When my wife and I are away from home, we have a rule for our five kids about calling us, which is “DON’T call unless it is flooding, burning or bleeding.” Any of us who have ever been kids all know that great unspoken and unwritten rule: when no adult is present, there are no rules. It just goes to prove that when we were born, they may have broken the mold, but there is proof that it grows back . . . ((wait a while, you'll get it))
So my wife and I will be out and the phone will ring with "daddy, brother’s looking at me" or "mommy, she’s breathing my air again" or "I got blood in my veins" (actual call, that last one) or some other non-emergency.
It makes you wonder about Paul and Timothy. Paul told Timothy "I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long." (1 Tim 3:14) What? You mean that Timothy is left in this church—alone? Without Paul? With all those . . . “church people?”
Which brings up another question:
“What's the difference between a cult and a church?” To tell the difference, look at the foundation. What is the foundation of a church, particularly, THE church?
Paul makes an interesting statement: “in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.” (1 Tim. 3:15).
How will Timothy direct the church without Paul? I wonder if Timothy was left feeling like a baby sitter or big brother while the “parent” was out of the “house.” I wonder what those church people were acting like?
The way to tell the difference between a church and a cult is how either treats Christ. “The church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord”, as we confess with that great hymn. The foundation of a church is found in the mystery of godliness, which is explained in 1 Tim 3:16.
The foundation of a cult is the non-mystery of ungodliness with another ministry, namely the ministry of hinderance and/or destruction of the work and message of Christ.
The conduct of the church is based on its foundation. What the church thinks of Christ affects its stand, its ministry, its action. Put another way, the difference between a church and a cult is how Christ is handled.
Does a church merely nod at ideas or is it transformed by the reality of the person and work of Christ Jesus?
Does a cult live a God-saturated life?
Which is better: a comfortable place where everyone is welcome, finds a place to fit in and has a great social life; or, a place where there is conviction, discomfort, admonition, working, growing? Guess which one the church should be. Guess which one draws more people at the expense of doctrine, even that great confession?
I asked myself these questions and invite you to do the same:
How do I handle Christ?
Do I treat the sufficiency of His person and work with a Sunday morning fervor, or have I let Him penetrate my being every day of the week?
Do I or have I undermined anything He has tried to say or do?
Am I a “church” or a “cult”?
Recently we set out to enjoy a PBS series, "Colonial House." Making a long story very short, 17 people were selected to live like it was 1628 for 4 months in Maine last summer. The man appointed to be "lay preacher" was a liberal religion professor from California. The governor was a southern baptist minister from Texas. The governor tried hard to enforce the bible-based country law of the colony, but was met with opposition constantly. He and his family had to leave due to personal family tragedy and could not continue the project
The lay minister held "discussion meetings" and had no real preaching of the Bible (he tried one three-hour sermon, but did not do it again). Since he was appointed governor, he began to raid the wine, relax the laws and the people were lazy and apathetic. Ironically, in retrospect, he did admit he did not model the "man of God" the town needed.
The town was the most miserable, backward colony I have ever seen. In its day it should not have survived, and I raved about this for a few days. Then I remembered a horrifying story by Nathaniel Hawthorne of a colonist who discovered one night that everyone in town, including the town minister, was a witch. Apparently, the problem did exist and, well, we see where we are today.
Really, the project provided a micro-picture of where we are today, having removed the Bible from our government AND our churches. One person actually walked off the project because he could see where history was "going" and did not want to be there when it happened . . . how tragic.
