Calling all the followers of the living God
It's time we rise up, rise up
Our God is calling after
All of His sons and daughters
He's calling us to follow
Although the road is narrow
We trust in His great freedom
We long to see His kingdom
It's time to...
Rise up church, shine your light
Rise up death, time to come alive
Rise up love, lead us in the fight
Children of God, let's rise up
Come every generation
All people, all ye nations
We stand and raise our voices
Lift up the torch of justice
United all for Jesus
The Lord our God is with us
It's time to...
Rise up church, shine your light
Rise up death, time to come alive
Rise up love, lead us in the fight
Children of God, let's rise up
Faith is rising
Hope is rising
Love is rising
Oh, it's rising up
Peace is rising
Joy is rising
Truth is rising
Oh, it's rising up
Death is rising
Church is rising
Oh, we are rising up
We're rising up
RISE UP, RISE UP!
The inspiration for today's post, "Rise Up," by Aaron Pelsue Band, is a song I've listened to hundreds of times because it's one of my all-time favorites. I've been a fan of Aaron's music for the past 16 years when He was the worship leader at a church in Indianapolis (E91) my wife and I attended. Aaron was just coming on board as the worship leader when we relocated out of state for my job. Nevertheless, we have watched Aaron's career develop from a distance and championed his music with those we've crossed paths with through the years. What's most compelling to me about this song, outside of its exceptional "rock" arrangement (which I love), are the central themes of UNITY and BOLDNESS which challenge us to stand together as the body of Christ universal, rather than isolate ourselves from one another. In a day and age where relative truth is spreading like wildfire and permeating the theology of many Christian denominations, UNITY is our rallying cry, but BOLDNESS should be our attitude. Bound together, we are the voice of morality, reason and ethics in a perverse culture. Apart from one another, we are weakened to the extent where our collective voice is being drowned out by our inability to reconcile denominational differences. It is a far greater issue than many of us realize because we assume our common thread of "Christianity" is enough to overwhelm the enemy. And while that position may have held true a generation or more ago, in today's culture, our Christian brand is increasingly devalued and fragmented due to disunity compared to secular opposition we are supposed to be unified against. "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12).
Sadly, one cannot drive through the majority of towns in America and not see multiple Christian churches within walking distance of one another, all proudly displaying their denominational affiliations in the name of Christ but sadly, at the expense of one another. In many cases, church buildings stand side by side or directly adjacent to one another, offering a different flavor of Jesus and the Bible to appease the appetite of those seeking corporate worship and fellowship based on culturally-motivated personal preferences rather than doctrine. What should be more alarming to us are the staggering (and quickly increasing) number of churches across the globe who barely even reference the Bible in sermons or misrepresent/misinterpret God's Word through false teaching. It's not surprising, though, considering watered down or "feel good" messages are much easier to preach because they set the bar extremely low for people to measure themselves against, and require little to no accountability for personal growth. The truth is that church attendance and financial giving increase quickly in shallow, spiritual environments because people can easily be manipulated when false promises of material blessings and salvation by any other means than 100% faith in Jesus are preached from the pulpit to appease the flesh. Therefore, we must consider Paul's admonition to Timothy with great attention to detail in order to understand how easily we can be led astray by false teaching. "I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths" (2 Timothy 4:1–4). People often turn away from Biblical accountability because it makes them feel uncomfortable when there is an absolute standard of right and wrong and impending judgement on personal choices made throughout life. However, that should never compel us to soften the edges or disregard portions of God's Word in order to satisfy personal feelings and/or hidden agendas designed to make people feel more comfortable and keep tithes flowing into the church.
The key to UNITY within the church universal is identifying what is doctrinal vs. peripheral in our theology. Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, "I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment" (1 Corinthians 1:10). Divisions in the church are not uncommon as evidenced from the very beginning of Christianity, but we must be careful to consider "doctrinal vs. peripheral," just as Paul did, if we are to thwart Satan's attempt to divide us from within. In other words, the doctrinal pillars of our faith (such as the inerrancy and inspiration of Scripture, the Holy Trinity, Christ's incarnate nature as fully God/man, the virgin birth of Jesus, salvation by grace through faith alone, Christ's resurrection, etc.) are non-negotiable. The Christian faith is devoid of value if our doctrinal foundation is not firm and absolute on these issues and others. However, more often than not, peripheral differences have driven wedges within the church rather than doctrinal pillars. Therefore, we must hold fast to the truth of God's Word with BOLDNESS, unashamed of what it declares cover-to-cover. "But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter" (2 Thessalonians 2:13–15). Generations ago, churches split over such as things as musical preferences, financial stewardship, and unilateral decision making. Fast forward to 2019 and churches are carefully negotiating (not just navigating) their doctrinal position concerning issues such as LGBTQ inclusion, gay marriage, abortion, suicide, euthanasia, etc. How can it be that cultural choices/preferences are gaining momentum as "acceptable" in the eyes of God, despite what the Bible clearly states to the contrary? Have we really degraded Christianity to the point where doctrinal foundations regarding sin are now relative and negotiable? Perhaps more pointedly, have specific Christian churches and denominations chosen to justify sin in order to maintain/increase church attendance and financial giving? How can this be?
