Ed Stetzer provided the details: “Our culture has 3 Christian sub-groups: cultural, congregational, and convictional. The first two identify, but do not shape their lives around the Christian faith. They see themselves as connected through heritage or involvement.”
The last shape their lives around their faith. Stetzer says that Christianity means “different things to different people, and that while all are valid, not all are equal.” Of course this philosophy has become the mindset of so many that it’s difficult for people to hear what the scripture actually declares. The scripture is by no private interpretation. Neither the Bible nor Christianity, can be defined by opinions. And finally, God is not a different God to segments or groups.
The great danger is when we veer from the established Word which declares Jesus as God; Baptism as necessary for salvation; the Holy Ghost as the Spirit infilling; and God’s call to be separate from the world. Who said we could choose what we like and what we can discard? Who told us that everyone’s view is valid and that the Bible is a book of choices and options?
The Bible is God’s Word. It’s not a tool for our pleasure. Christianity originated by people who obeyed the doctrine of Jesus Christ. He told us that no one could enter the Kingdom of God unless
they were born again of water and the Spirit. Jesus said, “unless you believe that I am He (God-Jehovah-Creator-Savior) you will die in your sins.” The scripture is the inspired Word; the God-breathed book that transcends conventional wisdom and secularism.
We are not Christianity by association, nor are we tied by denomination, and I might even refute that we should shape our lives around the Christian faith. No, the scripture shapes us. The Faith molds us. God’s commandments are our bidding and “In Him we live and move and have our being.”
Pastor Jeffrey Harpole