Chapter 5
“Still Born” Christians
by Dene McGriff
This is a continuation of the book on “In Search of the Last Days Church”. A vital living church life depends on vital living Christians! I would submit that the average Christian – even the above average “Christian” – doesn’t have a clue about how to live in the spirit, to walk in the light of continuous fellowship with the Lord.
There seems to be a huge disconnect between that “last days” lukewarm church called Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-22) and the overcoming testimony mentioned later in Revelation 11 and 12. God is so disgusted with the Church in Laodicea that He is about to spit it out of His mouth! How did this church that thinks it is so rich deceive itself when God calls it poor, blind and naked?
Now is not the time for playing games. Now is the time for an honest reappraisal of where we are. And this is not done in a rancorous or critical spirit but realizing that our Lord Himself said of this church,
Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; be zealous therefore and repent. Behold I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him and he with Me. (Revelation 3:19-20)
I am not judging – just telling you what my experience is and I think this will ring true to you as well. Why does the world scorn Christianity today? The average “church going” Christian doesn’t seem to stand out as one with an extraordinary life. They statistically divorce, abuse their wives and children, cheat, lie and steal just as often as society as a whole. They go through the motions of attending church and stand for traditional family values and against gays, liberals and Islam.
But let’s go deeper. Let’s not rehash the obvious. Let’s look at causes, not symptoms. I would propose that most Christians are “still born”. They may begin in the spirit but end in the “flesh” – just like the Galatians (3:3). Let’s look at this issue in depth.
What is a Christian?
What makes a person a Christian? Is it believing a list of things? Is it going forward and praying a “sinner’s prayer”? What happens to a person when they are “saved”? What does it mean to be “born again”? I believe there is quite a bit of false conversion going on. Ultimately, you judge by their fruit. Just because someone attends church and says they are a Christian, doesn’t make it so. Has their life changed? Do they love God more than anything? Or do they just seem to be just the same old people with a new vocabulary? Or, even if they did get saved, are they going on in the flesh or the spirit?
In John 3, Jesus is having a discussion with a Jewish rabbi named Nicodemus and he is discussing the three part nature of man. In the first book of the Bible in the garden of Eden God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to our likeness.” (Genesis 1:26) Notice the plural. We see God creating man’s body out of the dust of the ground. Then he breathed into man the breath of life and he became a “living soul.” We all know we have a body (the shell or husk our soul lives in). Our soul is us – our mind, will and emotions. Our human spirit is the temple of God – that part of us that is born again, regenerated. (I Cor. 6:16) It is also that part of us that died when Adam and Eve ate of the “tree of knowledge of good and evil”. For detail, please read John 3.
True salvation is a process that ends in our spirit being brought to life – “born again.” (thus the term). But it also begins with the Holy Spirit convicting the world of sin, righteousness and judgment (John 16:8). I remember driving to work one day listening to Family Life Today discuss salvation in young children. They made the point that conviction of sin is absolutely essential to salvation – something often ignored in today’s mega “seeker friendly” churches where they don’t like to bring up the negative. The radio program pointed out how some people like Martin Luther struggled for years with conviction before finding salvation through grace alone. People need to see their own sinful nature. I’ll never forget that Easter Sunday morning in 1954 as the pastor of Montebello’s First Baptist Church spoke. As a boy of 11, I knew I was such a sinner that if I were to die, I would go to hell. It is interesting that the verse goes on to say we are convicted of “righteousness” – the righteous nature of God – and we fall short and can never come up to His standard, but Jesus did that for us taking the “judgment” we deserved.
We see this picture because the Holy Spirit is working in our hearts and reveals it to us. When we are born again, our spirit comes alive and the Holy Spirit inhabits it and we really become the temple of God. We become a new creature in Christ. Old things have passed away. Behold all things become new! If you are a true Christian, you have experienced this change and seen it in others.
Still Born!!!
Then all of the sudden something happens. We lose our first love. We lose the joy of our salvation. We started out with a bang, telling all our friends and relatives about what we found but soon we find our only friends are other Christians. We go to church and are excited to learn. Learning seems to be the key so the new Christian reads, attends Bible studies and soaks up sermons. It all seems so fresh and new. We start to learn the weird churchy vocabulary. We learn how Christians ought to act but we feel like something is shriveling up inside. What is happening?
I tell you the truth. This happened to me and it happens to most Christians. Knowledge is equated with growth and the more you learn, the more distant God becomes. That thrilling relationship you once had with Jesus becomes a distant memory but it is replaced with programs, teachings and activity. Then one day a guest speaker comes to the church and something speaks to your heart. You turn to the Lord and get that fresh touch once again. Then it fades. You go to summer camp and something sparks that relationship once again. What is happening here?
We are like blind people thrashing around in the dark. Every now and then we accidentally hit upon the switch and the lights go on. “Lord where have you been? Where did you go? I’ve missed you.” What happens to us from time to time in our Christian lives that we should experience every day? We have substituted the trappings of Christianity for the simplicity of that relationship with Christ.
Walking in the Light
The answer is not that mysterious. I John lays it out very well. I would encourage you to read the whole book several times. It is all there. Here is the most basic problem (I John 1:5): “God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all”. What separated us from a relationship with God to begin with? Sin, very simply. What comes between us after we become Christians? Sin.
