Are you a revolutionist or a rebel? Make sure to know the difference. A REVOLUTIONIST brings NEW and BETTER life to divine things-- to worship, to fellowship, to Scripture, to ministry, to communion. The early Christians were seen as revolutionists who turned the world upside down, but in a good and better way. Acts 17:6. A REBEL, by contrast, just NAYSAYS all things orthodox and brags on how much more spiritual he is than the orthodox idiots of yesterday. The Bible is bashed. Christianity is trashed. Christians are thrashed. The REBEL recognizes only his own authority. All that-has-come-before the rebel calls primitive, or narrow-minded, or a box that needs to be smashed by the rebels baseball-bat zeal. Here are some other differences. Revolutionists talk about the Lord, always about the things of the Lord, and seldom if ever about themselves. Rebels, by contrast, are soooo self-referential, always talking about themselves, what they themselves are tired of , what they themselves are sick of, and that they themselves know better than all who came before them. Revolutionists carry the badge of gentle authority and are armed with tried and tender truth. Rebels, by contrast, carry the badge of quick naysaying and bombastic berating which harangues all things Christian. The famous Christian author G. K. Chesterton makes the key distinction between REBEL and REVOLUTIONIST below in his classic book ORTHODOXY: “But the NEW REBEL is a skeptic, and will not entirely trust anything. He has no loyalty; therefore he can never be really a REVOLUTIONIST. And the fact that he doubts everything really gets in his way when he wants to denounce anything. For all denunciation implies a moral doctrine of some kind; and the modern revolutionist doubts not only the institution he denounces, but the doctrine by which he denounces it. “I did try to found a little heresy of my own; and when I had put the last touches to it, I discovered that it was orthodoxy.... (And heres what were arguing about. Or should be...) Nothing more strangely indicates an enormous and silent evil of modern society than the extraordinary use which is made nowadays of the word orthodox. In former days the heretic was proud of DENYING he was in fact a heretic. It was kingdoms of the world and the police and the judges who were heretics. He was orthodox... All the tortures torn out of forgotten hells could not make him admit that he was heretical... The word heresy not only NOW seems to mean no longer being wrong; it practically means being clear-headed and courageous. The word orthodoxy not only no longer means being right, it practically means being wrong... (This) means that people care less for whether they are philosophically right... The dynamiter, laying a bomb, ought to insist that, whatever else he is, at least he is orthodox... General theories are everywhere condemned... We will have no generalizations... We are more and more to discuss art, politics, literature. A mans opinon on tramcars matters; his opinion on Botticelli matters; his opinon on ALL things does not matter. He may turn over and explore a million objects, but he must not find that strange object, the reality of the unseen universe, for if he does, he will have a religion and be lost. Everything matters, except everything. Beloved, get your inner-radar activated by the Holy Spirit. Dont let the Christian-thrashers, the Bible-bashers, and the Christianity-trashers recruit you into their rebellion. Instead, wholeheartedly enlist with the revolutionists who seek to change the world upside down in Jesus name and NOT their own. For me, G.K. Chesterton again said it best, The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.... To be like Christ IS to be a Christian. Be loyal to this great truth of Chesterton. Be a revolutionist who fulfills the great calling of Christianity rather than a rebel who condemns it.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Mar 2014 21:19:05 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015