@Diana Montgomery
The truth is...people will believe whatever they want to believe and will justify all manner of reasons and excuses not to follow
any human teacher or leader....and to find fault with those who claim to be the "true Christians" (wheat among the weeds) but the fact remains that God has used human leaders all through the history of his people, both before and after the formation of his nation of Israel. We just have to identify them by the criteria given in the scriptures. Expecting them to be perfect is unrealistic. Jesus' own apostles were flawed characters like the rest of us. They made mistakes and errors in judgment, but Jesus patiently continued to teach them. He was the one who told them about the "helper" the holy spirit which would give them spiritual insight and gifts, but it didn't make them perfect.
Christ was a perfect human leader who appointed other human leaders to finish what he started...they were not perfect and he never expected them to be. In Matthew 24:45 it says that he would appoint a
"faithful and discreet slave" to
"feed" his entire household their
"food at the proper time". Jesus told Peter to
"feed" his sheep. (John 21:15-17) This was 'spiritual' food, but it was not served all at once, understanding came gradually, and that "food" sustained the spiritual health of Christ's entire household of workers here on earth in his long absence.
He said that
"by their fruits" we would recognize those who truly follow Christ. It was not by their imperfections, because it is impossible for humans to be perfect in this world....but the ones that Jesus will recognize as his own will be defined by what they "don't" do as much as what they do. (Matthew 7:21-23)
1) The one command of Jesus that no church can fulfill in the same manner as Christ's first disciples did, was the 'preaching of the good news of God's kingdom'. It was not optional.
Since Jesus said he would back this work, we would see only his true disciples actively participating in it. (Matthew 28:19-20; Matthew 24:14; Matthew 10:11-14) Christendom has no idea what God's Kingdom is, let alone preach to the world about it consistently on a global scale.
2) Another identifying mark would be obedience to all of Christ's commands, so along with the global preaching, would be the love and unity among the brotherhood, not segregated by race, social distinctions, language or politics. (John 13:34-35; 1 Corinthians 1:10; Matthew 5:43-44)
The churches of Christendom can barely agree congregation to congregation, let alone on an international scale.
3) You should not see any genuine Christian with a weapon designed to kill other human beings, especially in a military setting. If we are to love our enemies, then we have no excuse to kill them or even to do them harm. (2 Corinthians 10:3-5; Romans 12:17-21) God has not sanctioned a war since the days when his nation were defending their God-given land. The biggest war-mongers on earth are those who stole land from their rightful owners. They are also the ones who profit most by the sale of weapons.
4) We are to be
"no part of the world"....meaning that we do not participate or meddle in its political affairs because of who is identified as the power behind human rulership. (John 18:36; John 15:18-21; 1 John 5:19; Luke 4:5-8) A true Christian is a citizen of God's kingdom, so they cannot pledge allegiance to any human government. Nationalism and Christianity are incompatible. Christianity has no nationality.
5) Jesus' teachings on sexual immorality and marriage and divorce cannot be watered down because of the rampant immoral standards of the world. So again we should see a steadfast sticking to Jesus' teachings on these things. (Mark 10:6-12)
So there you have it. Real Love is demonstrated in all the ways that please God, rather than appeals to human thinking and selfishness.
If the devil can make the son of God look bad...imagine what he can do with imperfect humans......
"by their fruits you will recognize them"....not by the twisted horror stories you hear from opposers. If you want to know about anyone...go to the source, not to their opposers who will have a million excuses not to recognize them.
The twisted stories are a dime a dozen....Jesus and his apostles had to endure them too, but one thing that Jesus said stands out....
"Keep in mind the word I said to you: A slave is not greater than his master. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have observed my word, they will also observe yours."
Nothing will stop a true disciple from gaining a knowledge of the truth, no matter what anyone says. (John 6:65) The "crusaders" here are under a delusion if they think that any 'sheep-like' person will swallow the distorted half truths presented on internet forums as facts. Jesus will lead his sheep into the right pen in spite all attempts to dissuade them.
One day soon, I believe that we will all know for sure who were
"doing the will of the Father"......some will be shocked to find that they never were. (Matthew 7:21-23)
The opposers here would do well to pay attention to the words of Gamaliel in the first century, when the Jews tried to silence Christ's disciples and to dissuade others from listening to them....he said....
"So under the present circumstances, I say to you, do not meddle with these men, but let them alone. For if this scheme or this work is from men, it will be overthrown; 39 but if it is from God, you will not be able to overthrow them. Otherwise, you may even be found fighters against God himself.” (Acts of the Apostles 5:38-39)
Wise words I think.....