Verses 6 and 7 go on to say, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the light as he Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” Verse 9 goes on, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
This may sound obvious, crazy or too easy, but this is the secret to the Christian life. This is the key to fellowship with the Lord and one another. It is not mechanical. It is not just mouthing some words. It is not like the Catholics confession of sins. This involves exercising your human spirit – opening your heart to God, letting His light shine in and confess the sin He illuminates (otherwise you may not know where to start or end). This will lead you into fellowship, revelation, direction for your life. Colossians 2:6 says, “As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.” This is what “walking in the light,” “walking in the Spirit” and “living in His presence” is all about. And let me tell you, most so-called Christians don’t have the foggiest idea what I am talking about. Even most pastors don’t. Most either don’t realize that we have a human spirit, let alone the importance of it in our fellowship with the Lord. John 4:24 declares, “God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” It couldn’t be more clear. God is Spirit and if we are going to contact Him, it must be with our human spirit (notice with a small “s”). You have eyes to see, ears to hear and a regenerated human spirit which you use to fellowship with God. If you try and feel God with your emotions or understand and learn about God with your mind, you can miss Him completely.
Remember, we started out with “repent…behold I stand at the door and knock…” The church is in the state it is in today because Christians don’t have a clue how to get into the presence of God. They are going through the motions. No wonder the rest of the world mocks Christians. It is a sad commentary, but I know of more “Christians” who are estranged from one another than you can imagine. We should be hanging on to one another for dear life in this leaky little life boat. I John 4 nails it again when he encourages us to love one another and if we don’t, we don’t love God (verse 8). If we say we love God but hate our brother, he is a liar… (verse 20)
If we are truly in fellowship with God, we will be in fellowship with one another. Why does the church seem dead and ineffectual? Because no one knows where the switch is. Few realize they even have a human spirit and even fewer know how to use it. If they did, the world would be on fire with the presence of God.
I was a Christian for nearly 10 years until someone shared this with me. And I’m not perfect. I’ve gone for days, weeks, and months either going through the motions or in rebellion – acting like a Christian out to act but dead inside – living in the flesh. But, praise God, I also know what it is like to flip the switch, to have that fellowship, to deal with what the Lord shows me, to fellowship with Him and let Him work in me.
Stand and Deliver
Brothers and sisters, if these are the “last days” and if we are close to that irruption in the Middle East called the Gog-Magog War – which we have written about so much on this website. Then, we are also close to the signing of a defense treaty between the antichrist and Israel. We are close to a time of great deception – the greatest deception the world has ever seen and only those who live and move and have their being will escape the deception and stand with others as a loving corporate testimony of believers. We are also close to the greatest tribulation the world has ever seen but we have the secret – “And they overcame him because of the blood of the lamb and because of the word of their testimony and they loved not their lives even unto death.” (Rev. 12:11) Notice that this is a corporate testimony – “they overcame – their testimony and love not their lives”. Do you want to be ready in that day? Then, you have to find that switch and keep it turned on! It is simply called walking in the spirit. Then God will transform your life, keep you from the world and build you up with other Christians who are also walking in the light.
The core of your being is the human spirit, the temple of the living God. When you use your human spirit, you let God’s light shine in. You fellowship with Him and are transformed (II Cor 3:18) from the inside out. The human spirit is the organ you use to fellowship with Him. He indwells your human spirit. Transformation comes as you fellowship with Him in your human spirit. The key is in dealing with your conscience, dealing with sin and realizing that His blood cleanses (I John 1:9) you so the fellowship remains open.
I doubt that you have ever heard a sermon about this. Priests and pastors will never put it so simply. Why? Because this is the essence of the priesthood of all believers. You have the same access to God as they do. Once you learn how to flip the switch consistently and touch the living God, you will never be the same! His life will minister through you to others. You will discover the true meaning of your life as you allow God to flow His life through your weak human vessel. The Bible will come to life. You will understand it like you never have before.
Christian ministry doesn’t depend on training – Bible School and Seminary. “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. (II Cor 3:7) If God is working in you, you will have a ministry. You will make an impact on the world around you. You will be drawn to others in a corporate testimony. The church is not a one man show but a body where everyone allows the life of Christ to flow. If this happens we don’t have to go “In Search of the Last Days Church”, we will be the church – not an organization, a building or a program or something we “plant” but a living organism.
Our goal shouldn’t be to force one another into a preconceived mold of what we think a Christian ought to be. It shouldn’t be to beat one another up with accountability, tracking every little thing we do. It should be to encourage one another to discover how to use their human spirit, how to flip the switch on, how to let God deal with us, how to fellowship with Him, how to live in the light, let Him change and transform us, develop His ministry in and through us. We should be more concerned about our brothers than ourselves, pray that each will discover the key, that each will take the time to let His transforming power do the work.
We don’t call ourselves “The Tribulation Network” for nothing. Now is the time to prepare. The work of God in us takes time. If we are to face the most challenging, deceptive time in human history in our generation, we need a new vision of His work in us, His work in the church – a new paradigm that has nothing to do with clergy, church buildings, programs, teachings, worship groups and accountability groups and everything to do with His fresh work in the hearts of His people.
dene@the-tribulation-network.com