IN the world but not OF the world.

I would like to address an issue that was brought up in a recent discussion I was involved in on Google+. What I would like to address is the role of the church in our society today. As the body of Messiah, we are called to be holly and set apart. James tells us to be in the world but not of the world.      Because of this people should look at us and know that there is something different...something positive. Now I am not much of a sports fan, but let me use an analogy with baseball. (pardon me if I get a few details wrong about the game)      In major league baseball they have a skilled roster with proven players. They keep track of what these players have done in their career and their progressions. If a kid off the streets wants to play on a major league team he has a long and rigorous task ahead of him.      First he has to have skill, then he must practice and compete in low level games, move up the ranks, and finally be chosen out of a competitive group of peers. If he is chosen he then joins the elite. Now our church, though infinitely more important than any sports team, should work on a similar plan. If we let the kid off the street in (a non-believer) he will not only be ill equipped to carry on the work of the kingdom but will give all believers a bad name because everyone will look at the church and see the world. Remember we are to be in the world but not of the world...how can we accomplish this if the world is in us? So first, as in our baseball analogy, we must have skill, (a calling of the Holly Spirit) then we must compete, (Change our life, confess Messiah, and live for Him)  then we must move up the ranks, (learn, mature, and grow close to God) and then we are ready to join God's elite. (Take our ministry to the road and win others to Him) It is my personal belief that a church is not a witnessing tool. It is a group of believers who come together to minister to each other, strengthen and teach one another, and edify each other in Messiah.      Then we leave equipped to be effective witnesses for Messiah in our lives, to win others to Him and bring them into the church so they too can grow, move through the ranks and join in to the body of Christ.      Now I am not saying you are not a part of the body until you are in the "elite" but simply until you are to a certain level of maturity (faith wise not age wise) you can not be an effective witness. Paul told the Corinthians ( 1 Corinthians 5) to kick the man out of the church who was found in sin. 1 Timothy 1 also eludes to this.  In Corinthians after the man repented they were told to accept him in again.      Because of these principles I believe that no one who is not a follower of the Messiah should be allowed to be a member of a church.      In times past it used to be you had to have a letter declaring your faith, an interview by the pastor, and a spiritual evaluation to even be allowed to come to some churches. Today you simply walk in the door and they "accept you the way you are."      We should accept people for themselves but that does not mean we agree with the way they live. We certainly should not accept them into the body of Christ if they are living contrary to Christ! Messiah said himself, "A house divided against itself can not stand."  Yet we wonder why so many churches today are falling apart... The number one thing I have heard from individuals I know who have been turned off from the faith is "There is simply to much hypocrisy in the church," The sad thing is it's true! Unbelievers who see it want nothing to do with it because to them we simply act like we are better than them and live just like them.      Unfortunately what they don't realize is that the hypocrisy they see is not from believers as much as it is from non-believers who have been accepted into the body, thus damaging the witness of all. So may our churches be made of believers, our believers be involved in outreach, and our LORD use those outreaches to bring in more believers in a self perpetuating cycle that can not be broken!      Why should the world look at us and see a reflection of itself?