The Excluded Christ

CHAPTER 3 THE EXCLUDED CHRIST
Our Heavenly Father we ask you to be present and speak to the heart. This one who reads is seeking your guidance and loving care. Send the Holy Spirit to heal any hurt and show how much you care and love us. We know Lord that you have given each special gift for a specific purpose. Thank you Lord for caring enough to listen as our hearts seek you and loving enough to send your only son to die for our sins. In Jesus name we ask all things.

As we once again come into the presence of Almighty God let us each think about Jesus and how he has been excluded. How was He treated when he walked the earth? How is he treated today?

Most will quickly exclaim He is not excluded has not been excluded. Many will take offence with such a statement.
Truth is He has been left out of many churches and many Christian’s lives. Oh He is talked about, held in high esteem, but few know Him. We celebrate His birth and His resurrection; we use His name in vane and pray well-rehearsed prayers asking for God to bless us in His name, yet we really don’t know who Jesus truly is. Yes he is God’s only son but he is so much more.
As we begin let me call your attention to three things Jesus has been excluded from.
First he was excluded from his own people. The thirteenth chapter of Matthew tells us a story of how Jesus had been teaching and preaching and was coming to his hometown. What should have been a joyous reunion was turned into something that resembled a riot. . A great welcoming should have been in the offing, but instead He was met with doubt and indifference. Much like He is met with today. You must understand Jesus loved those people and wanted to bless them. His heart was filled with the love He had for the people of his hometown. What did they do to make him feel so dejected? They simply refused to hear Him. In fact they mocked him. They all said, “Isn’t he just the carpenter’s son?” He and his teaching offended them. Jesus has been excluded ever since He came into this world. Lets face it he came into this world through the barn and physically left by a borrowed tomb. I firmly believe this is because He did not teach along the traditional lines accepted as doctrine. I’m sure there were no churches then and there are no churches now that would call Jesus as their pastor. Now wait a minute sure we would want Jesus as our pastor. Really? Think about what that would mean. If you will read what Jesus taught about how we should live and love and conduct our business would you truly want someone like that as your pastor? We might have to make some changes in our lives! You know the love your neighbor as yourself thing. Or do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Yep I bet we would have to make some changes.
Jesus said in Matthew 23:13 that the Pharisees shut up heaven to sinners. Today we don’t call them Pharisees we call them church members, deacons, elders, bishops, cardinals, and pastors. However, the result is the same heaven is shut to sinners. Those who refuse to let God work in His church do this today. All they do is insist on teaching the doctrines of men instead of the doctrines of God. While the man made doctrines are pleasing to men God is not at all pleased with the results. The Bible says men are lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. There are those in the church who have such a sour attitude that the spirit is quenched and in some cases driven completely out. It is strange, though, that if Doctor So-in-So proclaimed it from the pulpit then it must be from God. In some cases this is true. God still speaks through those He calls. There are many pastors today who God is using in a mighty way. Yet there are many false prophets who are speaking today. The only way to be sure of what is being said is to be in tune with God. God is not the author of confusion. Whether true or false most will blindly follow never questioning the source or the validity of what is said, especially if the message is emotionally charged. If Jesus were a member of some churches he would have been dropped from the roll long ago for non-attendance. Not by His choice but because He is not welcome in the very church He died for. That is very sad. Just like the people of Nazareth we many times reject the Son of God.

The second thing Jesus has been excluded from is the world. In Matthew 27:22-36 we find a record of the trial of Jesus. Pilate asks what should be done with Jesus for I find no fault in him. The religious crowd shouted, “Let him be crucified.” They mocked him spit in his face yet only a few hours earlier they wanted to crown him king. Now they want to nail him to a cross.
Many today still crucify Jesus. How you say do we crucify Jesus? By your unbelief, by you’re of lack of faith, by backbiting and griping, by not wanting to forgive a brother or sister. By your unwillingness to follow where God leads. By your disbelief that God can still work miracles in this life. The list could go on and on as to why and how we still crucify Jesus.
The world today still excludes Jesus. Hey, it’s not popular to serve God. Men are lovers of pleasure more that lovers of God. More and more preachers are fond of the fame, glory, money and the adoration of men than they are of the adoration of God. They want to be popular with man rather than be pleasing to God.
Politics in the church kills mission work and church growth. Why? Because for God to get the glory man must take a back seat, and man does not want to be in the shadows.

The saddest and most cruel exclusion is from His church.
This is brought to light in Revelations 3:20 “Behold I stand at the door and knock.” If Jesus is standing knocking on the door he must be on the outside. Sadly today Jesus is locked out of the very church he died for. Let me say that Jesus did not die for buildings or land. He died for people. People then are the church not the buildings, not the buses, not the programs, not the government and certainly not the stage show productions.
Jesus said the Pharisees shut up heaven to sinners in Matthew 23:13. This was the religious crowd the church leaders of Jesus day. Those who were at the temple doing all the church things, performing all the rituals, standing and speaking memorized prayers, singing hymns and reading from the book of the law. These people were so wrapped up in religion they missed the Son of God. Today there are those who will not let God work in the church because of their bitterness, unforgiving spirit and their lack of concern for the lost. They will not let him work in their lives because they are more concerned with popularity than with the things of God. Like the Pharisees of old they are lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. Heaven help us if anyone should want God to work in the lives of others. In other words the modern Pharisee kills the spirit by their attitude.
As I worked on this God gave me the following poem that gives a picture of what is happening in the church today.



The Cowboy Came to Church© By Mike Holman
The old cowboy came in his soul to feed
He came in from a world cold and in need
His jeans were clean his shirt hardly new
There was mud on his boots hat dusty too
His hands were callused his coat well worn
Looked like he had weathered many a storm
He sat down on a pew far from the back
And he took a worn bible from an old canvas sack
A finely dressed usher from his nose looked down
“Can I help you he ask are you lost you new in town”
“Naw”, the cowboy just shook his head
“I just come to worship and get my soul fed
Been out on the range where it’s lonesome and cold
I just longed to hear about them streets of pure gold
To hear a sweet song about the love on the cross
Telling how Jesus came and died for the lost”
“You can’t set there that is the deacon’s pew
You’ll have to move for we have quite a few”
“Not a problem”, he said “I’ll just move back”
“Oh not there we have that one for Mrs. Black”
“Come on Lord”, the cowboy said
“Let’s get back there’s cows to be fed
We’re not welcome here that’s a sure bet
Don’t have a clue where they want us to set”
Putting his bible back in the sack
Picked up his hat and strolled to the back
As he stopped at the door a voice rang clear
“Shake the dust from your boots We aint welcome here”

It is a sad thing but prayers may even be stopped due to the spirit of some in the church. Look in the book of Exodus and you will find how negative votes almost stopped Israel from crossing Jordan to the land of milk and honey. Today many pray only with their mouth. The Bible says as a man is in his heart so is he. Proverbs 6 states God hates a proud look and a lying tongue. God looks at the heart He does not listen to the mouth. Jesus said about the Pharisees, “ And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are; for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.” Matt 6:5
I feel it is time to reinstate Jesus into his rightful place, into our hearts into our ministries and into our churches. He has been excluded long enough.
Why just once can’t we do things God’s way and stop following the traditions of men? Let us not exclude Christ any longer.