take just one itty, bitty bite?” 

Look where that kind of thinking got us. All of us have fallen prey to that kind of flawed reasoning. We have all questioned what God has plainly communicated in His Word and questioned, has God said…?

In this age, as in all of the preceding, whenever anyone eats of the forbidden fruit, it kills. There are many things that God has said very plainly in the Bible. Certainly, you must have wondered why there are so many “brands” within the Body of Messiah. To be sure, no single denomination has an exclusive franchise on biblical truth. No single systematic approach has all the answers. At some level all of “Christendumb” (pun intended) continues to argue with God about the things He has made plainly clear from the beginning of time.

I won’t sugar coat this. My personal belief is that all of “Christendumb’s” brands exist today because somewhere along the way someone questioned what God has clearly said.  Because it was inconvenient or because they were spiritually lazy, they decided to start a new Christian club that included their interpretation of the Scriptures along with a view of HIStory more to their liking.

There is only one correct interpretation of Scripture. This is the interpretation (the only one) God intended for us to have. Many within the Church have replaced God’s Word with nonsensical drivel of their own. They have reformed the sound doctrines taught by God Himself through both the spoken and written Word to fashion for themselves an idol conceived in their own minds. This is sin. It is a cancer. The Church belongs to Christ. It was created by Him for His own purposes in this, the Church Age.

If there is only one correct interpretation of Scripture, doesn’t it stand to reason that wherever there are many interpretations existing a number of them, if not all, are probably wrong? There is one thing we can be certain of. Wherever opinions about what Scripture teaches are in opposition to what God originally intended, infection is present in that part of the Body of Messiah.

Today, many of those identifying themselves as part of the Church are not. They are a cancer growing within us. Remember the parable of the tares and the wheat in Matthew 13. Lord, save us! What are we to do?

Much like a thermometer informs an attending physician whether or not there is an infection in a patient’s body, the Great Physician has given us a spiritual tool for our use. How one views God’s eternal plans for the Jewish people is an indicator of that person’s (or institution’s) spiritual health.

What we believe is reflected in what we do. I am extremely grateful for the strong, unyielding voices currently rising above the din within the Body of Messiah. One of these voices belongs to Perry Trotter of New Zealand. In March, Perry presented a paper at the LCJE-NA conference in San Diego, California entitled The Gentile Problem. I have linked his paper here for your review and consideration. I have also provided a link to a website that directly identifies the evil of Replacement / Reformed Theology just established by Perry Trotter for the express purpose of confronting it.

The days are quickly growing darker. There is no room for compromise with biblical dishonesty. To do so is only contributing to the problem. Young believers are seldom discipled today. Rather, they are indoctrinated to one of the competing brands of “Christendumb.” I do not believe that this tide will be turned at this point in HIStory. Scripture is clear that in the latter days people will have no interest in sound doctrine. That reality does not remove from His followers the responsibility to do what is right.

So, what is the answer? Confronting this cancer within the Church is one of the primary reasons for the existence of Disciple Daily. Being loud, obnoxious, and holier than thou will not convince anyone of rightness. Volume and vitriol are not the appropriate courses of treatment for what is symptomatic of a far greater problem. Authentic biblical discipleship is.