An Unholy Blemish

"Just as the Lord put aside the riches of His divinity, and by His poverty enriched man, offering to him the 'abundance' of His life and love, so too, man sets aside everything that has become life for him in this world, so as to establish all his being in readiness to be a dwelling-place for God."

In my recent research of evangelism techniques and revivals I have 
been amazed at the statistics the bear out the inflated successes of many of the so called "evangelism crusades" or "revival services." We have denomination records that bear hundreds of thousands of people who "claim" to have accepted Christ but not more than a month later the churches are still as empty. When contacted for discipleship opportunities they are disinterested and even hostile. Denominational cosmetology. 

There are those who will say that they made a decision out of emotional manipulation and others who will say that they honestly accepted Jesus but didn't know the package deal that it came with. In other words, embracing Jesus was simply an addition to the other gods in one's life. They didn't understand that embracing Jesus is not an addition to one's life but a radical replacement of one's life. It is moving from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. It is moving from the walking dead who stumble to the awakened who step with clarity. It is changing one's "make-up."

The more that I study and meditate on the real meaning of being "born again" and systems of thought to convey that meaning I find that I, too, have retained some unholy blemishes that I have sought to cover up. There are areas where I have brought in the gaunt, stillborn child and have not seen the rebirth, the new creation of God. 

I have tried to visualize this for motivational

purposes and it helps me quickly realize that I don't want to look like this in the spiritual realm. It is a mutation of what God desires for me. After all, what is a partially born-again person but one that is self-deceived. As the old saying goes, "You can't be a little pregnant. You either are or you're not." 

Embracing Jesus' wonderful love and sacrifice is the easy part. It is giving up the other gods that tend to be so difficult. It is a willingness to be seen without the cosmetics, the spiritual facades. 

May God grant us an awareness of our spiritual complexion. May we look into the divine mirror and find that which is dead and rotting. Deceived, we still believe that things will change, that we can transform the disease, that the same spiritual cream we've been using will eventually bring about the desired result. But it simply acts as make-up does - to conceal. May God grant us dissatisfaction until we experience the cure - a true change in our "make-up."