Alright, it is almost bedtime around here. But now you are speaking much more with “plain talk,” pardon the use/abuse of your moniker, than before. I will try to give you in plain talk an explanation for why I asked what I asked.
The church, the “ekklesia,” that is, those who remain in the world but are “called out of” the world, for that is exactly what the word means, are identifiable in a certain real sense. While it is certainly true that the individuals who belong to Christ and thus to the “ekklesia” are finally known only to God, it is equally true that they, as individuals, continue to seek the presence of God in this world, in which they are confined until called home to heaven, in order to have His assurance regularly that they are His and that their home is in heaven. In other words, they seek Him in whom they trust in order that He might strengthen and sustain them in the faith once and for all given to the saints until they pass through death into life.
The question is, how does one find the presence of God and, thus, the “called out,” the ekklesia, the household of faith, the brethren, the saints, and all the other synonyms the Bible uses to describe this body of which Christ alone is the head? How one understands the Bible’s identification of where God is to be found in the here and now of this world, will largely determine where one will attach oneself denominationally. For some denominations answer this question better, that is, more scripturally, than others. Objectivity in this matter must come from God and His word and not from our feelings and inclinations, which are fallible.
At the same time there is another problem that besets all the denominations. They are all filled with fallen, sinful humans, whose weaknesses and sins can cloud and darken the objectivity of God’s clear and certain promises of forgiveness, life, and salvation for Jesus’ sake. So, you see, one starts with the doctrinal statements of the various denominations and then one has to put up with the failings of the individuals, clergy and lay, in those denominations. But in all things, one is always inclining his or her ear to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd in the preaching, teaching, and sacraments, which voice, He assures us, His sheep do indeed hear and follow. (John 10)
I am sorry if this is a little long. I am just trying to be careful.
There is but one church (ekklesia), one Lord, one faith etc. (Ephesians 4) But the devil, the world, and our own flesh (i.e., inclinations, weaknesses, etc.) have made what is simple so very much more difficult, even as Jesus and His apostles said would be the case.
So, in summary, when one laments those who “have left the church,” the question becomes what have they left? Did they leave that which was only a pale and weak shadow of the church or did they leave the place where Christ, the Good Shepherd, was to be heard speaking plainly and clearly the blessed Gospel of forgiveness and thus leading onward to heaven?
This is a question worth deep meditation on the part of all who would be called Christian, even all who feel the emptiness within that can be filled only by God.
That was the reason for why I asked what I asked.
Well, it is late. Time to shut down for the night.
There is another option which many will not want to hear is that they heard the Gospel and have rejected it. No one wants to think that of their kids. It must always be our fault. We think if only they could hear the Gospel like we di that they would react and believe. Maybe they reacted and rejected instead. When I first heard the Gospel I ran like heck. It took me 10 years to come back to it. Some it may take a lifetime and some never will.
It’s upsetting to think that the precious angels we put so much time and love into would reject us and reject the truth. It is the story of the ages. God does not have grandchildren only children.
If they never do accept and follow Christ when we are long gone and overjoyed in the Lord’s presence it is he that will hold the heartache of memories of the lost - we will no longer remember or mourn.
Mel