LIVES - FOR ALL ETERNITY - ARE AT STAKE!

We received the following e-mail from a Christian friend - by the name of Rebekah from Trinidad & Tobago - who has started an pro-life NGO because she and others see the legalization of abortion on the horizon there.

Hi!

As I am seeking to understand what is going on and to separate truth from propaganda, I have been praying and these 2 verses came up in my scripture reading this morning. I was asking myself, "What is wrong with an interfaith project? To what extent do we align or work with the unbeliever?" I have met resistance trying to raise the issue of the Emerging Church with my own pastor and his wife.  In fact, I forwarded this article and she told me, "Jesus dined with sinners." End of discussion.

I prayed, read and came across these 2 verses.  I am emotional and passionate about the things of God, His truth and in not causing any to be deceived, including myself. I was reminded that Jesus spoke the truth and this caused divisions in the world - sheep / goat; wheat / chaff.  Am I being too emotional? 

Luke 12:49-56

"I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law." He said to the crowd: "When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, 'It's going to rain,' and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, 'It's going to be hot,' and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don't know how to interpret this present time?"

Here's the answer I sent to her, which might encourage you as you "contend for the faith" (Jude 3)!

Hey Rebekah!

Yes, Jesus ate with sinners, but they were repentant ones! Otherwise, they wouldn't have approached Him. Sin hates being exposed (John 3:20), but a repentant sinner has no problem being in the light. On the common fight for life, I don't see such a problem aligning myself with unbelievers. But when it comes to biblical truth, how can I be aligned with a heretic and an apostate? False teachers were rampant in the Early Church, as they are in the Church today. How did Jesus and Paul deal with them? I'm reading The Jesus You Can't Ignore by John MacArthur (Thomas Nelson, 2009). He points out that Jesus was most opposed to the religious hypocrites of His day. Some misread this and make Jesus into someone against "legalistic" Bible teachers who advocate separation from the world and/or heresy. But Jesus was against those who, in the name of God, took people down the wide path to destruction. I'd compare them to liberal church leaders in the mainline Protestant denominations, to Emerging Church and Contemplative Spirituality leaders (e.g., Rob Bell, Brian McLaren, Eugene Peterson, Dallas Willard, Richard Foster, Brennan Manning, etc.), to Prosperity Gospel leaders (Joel Olsteen, Benny Hinn, Paul & Jan Crouch, Creflo Dollar, Todd Bentley, etc.), to any leader who has moved away from orthodox Bible teaching (or is endorsing those who've moved away: Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, etc.), etc. These guys are wolves - albeit, "nice" wolves, in most cases - in sheep's clothing and are thus dangerous! They are leading so many away from solid, biblical truth! They are, frankly, leading millions to hell!

So, keep being "too emotional!" Then, let your "emotions" turn into a determined effort to expose error wherever it may be found in order to alert the Church in T&T! Lives - for all eternity - are at stake!

Go for it, Rebekah!