I see in the rich young ruler a man who was very sad and disheartened when it was made clear to him by Jesus Himself that “keeping all of the commandments since my birth” (works) wasn’t going to earn him salvation. To me, the position of works based salvation diminishes God’s grace that He extended to us, and it diminishes what Jesus did on the cross for us. God’s grace, love, peace, and mercy don’t need any help from us.
Originally Posted by Tyrone
I think it's patently obvious that Jesus was asking him for more works.
To me, it’s more about that first, Jesus made it clear to the rich young ruler that he wasn’t going to earn salvation by his good works. And ‘then’ Jesus changed the subject to money…something that He talked about more than Heaven itself…because He recognized that his love of his wealth was another source of the rich young ruler’s problem (in addition to him mistakenly thinking that his good works could earn him salvation).
Originally Posted by Tyrone
This get's back to the original question of the thread.
Originally Posted by antlers
Does ‘the Church’…the body of believers, individually and collectively…bear any responsibility at all……? When young people come home from college with real academic questions about the faith of Christianity (for example), and they’re given Sunday School answers, does that have a negative impact…? When they’re told they must believe in the literal 6 day creation in Genesis (for example) in order to believe The Gospel, does that have a negative impact…? When they see Christians selectively ranking sin, and focusing on the moral failures of others while ignoring their own moral failures, and pretending that someone else’s sin is worse than their own sin, does that have a negative impact…?
Originally Posted by Tyrone
Sure, there's a lot of factors. But antinomianism is probably the biggest. It is the most recently fashionable. It's a perfect sin for us over-entertained moderns who think they have to be entertained every waking moment. The other things that you perceive as failings have been going on since the beginning of time.
I certainly don’t think that Christianity is declining by leaps and bounds in America because of the position that Jesus’ followers are freed by God’s grace from the necessity of obeying the Mosaic Law. And I’ve yet to know of anyone who walked away from Christianity for reasons that had anything to do with the original version of the faith.
I think it’s possible that the decline of Christianity in America is partially because the church…and many in it…pound it into people that the Bible is the basis of Christianity. It’s not, and it never has been. When the faith stands on anything other than Jesus…and especially His resurrection…it is weakened and set up to fail and fall.
I also think it’s possible that the decline is partially due to the fact that ‘the church’ doesn’t make a lotta people feel very welcome. It wasn’t just Jesus’ message that made Him attractive to other’s; He clearly liked people who were nothing like Him. And He invited them to follow Him…despite them being completely unlike Him in nearly every way…and embrace something that was brand new, and they felt welcomed and accepted His invitation.
And a lotta people have had a lotta bad experiences with ‘the church’ and most of em’ were likely due to ‘the church’ or someone in it prioritizing their religious views over people themselves ~ and that’s something that Jesus ‘never’ did. He even instructed His followers not to do it either. Legalism and self-righteousness are leftovers of the old covenant rules and regulations, which Jesus replaced by His ‘work’ on the cross.
I think it’s possible that a lotta people who feel they’ve been diminished by the church or someone in it…or a lotta people who are just burned out in their faith for whatever reason or reasons…can take a step back toward Jesus and shed whatever religious baggage they have, by realizing that the foundation of the faith is an event (the resurrection) and a person (Jesus), it’s not a book.
I also think it’s possible that if ‘the church’ really wants people to stop leaving Christianity…if they really want the faith to be attractive again…then maybe they oughta take another look at the original movement that Jesus Himself started over a couple of thousand years ago.
You are not even close to the reason young people are leaving the church. Pole after pole shows it's because they believe in millions of years and evolution.
"Only Christ is the fullness of God's revelation." Everyday Hunter
