Missing the mission

Pastor Rasheed Z. Baaith
Pastor Rasheed Z. Baaith

Missing the mission

By Pastor Rasheed Z. Baaith

 

    “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God…” (Acts 26:18a KJV)

    This present time we are living in a dangerous time for the church as it is a dangerous time for the entire world. Yet it is precisely for these times that God ordained His Church.  In this epoch of such uncertainty, the Church should be a sanctuary of not only theological stability but of peace in the midst of such great social confusion. 

    If that is so and it is, then the Church is failing most miserably in its mission.  Instead of being the voice and place of God based reason, it has allowed its behavior to be as be-fuddled and reactionary as the world outside its doors.

    We are caught up in arguments over music: is it Gospel or Spiritual; are the lyrics Scripturally based or carnal in nature; does what they call Gospel hip-hop have a place in our music ministry and if the artist in any of these genres is obviously living a sin life, should we accept their music by excusing their behavior?

    There is debate, bitter and protracted, over the issue of homosexuality and the miserably of same sex marriage. It is a confrontation that is going to determine the Church’s belief in the Infallibility of the revealed Word of God and how the Church lives the Word.

    What of the moral issues centered on those who stand in our pulpits?  How long will the church excuse the deliberate and predatory behavior of some of our preachers?  The issue here is not someone who fell and got back up, the issue are those Pastors who day in and day out sexually victimize church members, both male and female.  Those in the pulpit who molest our children, stealing their innocence and scarring their minds.

    Then there are those in our pulpits preaching their own version of a gospel.  Teaching people to have faith in what they say and what they publish or in the attendance of conferences instead of a reliance on God.  A gospel that teaches that your season and your break through, and your ship will come if when you give them your money.   What Bible is that written in?

    What about women preaching and if they are allowed to preach, should they be allowed to pastor?  Are the titles of Prophet, Prophetess, and Apostle as valid in today’s church and it was in the Early Church?

    And these are just the most contentious matters of the entire Body of Christ.  Each local ministry is dealing with problems specific to itself.  We’re so busy fighting and arguing with each other, we let the devil run wild.  He is destroying our people with everything from drugs to witchcraft and we’re destroying the Church.

    Yet the solution to all of these disputes is readily available.  All we have to do is see what God says about the matter in the Bible.  Unfortunately, many of us don’t want the un-varnished Word of God as it is written, we want something else. We want a Gospel that we are comfortable with, one that is non-confrontational, and one that is permissive. Those are the same wants the Pharisees and the Sadducees had.

    We need, those of us in the Church, need to pray that we be given the same mind that is in Christ: a mind of compassion not compromise, of courage and not fear, and of love not confusion.

 

About Carma Henry 24481 Articles
Carma Lynn Henry Westside Gazette Newspaper 545 N.W. 7th Terrace, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33311 Office: (954) 525-1489 Fax: (954) 525-1861

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