bits from bob....

"Jesus loves me, this I know...."

by Robert J. Young
©, 2001, Robert J. Young
[permission is given to reprint with credit noted]

The continued turmoil in our country regarding religion is a sign of the problem. The disagreement facing one religious group which cannot decide what to do with a divorced pastor focuses the question: "How can we effectively communicate the message of reconciliation which God has entrusted to us?" Without fear of contradiction, I affirm that televangelism scandals, financial maneuverings, death threats, and doctrinal wranglings do little to encourage faith in modern, organized religion, and do much to discourage allegiance and involvement with the church in any form. Many wring their hands and ask how the church can survive in a world that is "down on religion."

I, however, see another side--a positive side. Maybe what this world needs is not faith in the church so much as faith in Christ. And maybe, even in the churches of Christ, we need to be called back to the realization that what makes us tick spiritually is our faith in Christ, and that our association together in the Body is a function of that faith in Christ, and is not an end in itself. Our allegiance is to the Head, and to the Body only because it belongs to the Head. The Head always has been, is, and always will be Supreme!

A church which has a firm grasp of this aspect of New Testament Christianity will likely not suffer much in the religious fiascos of the day; in fact, such a call to Christ apart from current religious trappings might even appear as a fresh freeze in a stifling religious world. What shall we preach? The people I know, struggling through the world, more than anything else simply want to know, "Jesus loves me, this I know...." I hope we can grasp and communicate that truth in our lost and dying world. Otherwise, the church we know may topple with the religious world it has come to resemble too closely!


Go to Articles Index

Return to Home Page

http://www.bobyoungresources.com/articles/1_1025.htm
Last updated November 23, 2001.