Teacher Devotions: Lacking Faith - Mark 6 v 6

Mark 6:6 And he was amazed at their lack of faith.

It is said that ‘familiarity breeds contempt,’ so Jesus must have experienced some of that in His hometown. His own community, made up of people He knew as neighbors and colleagues, just couldn’t accept Christ for what He had become. They knew enough about His family and His local history to let that information become a barrier. He had become more than they could accept. He was beyond their knowledge and control.

I think that the present generation of Christians is suffering from the same parochial mentality. We have grown up knowing about Christ since our days of Sunday School kindergarten. Jesus has been a part of our stories for as far as back as we can remember, so we think that we know who He really is.

But when we go out into the world, we meet up with other faiths, other religions, and other historical leaders. We begin to mesh our ideas about Jesus with other religious ways. Instead of uniquely calling Him Savior and Lord, we keep Him on an equal basis with the likes of Moses, Muhammad, Buddha, Krishna, and Gandhi. The Jesus that we know is kept under control and shaped into what we want Him to be. Rather than declare Him as Lord of the Universe and Savior of the World, we seek to be non-offensive to other religions by declaring that we all worship the same God. In other words, just like the people of Capernaum, we take offense at Christ’s uniqueness and dilute our beliefs so that we can be accepted by the religious world.

I firmly believe that if Christ were to walk into most mainline denominational churches, He would be amazed at our lack of real, sincere, and true faith in Him. We have become slaves to the culture instead of disciples of Christ’s Church.

That’s why I preach, teach, and write the way that I do – for me, there is no compromising Christ’s divinity; there is no diluting of His Lordship, and there is no belittling of His unique and holy status of being the Only Savior of the world. It’s all or nothing for me, and if people really read the Gospels, they would know that it’s all or nothing with Christ too.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, You are not a Westernized Gandhi or Buddha. You are not equivalent to Moses or Muhammad. You are not the Krishna who appears at a time of crisis or the avatar who enters into the world to avert disaster. You are infinitely above and beyond all of them. You are Jesus Christ, the Living Son of God, the Only Savior of the World, and the Holy One who has the words, works, and way to everlasting life. In Your Holy Name, we uniquely pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

teacher Devotions: Spirituality and Salvation

Psalm 11:7      For the LORD is righteous, he loves justice; upright men will see his face.

There’s a saying amongst evangelical Christians which goes something like this: ‘Everybody has some form of spirituality, but not everyone has salvation.’

When God created human beings, He breathed life into the first bodies, according to Genesis 2: v 7

‘the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.’ Many theologians believe that the breath of life mentioned in the text actually refers to the spirit or soul of a human being. Because it contains the breath of God, this is what makes it eternal.

The spirit inside each of us longs to be reunited with God. This is why we are often restless, distracted, and dissatisfied at times throughout our lives. We each are seeking that divine reconnection. We all feel isolated and separated from the rest of creation at times. We all believe that there must be something better, something more meaningful, and something more to life itself. Our spirits yearn to be fulfilled, to find happiness, and to know peace. This is what salvation is: to be completely restored to God, the Giver of Life and the Creator of our spirits.

All people are spiritual then, but not all spirituality leads to salvation. This is why it is so important that Christ’s Church speaks out with certainty to the world. Christ’s Gospel reveals the whole truth about salvation and in Him we can be restored to God. Any other way is a spiritual path that leads people away from being made complete. Any other form of spirituality is bogus and ultimately ends up in oblivion.

Jesus came into the world to show us the path to salvation and the door to the Kingdom of God. We are not left without hope, like hapless creatures scurrying around the world seeking life’s answers. God cared enough for us and loved us so deeply that He sent Christ into the world to provide us with the answer to salvation. Jesus is the Way to return to God. In Him, the truth about salvation will set us free to be with God forever.

This is why Christianity is a missional faith and not a personal one. When we place our spirits into Christ’s hands, He asks us to go out into the world to share this salvation with others. Jesus wants everyone to be restored to God. He wants all spiritual people to find true salvation. It’s up to us to continue His ministry, by helping more people understand His crucial message.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, You want everyone to be completely restored to God and to enjoy His presence forever. Our spirits long for that reconnection, sow e pray that Your Holy Spirit will help us to lead others to You, Your Way, and Your Salvation fro humankind. In Your Powerful and sacred Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.