Why is it that many Christians fail to come to church just because they don't want to? Why is it that Christians give about 2% of their income? Why is it that 95% of Christians will never lead a soul to Christ? Why is it that in surveys of morality that Christians don't act differently from those who are non-Christians? Why are there so many fights within churches and within denominations? Why is it that non-Christians think Christians are hypocrites? Just one answer: We have heart problems.
The church is not the buildings. It is the people. These people are special to God. They are His children. Most of them were adopted. There are really very few Jews who make up the church. They are His chosen people by birth. Christians (not Jewish Christians) are His chosen people by adoption.
There are only one solution to the heart problem. One is that many of the people in the church are not really Christians. They have made an intellectual agreement to become a part of the church. They have made their mothers happy by being baptized but they do not really believe any more in Jesus than they believe in the Lion's club. They attend, give and occasionally serve but they have not given their hearts away. Therefore, their actions reflect their true heart.
The church is in need of salvation; not reformation. She is Christian in name and even contains Christians but there are too many people who pretend to be Christians to make the difference that Christ wants from His church.
How did this happen? Maybe churches were so interested in counting their baptisms that they failed to examine the ones being baptized. Maybe the church was more interested in the shade that a large membership provides that it fails to seek the fruit that the Lord provides. Maybe those who became the leaders didn't know they weren't Christians because they looked just like those around them. Maybe the church lost its first love for the Lord and sought bigger buildings and a bigger name for itself. Maybe its all of these things and more.
One things is for sure: God gives new hearts to those who come to Him. People with heart problems don't seem to have that heart. They continue to give people hell after He told them to give people heaven. They either need repentance in the worst way or they need salvation.
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. This is the fruit that comes from a Christian. Anything less is a heart problem.
Ezekiel 11:19 (NKJV)
Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh.
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