In many cases, churches and even complete denominations have flown the white flag of surrender by succumbing to cultural and political pressure under the umbrella of inclusion. Therefore, we must reconcile once and for all what our response will be to the shifting tide of morality crashing upon the shore of our faith. Will we BOLDLY defend God and His Word, UNIFIED with our corporate brethren across the denominational divide? Or will we water down Scripture to the point where only love and grace matter? Because of course, "God would never sentence anyone to eternal hell for their sin and unbelief since that would be unloving" (sarcasm intended). Jesus said, "Everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 10:32–33). Keep in mind, endorsing the Bible as absolute truth in today's post-modernistic environment is a recipe for backlash, persecution, and ironically, judgement. Nevertheless, Jesus assures us, "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you" (Matthew 5:10–12). What we need more than anything is genuine revival in the church at the deepest heart level, because our universal behavior and ideology have morphed into an unrecognizable shell of Christianity which pales in comparison to the original New Testament blueprint. Therefore, we must cling to God's Word because it is our only source of spiritual food sufficient enough to meet our eternal needs, and the only true weapon at our disposal to defeat the kingdom of darkness. "The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether" (Psalm 19:7–9).
UNITY in our doctrine and BOLDNESS to not apologize for what the Bible says are at the crux of our faith, both of which hang in a delicate balance throughout the body of Christ. We may not recognize the severity of denominational separatism, but we are witnessing the beginning of the end if we fail to clearly identify who our enemy is and the tactics he is using to drive wedges between us, which includes false teaching. Paul wrote, "I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive" (Romans 16:17–18). Granted, false teachers are difficult to discern because they intentionally blend Scripture references into their messages to manipulate people into thinking their teaching is Biblically credible. There is nothing new about this tactic, because Satan quoted Scripture to Jesus in the wilderness in order to tempt him to reject God.
"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, 'If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.' But he answered, 'It is written, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God."' Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, 'If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, "He will command his angels concerning you," and "On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone."' Jesus said to him, 'Again it is written, "You shall not put the Lord your God to the test."' Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, 'All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.' Then Jesus said to him, 'Be gone, Satan! For it is written, "You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve."' Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him" (Matthew 4:1–11).
How then does false teaching manifest itself, and how can we can guard against such evil schemes? In his article entitled, "Satan's Bible Knowledge," John Piper offers valuable perspective for us to consider in helping identify false teaching and the misrepresentation of Scripture which is infiltrating the church universal.
"What makes Satan happy is when he can get Christians to believe that Proverbs 15:6 justifies the accumulation of wealth in a world of hunger; that 2 Thessalonians 3:10 abolishes charity; that Romans 9:16 makes evangelism superfluous; that 1 Timothy 2:4 means God is not sovereign in conversion; that John 10:28 means a “Christian” can do whatever he wants and still be saved; that Hebrews 6:4–6 means there is no security and assurance for God’s elect.
Is it a sobering thought that the word of God is the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17)? Yes! And indeed it is. What did Jesus say when Satan quoted Scripture? He said: “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test’” (Matthew 4:7). He quoted Scripture against Satan’s use of Scripture. He knew the Bible better than Satan."
UNITY in our knowledge, understanding and application of God's Word is paramount because it exposes false teaching and allows us to discern what is doctrinal vs. peripheral in our collective theology. However, UNITY also requires we take ownership for our theology and invest the necessary time, attention, submission and obedience it takes to learn, understand and apply what God's Word says. Undoubtedly, there will still be disagreements among denominations on the interpretation of doctrinal issues, but acknowledging that doctrinal truths are absolute is a monumental first step in securing our collective position as a beacon of light and security in a fallen and lost world. Jesus warned, "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness’" (Matthew 7:21–23). Doing the will of God requires BOLDNESS because our world is passionately consumed with destroying our credibility from the ground up. They rejoice when our selfish behavior is no different than their own, because it diminishes any remorseful call to action for the forgiveness of sins. Therefore, the more denominations isolate themselves and navigate the choppy waters of "what is a sin vs. what is not" without surrendering complete authority to Scripture, the more we communicate to the lost and hopeless of this world that our doctrine is negotiable and relative to culture, rather than sovereign and absolute. In other words, when we cannot agree on our doctrinal pillars within the body of Christ, our faith (Christianity itself) gets thrown into the melting pot of post-modernistic thinking, as if it were a side item on a menu anyone can pick and choose from to formulate their personal theology.
Paul summed it up best: "So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind" (Philippians 2:1–2). It takes COURAGE and BOLDNESS to break away from the norm and focus on our similarities vs. differences. In many ways, secular society revels when we boast about ourselves as Baptists, Catholics, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Methodists, Calvinists, Charismatics, Non-Denominational, etc., rather than simply born-again, Bible-believing, followers of Christ. It exposes our pride when our identity of faith is wrapped up in denominational brands rather than God's Word itself. "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account" (Hebrews 4:12–13). Why? Because the flesh will always seek to escape from the conviction of the Bible, which lends itself to false teaching and divisions within the church. "For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect" (Mark 13:22). In the end, the only thing that matters is our doctrine, God's Holy Word, which illuminates absolute truth and guides our thoughts and actions toward repentance, salvation, and ultimately, freedom in Christ. Therefore, may we RISE UP (as our feature song encourages) as children of God and the body of Christ, UNITED in our doctrinal convictions with BOLDNESS to endure trial and persecution rather than compromise the sovereignty of God and His Word. "Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!" (Psalm 133:1). Therefore, rise up, Church, RISE UP!
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