The Last Black American Idol: Blessed Assurance

The thought of going home and entering into the kingdom of the Most High is an amazingly joyous one.  No matter what I am going through, I can always think about going home and seeing my Father's face for the first time.  Hallelujah!  It really makes you want to shout!  It makes you want to run up and down the aisles at church like an NFL running back---knocking down ushers and deacons along the way (just kidding). 
But it is that thought that has produced a joy in me that no one can remove, because no one but God put it there.  It is my blessed assurance that because I have repented and believe in Jesus that I am now a joint heir with the son and therefore grafted into the family of God by the spirit of adoption.   That is the joy in every believer. 

That is also the idol that many of us worship.  Many Black Christians hold on so tight to their own salvation; the blessed assurance, that they are not able to move into a deeper relationship with God.  The belief that they don't have to do anything else to be saved is a snare to many in the Black church.  To be blunt, we tend to sit on our blessed assurance and we don't move properly into our roles as God's ambassadors in this fallen world.  We target the thing we want----salvation----and we deny the gift-giver access to our hearts and minds by continuing old patterns of behavior. 

Brothers and Sisters, your blessed assurance is dangerous.  Yes, if you are truly saved that will never change.  However, if you are a Christian and you believe that you can live any kind of way because your are forgiven, then your very lifestyle is a snare and a trap to the unsaved.  There are too many of us in the church who are running around recklessly endangering the salvation of others by calling ourselves Christians and living like the world. 

If you are truly saved, and you understand your salvation, then that should produce in your a thankfulness, a gratefulness that causes you to love Jesus enough to seek his face.  If you understand that every lie, every piece of candy that you stole, every lustful thought you've had about someone who was not your spouse, carries with it a death sentence---then you will understand what God has done for you and it will cause you to be so joyous that you will get serious about working for the kingdom of God, for the glory of God.  Our zeal for God should drive us to understand Him more and better.

But it seems to me that we are woefully ignorant of our faith, of our church history, and of sound biblical doctrine.  If we don't know about our faith then how can we give a reason for the hope that is in us.  How can we be good ambassadors if we are ignorant about the country we represent, and are misguided concerning the King.  It is a shame that Muslims, Hindus, Mormons, Jehovah's witnesses know the Bible as well or better than Christians.  It is like we get saved and give up.  We must not sit around on our assurance and do nothing.  Let Him who began a good work in us continue that work.  We must study the word, meditate on the word, and pray for wisdom and understanding. 

In the next few posts, I am going to examine the pillars of our faith, starting with the Gospel.  Until them, watch this brother give a defense of our faith to these two Mormons.  I must say, he could have been more loving, because we are supposed to combine the truth with love.  However, he made his point using the scripture and sound doctrine.  I wonder how many of us could have done the same, or would we have failed when confronted about our God.