God is not merely a means to an end but is the end, the beginning and everything in between. Using God only as a means to an end has been a problem of some on the religious left but now has also become a problem with the religious right, that is, it's polar opposite efforts to spread it's beliefs globally through the use of military force gilded in a restorationist dominion theology. With the right it is now as if that crusade has overcome the priority of God. This trait of using God only as a means to an end usually had been more characteristic of some on the religious left which did not really desire to get to know God personally meaning they would have to have a rejuvenated spirit truly transformed by new spiritual birth which then of course means you could no longer fake anything, you would have to stop the personal sins, not that the religious left have anything on the right when it comes to the flesh, but more in the sense of the personal sexual guidelines set down in the commandments. You see when a person is truly born of the spirit and grows in the spirit they recognize the futility of pursuing fleshly desires. The christian left normally did not emphasize much of the personal religious experience but emphasized more so the outward social transformations that should take place under the rule of a Christian God. They, the left, were mainly into promoting world peace and feeding the hungry. In religious left writings it was not hard to glean their emphasis on peace and hunger at the cost of the personal experience that God so wants to have with every person on earth. It was as if God is just being used to achieve these nobel ideals of peace and food for all without any real connection to God himself. God wants to have a sincere personal relationship with you, change your life and then have you support peace and eradicate hunger.
This seems to be the great paradox of American christianity, that there are these two seemingly polarized groups, the religious right which emphasize the personal relationship but resist efforts to organize for peace and then the left which have all the altruistic measures down so very well but rely on that outward approach seemingly in place of the personal sacrifices which must follow one truly renewed in the spirit of God. It seems the good of the right and left never satisfactorily mix but God wants both. He wants to have a personal relationship with us, each individually, transformed into a spiritual person dependent on Him looking and praying to Him daily for guidance and living for Him to evangelize others and increase the kingdom of God lest our lives be in vain for ourselves. Transformed spirits freed from the shackels of the flesh, in the world but overcoming the world. Overcoming the world not only means overcoming the flesh and personal sins but also means overcoming the love of money, greed, that dark gravity that pulls down so many and impairs a world from becoming all it can be in the eyes of God. A world loving it's neigbor as itself meaning putting the needs of people over the pursuit of money. It is greed and fear that impairs cooperation of people and nations impeding their cooperation to bring health care to all and food and assistance to the poor worldwide as it should be. The paradox should be broken.
The church should be doing all these things and spiritual leaders should be preaching the total christian to their assemblies and gatherings. This is the witness that God wants to see for His church and it is the most powerful witness, that is, a church more without spot or blemish. It has been too easy in embracing life in America sluffing off the spiritual commitment necessary to live as God would have us live, empowered by His Holy Spirit. The power for the christian in this world comes from the indwellling support of the Holy Spirit and too much of the church in America seek to fulfill the scripture, "they love to speak of God but deny the power thereof". If you deny the gifts of the Spirit needed to battle darkness in this world you are denying the power thereof from God. The key is to just accept all that God has for us as christians. Stop reading books that tell you what and how to believe or what you should leave out, emphasize or de-emphasize, just read the word of God in a modern english translation and you will see what so many sides right and left, protestant and catholic have passed over only because they did not embrace the fullness of God which would have given them the confidence that they could live up to all God wanted. We are not expected to be perfect, we are just expected to sincerely aspire to the standard of God for us. Our repentance to God and acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Lord opens up to us that door to His overcoming power. All we have to do is accept it fully, as it was intended. A lot of things were a little scary at first, learning to ride a bike, speaking in front of crowds but we always got our second breath, our stepping up to the higher level. Well, so it goes with God's fullness. A little scary at first but then you see how we truly overcome the flesh, fear and greed. We struggle at first but then are uplifted with the overcoming spirit of God to approximate the total chrisian, to seek the rebirth of ourselves with integrity strengthened by God's Spirit, then reaching out to evangelize, feed the poor, heal the sick and promote peace. Promoting peace through the fruits of evangelizing, feeding the poor and healing the sick but also by opposing man's efforts to destroy himself and the creator's creation.
And not that any of us can be the total body of Christ but rather that we pray for all the parts as the total christian, not lost in misguided doctrines of men that shield us from understanding the correct things to pray for but grounded in the complete word of God praying for all as we should be. Turning from using God only as a means to our own ideolgical end and then embracing God's fullness for us to accomplish His ends that are the only ends that will truly solve our deepest problems in this world and this life.
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