In the peace movement, in the New Age movement, amongst practitioners of the occult, and with other non-Christian groups, we often find individuals who accept the general principles in what we teach. They like the idea of measuring morality by each individual's love and sincerity. They agree that the world is riddled with corruption, and that greed is the cause of it all.
And in the churches, we find plenty of people who can accept that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that salvation comes only through him, that God is real, that he created the world, and that he takes a personal interest in each one of us.
The problem in both cases is that neither side is really willing to accept Jesus totally. The world claims to accept his teachings, but they reject his name. The church claims to accept his name, but they reject his teachings.
We understand that there can be other circumstances which have created a blind spot on either side; and we are trying to be more patient in our dealings with people, so that we can get close enough to locate and overcome whatever it is that stops them from fully accepting Jesus.
But the bottom line is that if they don't accept him totally - his name as well as his teachings - then the half that they claim to have accepted is very likely nothing more than a farce. Our worldly friends reveal themselves to be insincere, and our churchy friends reveal themselves to be serving a false Christ.
In both cases, deception results if the rational side of the brain is forced to dance to whatever tune the emotional side of the brain plays. We call this "spiritual belly dancing". "Belly" was the ancient term for the seat of our emotions. (See King James Version for Philippians 3:18-19)
It isn't that emotions are evil. In fact, the Holy Spirit reveals himself/herself to us through this feminine side of our personality. But the masculine side of God (the Father) must exercise ultimate control; and God does this through the rational side of our brain.
When our emotions are not in submission to reason and logic, we are not being controlled by God's Spirit. We are being controlled instead by the spirit of Jezebel.In Revelation 2:20-23, Jesus gives dire warnings to a group of people who have tolerated fornication and idolatry by letting the spirit of Jezebel into their midst. (Idolatry is another name for greed, or spiritual adultery. See Ephesians 5:5, and Jeremiah 3:6-9.)
The world tolerates fornication, but occasionally joins with us in condemning materialism. The church tolerates materialism but occasionally joins with us in condemning fornication. But both approaches are forms of hypocrisy.
As the masks slip from each, the spirit of Jezebel is found to be behind it all... on both sides. The truth is that fornication permeates the church, and greed permeates the world, despite their tirades against them. One day soon, they will join hands in rebellion against God, and they will declare open war on any who would truly follow Jesus.
Read the tiny little one page epistle from Jude in its entirety to get a picture of how God sees it all.
We will continue to strive for patience with such people; but we do not want our patience to be misinterpreted as justification for a refusal to accept the authority of Jesus and his teachings over their (your?) life.
(See also The Jezebel Spirit.)
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