AMORPHISM - LACKING FORM

Some words can have more than one meaning or application and this is one of those words. It doesn’t really have any religious connotations, but we can make application. It technically refers to something like an amoeba or a cloud that can change shape and has no definite form. There are two ways we can apply this problem to the church, individually, and collectively.

1. There are some Christians (preachers, elders, etc.) who have no backbone, so to speak. These people will not stand up for the truth. They believe the truth, but they just don’t have the intestinal fortitude to defend it from attack. (Jude 1:3) Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

There are others who are just plain wishy-washy about what they believe. I do not mean those who are honest enough to change if they see that they are contrary to the teaching of scripture. I also am not referring to those sincere individuals who are struggling to find the truth on some issue. Even though both of these might seem to be suffering from amorphism, they are really just trying to define their form. Those I am speaking of are those who love the praise of men more than the praise of God and are thus willing to “go with the flow” even when the flow is going contrary to God’s will. Whatever is popular is what they believe. (Eph 4:14-15) That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; {15} But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

2. Another danger that falls here is the belief that the church itself is amorphous. The number of ‘Christians’ who believe: that we are on our own and that the New Testament doesn’t lay a pattern or form for the church, is growing. Because of a desire to do things in a ‘new’ way these individuals are teaching that the only things that matter are loving God and loving each other. It is true that Christ Himself said those were the “GREATEST” two commandments, but he never said they were the “ONLY” commandments. The fallacy of this thinking lies in the assumption that one can love God without doing what God said do. Jesus said that our love would be expressed in the action of keeping his commands. (John 15:14) Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. And (John 14:15) If ye love me, keep my commandments. What’s more he made it clear that if the apostles, and by virtue of their teaching us as well, wanted to continue in His good favor, they had to obey him. (John 15:10) If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.

Many might say, “that is true, but Jesus didn’t command all the things written in the letters to the churches.” Another lack of knowledge is the problem here. There are two principles: The inspiration of the word, and the chain of authority both refute this illogical position. The apostles placed commands on the Christian individual and on congregations, there is no questioning that. (2 Th 3:4) And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye both do and will do the things which we command you. This passage as well as others shows us that the apostles certainly thought they had the authority to make commands and expect them to be followed. Where did they get that authority? It came directly from Christ and through the Holy Spirit. Christ gave the apostles authority to bind. (Mat 16:19) And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. The commands of the apostles bear the full authority and endorsement of Christ. Let us be sure that we are not a church without a foundation, or like the man who built his house on the sand ours too will crumble and fall.

AGNOSTICISM - BELIEF THAT GOD CAN NEITHER BE PROVED OR DISPROVED BY THE EVIDENCE

Believe it or not there are thousands, maybe even millions, of people who claim to believe in God, but who fall in the category of ‘agnostic’. It is possible that you may be in this group without realizing it, and that is a dangerous place to be. Most of the time when we speak of agnostics we are speaking of those who don’t believe in God, but who don’t deny the possibility of a supreme being. As Bible believers, we know that danger, but what about the Christian who just isn’t sure if God is up there or is believing because he/she has been raised to believe in God. We may be saying something to the effect of, “I believe there is a God, but there isn’t really any proof”.

As Christians, when we think, feel, or say things like previous statement, we are in essence agnostic. What we are really saying is: “If there is a God He may or may not be the God that the Bible talks about.”, “If there is a God I will not know until I die.”, and “If there is a God He was and is either unable or unwilling to give people enough information to make an informed decision.”. That certainly doesn’t bode well for being committed to Him, does it? The ‘agnostic Christian’ is a Christian for one simple reason, and that is “just in case”. They want to hedge their bet so to speak. If there is a God these want to be able to say, “I believed in you.” but at the same time live a life of worldliness.

Contrary to what agnosticism holds, God has provided abundant proof of not only His existence, but also creation, the inspiration of the Bible, and what it is he wants us to do. I can’t even begin to touch on all of these things, but you can get more information than you could study in a year from Apologetics Press in Montgomery, AL. Their phone number is (334) 272-8558 and they have a web-site www.apologeticspress.org where you can find out more.

Let me touch briefly on the proof of God’s existence. Hebrews says that every house is built by someone and that the builder of all things is God (Hebrews 3:4) . That statement itself does not prove God exists any more than my saying the sky is pink would prove that it is pink, but the logic behind the statement does. Let us observe. If I show you a beautiful picture, a computer, a car, or a house, you know that somewhere at some time someone made them. How do we know that when we didn’t see it? Simple, common sense tells us that where there is a design there must be a designer. If that is true with something as small and simple as even a paper plate, how much more obvious is it with something as large and complex as the universe? As intelligent as we are, able to make computers that are quite complex, we cannot figure out the complexity of the human mind. The brain of a man and the brain of other mammals are not that much different from all that scientists can tell, and yet one is able to speak, learn, teach, and invent while the other is not how amazing a creation we are. All of the planets in our solar system move around the sun so precisely that we are able to tell where they were 500 years ago or where they will be 500 years from now. That kind of precision and design demands that someone more intelligent and more powerful caused it.

Has God given us enough evidence? We must answer, yes. As the Psalmist said in Psalm 19, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork.” If we can see His handiwork every day, why do some of us still doubt his existence? It would make more sense to doubt my existence and assume that you are just accidentally receiving some jumbled letters that coincidentally got attached to an email addressing itself to you, than to doubt the existence of God. “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God” (Heb 3:12).