Thursday, August 25, 2016

Faith vs. Spirituality (2 Timothy 3:6-9)

Today’s scripture: 2 Timothy 3:6-9

Yesterday we talked about how dark this world is, yet we know throughout history, darkness has often prevailed. Paul reminded Timothy of two men who had opposed Moses centuries before Paul himself wrote these very words. And now centuries after Paul, we still have countless who “oppose the truth.”

We live in a “spiritual” society, but what does that really mean? Several years ago, I freelanced for an on-line news publication in the “Religion & Spirituality” category. And guess what some of the sub-sections were?

Astrology & Paranormal. Eastern Religions. Secular. Oh, and yes, Western Religion.

Under the same category, readers could find articles about atheism, Buddhism, and evangelical Christianity all at the same time.

People are learning and seeking … something. And this world has answers that are far from a “knowledge of the truth.” And, as I’ve written before, even so-called Christians are skewing the truth. We don’t have to take the Bible as God’s inspired word, they say. Jesus isn’t the only way to heaven. God won’t really punish people by sending them to hell … in fact, hell probably doesn’t even exist.

Yet again, this isn’t new to our generation. In the early church, factions broke from true Christianity almost immediately.

So what can we do? We who know truth need to share the truth. We who follow the one true God must be Christ’s light to this very dark world. We need to offer the only solution to an eternity separated from God.

And we must do it as Christ did: gently and lovingly and non-judgmentally. 

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