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Pastor Dang Minh Lanh
Translated
by Tristan Nguyen
I’m
very sad to say that “Undeveloped” is an uncured illness
of a lot of churches. Each
church has around a hand full of members; and ten years later,
they still have that many people.
Why? If we
observe a racing boat and an old man with a small boat
carrying people, we will have the answer for the above
question. Church
becomes powerless, has no influence on the community around
them. The people
who study about this illness show us that pagan religions are
the reason for the church not developing.
What
is a pagan religion? A
church can be called a pagan church when its teachings and
doings go against the Bible.
Pagan religion is very dangerous because it can destroy
God’s plan. One
of the things that lead the church to become pagan church is
dictatorship. A
pagan church would recognize the important of leadership and
forget the members. On
the other hand, a pagan church can also recognize the
important of its members and forget God’s servant.
Any of the above symptoms will paralyzed the church and
take away God’s glory.
Paul
recognized the important of “the whole body,” (Ephesians
4:16). Each parts
of the body have a distinct function, but no part is more
important than another. Any
church that can erase the gap between its members and
leadership will be able to carry out important job that God
had given to us.
What
are the signs of pagan religion?
It’s the separation between the leader and its members.
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This division carried out in 4 ways:
·
Not
involve members into God’s works
·
The
leaders do all the work
·
All
hope are put on the leaders’ shoulders
·
Use
earthly cleverness to draw more members to ensure financial
stability.
The members are not ask to do God’s works because they’re
do not know God’s words, spiritually young, and many more
other reasons.
Where does pagan religion lead the church?
1.
God’s plan become man’s idea.
2.
Serving God is limited.
3.
The pastor does all the work.
4.
The church will not develop
5.
The members will be weak in spiritual health.
6.
The community will not benefit from the church.
7.
Sinners will not be saved.
Considering seven consequences that pagan religion brings to
us, who among us will not fear?
To avoid this illness, we have to go back to God’s
words and all the standards God had given us (Acts 6:1-7).
We must forget about ourselves, and work together in
Christ. Let Christ be the leader of the church where HE should be.
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