And you shall love the LORD
your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, with all
your mind, and with all your
strength. This is the first
commandment.
And the Second, like it,
is this: You shall love your
neighbor as yourself. There
is no other commandment
greater than these.
Mark 12:30-31
These words of Jesus Christ are more than just a summary of the Ten Commandments; they are what is required for all Authentic Biblical Christians, for Authentic Biblical Faith. This being the primary pursuit of Christians, Authentic Biblical Christians and everything secondary, then, God is not interested in sharing His glory with any competitor. Jesus did not end the requirements to keep all ten commandments for if you examine those commandments you will find that the Ten Commandments are divided in to two parts: Verses one through eleven are all about our worship of God, and verses twelve through seventeen are how man is to live in accord with other men. If you love God with your whole heart then to have anything above Him it is idolatry and God is specific that "you shall have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3). Whatever draws our hearts from Him, that which engrosses our minds, or holds the first place in our affections, are idols. God is to be the supreme object of our worship.
How can it be seen in you whether or not you are Authentic as a Christian or that you have allow liberal Christianity to become your theology, and that you have allowed cultural living to be what guides and drives you. We must take this seriously for is we do then we will not become complacent. But if we do not take this serious then we will be in contradiction to the will of God for other things will be our passion. It is unreserved commitment to the glory of God, to the service of God, this is the foundation on which Authentic Biblical Faith will be built in a person's life who desire to be Authentic as a Christian. Making this commitment to God, and to ourselves will serve to help us be and do all God desires.
Cultural Christianity, which leaves one to wonder how Authentic Biblical Faith can coexist with the culture, has and is what has become the mode of worship for many Churches, and those attending those Churches. One such thing that seems to have a pejorative meaning is the word "liturgy." It is said, "We are not a liturgical Church." Yes, you are: liturgy is the form of public worship, nothing more or less. Yes, there are those whose liturgy is more formal and those where informality is the mode of worship. Another such word that has become pejorative: "Creed." Most liberal, cultural Churches do not recite a Creed, as though to do so is unChristian, unbecoming in some manner, rather they rely on emotional stories, or just plain stories, and the very basic beliefs from the founding of Christianity is the Creeds. But these things are not mentioned or rarely mentioned in the Church. Cultural Christians do not set aside a day, the Sabbath to just meditate upon God, to give to God this day, a day of rest; rather, they are boating, shopping, fishing, etc., and God gets the leftovers; if even that! Moses came down from the mountain with the Ten Commandments in his arms, written by God, commandments not just for the nation of Israel but for all Israel, and that is what we are as Christians, grafted into Israel, spiritual Israel, and those commandments are for us as well: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy" (Exodus 20:8). Are you keeping the Sabbath day holy, or has other things become more important, things that are really nothing more than idols for you worship them more than God. How can I say such a thing? When we don't keep the commandments then we have displaced God for something else. If we are going to change so that we worship God authentically, then we must change from the inside out, we must leave behind what is cultural, what is liberal, and live and worship God with our whole heart, mind, and soul. We grow in sanctification, or we are stagnant, if stagnant, then all that can be expected is to digress, even with all the good sounding words, and verses that one puts forth, it is what we are doing, either God is first or something is: which is it? You and I must decide, it won't be easy, for sin is always crouching at the door, but possible because we have the Holy Spirit in us as His children; we can overcome sin.
Look upon me and be merciful to me,
As Your custom is toward those
who love Your name. Direct my steps
by Your word, and let no iniquity
have dominion over me. Redeem me
from the oppression of man, that I
may keep Your precepts.
Psalm 119:132-134
Remove doublemindness: worship God
Richard L. Crumb
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