My prayers for Christianity – Jan 15, 2021
Human history is like a rollercoaster and has gone through ups and downs. One-fifth of the 21st century has passed. I think that the 21st century is the age of confusion and chaos. Name a few chaotic historical events: the terrorism in 2001, earthquakes, tsunami, covid-19, and political chaos.
Likewise, Christianity is more confusing than ever. I am referring to Japanese Christianity. It is often seen that self-proclaimed Christians reprehend one other on the internet. They are often dogmatic about their beliefs and denominations. They are nothing different from street gangs who use vulgar language. Another extreme is to accept homosexuality as normal. This trend among Japanese churches may be stronger than that in the US.
This may be the age that Christ describes in Matt. 24, but I don’t speculate what is going to happen as those premillennialists do. I think that this is the time that I should go back to the basics of the gospel message. Christ warns us to go through the narrow gate.
My prayers are to proclaim the gospel of Christ as simple as possible so that people can understand it. I would like our church to be completely denominational free and free from any trend of religious movements.
The state of Japanese Christianity and my concern – Jan 15, 2021
I have been using Twitter and Facebook. I’ve got to know many people who have had negative experiences with Christianity. Those people visited churches to look for peace in mind and life solutions for their worries, but they had completely opposite experiences.
Denominational preachers bind their members in two wrong ways. All of the preachers in the denominations call themselves “pastors” and claim to have received God’s calling. First, they have ultimate authority next to Christ and preach as the will of God. Naturally, the members are expected not to ask their authority but to obey them. If the members question the validity of their sermons, they are treated as rebellious and lacking faith. Second, they interpret the word of God in order to meet their own agendas and try to use the members accordingly.
A few people who had similar experiences with denominational churches have visited our congregation. They told me about how they were treated. This verified my assumptions.
Besides, in maybe the last 30 years lots of people have had mental illness and depressions. Most of them cannot have regular jobs anymore and become totally dependent on the government. When they come to those denominational churches, they are treated as second class members because they cannot function as regular members.
This has raised great concern. I have decided to try to evangelize more than ever. Our church members are willing to do so. I will write out our own tract to distribute in our communities and towns.