Much of Christ’s earthly ministry was spent with the outcasts of society, the prostitutes, tax collectors and handicapped rather then with the elite of society for the former group, recognizing their need for a Savior, were receptive to His teachings, while the later group, the church leaders, felt themselves in no need of a Savior, being sufficient until themselves, therefore, they were foremast in rejecting Christ when He pointed out their fatal error of self-delusion.
For many years, the Lord has sent us from church to church, giving the elite of these churches, the leadership, the opportunity to see themselves as Christ sees them, filled with prejudice, pride, and self-sufficiency. Not that we welcome this mission field, for we are often rejected and ignored by the leadership of the churches, and through their example, by the laity as well.
Christ desires each of us to perfectly reflect His character of self-sacrificing love, therefore, He allows circumstances to conspire to reveal to the sinner, our defects and need of Christ’s grace. He has an iron determination that not the slightest taint or blemish, fault or sin shall remain in us, the much beloved. To accomplish the cleansing process in our characters, He must first reveal our defects. This He accomplishes by bringing us in touch with our less fortunate brothers and sisters that the Holy Spirit may fill us with love, compassion, mercy and a willingness to sacrifice our interests to meet their needs.
There is something about blindness that causes people to turn away from the one thus afflicted, manifesting a cold spirit of indifference in the face of their genuine needs, thus, Christ places people, with this affliction, in close proximity to His children that He may reveal the true sentiment of our hearts.
When we moved to Susanville, CA, at the providential direction of the Lord, we contacted the minister of the local church. Much to our consternation, we encountered a cold shoulder unprecedented in our experience. He ignored our request for help with such indifference and hostility that it became painfully apparent to us that our missionary tour in this area had failed even before it started.
I must hasten to say that we never sought out this mission field, but it was thrust upon us by the Lord and we can only follow His providential guidance.
When I finally meat the Minister in person, I inquired of Him if he wanted us in his church. His response, “it depends on why your here and what you want from the church.”
It depends! I thought all sinners were welcome in Christ’s church, regardless of circumstances, but, apparently, this minister, who shall remain anonymous, had a different idea.
In the book of Revelation, Christ says of the Laodecean church, “I would that you were cold or hot.” This minister is cold, therefore, there remains the hope that he will yet respond to the invitation of the Lord, confess his sin, and find restoration as one of Christ’s children. It is regrettable, however, that he is a minister, representing himself as Christ’s ambassador, imparting the words of the Lord to his congregation, for they, discerning his character, will see in it a manifestation of the character of Christ. What is he teaching them but that Christ is cold and indifferent to the less fortunate. It would have been better for this man that he never entered the ministry but sought out employment as a carpenter or plumber for then he would not be responsible for imparting to a large number of people a false representing of the character of Christ which could be the means for driving them away from Christ into the tender embrace of Satan.
Fearful is the condition of the unfaithful minister in the time of the judgement when Christ shall require of them an accounting of their ministry. He shall then require of them the blood of the souls who perished under their false representations of Christ. While this minister may be reclaimed by the love of God, I fear that some of Christ’s blood-bought sons and daughters may perish eternally because of his unfaithfulness.
Our mission is closed here in Susanville and we shall soon move on but this experience is but a foretaste of the future when many shall spurn the personal revelations of the Holy Spirit for they are distasteful to the unconverted heart.