Is our theology making us poor?

March Stomp! – Is our theology making us poor?

A study on church history will reveal that many of the basic truths of the Word of God were lost during the centuries that followed. These truths became buried under man-made theologies, traditions, rituals, and legalism.

“The reason many churches are weak and ineffective is because they do not understand what they have in Christ,” Wiersbe, Be Rich! The main cause of this weakness is partly due to the spiritual leaders of the churches. They have not been good stewards of God’s Holy Word. False doctrines abound in many churches today. Ministers hold fast to legalistic teachings to keep their parishioners scared and powerless. Rituals become a type of bondage to the church body. Traditions are not necessarily bad in and of themselves but they can keep us chained to the past, not allowing God to move in fresh new ways. These man-made theologies, traditions, rituals and legalistic laws placed upon man rob us of our spiritual wealth in Christ.

We are rich in Christ! God has shown us in Scripture this truth over and over.  He has revealed this “mystery” (Eph 3:9) to us and wants us to experience His riches, His glory, and His power. We share in His inheritance. God wants us to know what He is doing in this world. God wants us to work with Him using His resources. He makes himself available to those who seek His will and want to accomplish His purposes on earth. God gives us every tool we will ever need to accomplish any task He may ask us to do for Him.

All of our activities should be Christ –centered instead of being centered on man’s philosophies. The church at Laodicea is a good example. They thought that they were rich and in need of nothing but Jesus counseled them to come to Him for all that they” thought” they had (Rev 3:17,18). The church thought they were rich, but in fact, they were poor. They became self sufficient and in doing so became spiritually poor.

Do we do the same thing with our rituals, legalism and traditions of the 21^st century? Are the activities in your church making you spiritually poor?