Bride or Prostitute, Which One Are You?

I recently received an email from a friend in Australia.  It was one of those emails that really make you think.  A man had the privilege of teaching at a school of ministry.  His students were very hungry for the Word.  One day he quoted to them from Rev. Sam Pascoe a short history of the Church: 

"Christianity started in Palestine as a fellowship; it moved to Greece and became a philosophy; it moved to Italy and became an institution; it moved to Europe and became a culture; it came to America and became an enterprise.”  Some of the students were only 18 or 19 years old, barely out of diapers, and I wanted them to understand and appreciate the import of the last line, so I clarified it by adding, "An enterprise. That's a business." After a few moments Martha, the youngest student in the class, raised her hand. I could not imagine what her question might be. I thought the little vignette was self-explanatory, and that I had performed it brilliantly. Nevertheless, I acknowledged Martha's raised hand, "Yes, Martha." She asked such a simple question, "A business? But isn't it supposed to be a body?" I could not envision where this line of questioning was going, and the only response I could think of was, "Yes." She continued, "But when a body becomes a business, isn't that a prostitute?"

Wow, what a statement.  We already know from scripture that Elohim says that his people prostituted themselves to other lovers. The Israelites often played the "whore" of the relationship by "prostituting" themselves to other gods.  Judges 8:33  “And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and went a whoring after Baalim, and made Baalberith their god.”  Baalim was a prophet for hire. He was your guy for the right amount of money.  Need I say more? 

My husband and I left the church over a year ago, for many reasons. One of the many was that we knew there were things that were going on in church that was wrong and we decided enough and never went back.   Funny, at the time, not realizing what exactly we were “coming out of” but am thankful we did.  See, I had started going to the financial meetings.  It was very eye opening.  The pastor would stand and speak along with the financial guy.  The economy had started its downfall.  The church laid off people and started this “campaign” for funds.  The pastor had said that many of the “good” tithers had left and that many new people had started coming to church that had the potential of being good tithers.  “It was time to pull out the tithing sermons”, he said.  I was appalled. It was a business meeting.  Some time before that I had tried to be more involved in the church and decided that I would bake for the coffee shop that was off the sanctuary.  I had received an email about what they expected.  One of the details was that the cookies/brownies had to be a certain size and not to get extravagant (I would get reimbursed for what I bought), because we are “trying to make money you know”.  I baked twice and let them know I was no longer available.  I was just taken back by this.  I just kept thinking, am I attending church or shopping at a business?  Now, when I look back I can see the whole picture.  And that is usually how it has been throughout this whole “coming out of”. We took a step of faith and it wasn’t until we walked away from something that we saw how bad it really was, i.e. christmas, halloween, easter, etc.  

In the email, the gentleman goes on to say “that he pondered was he really a true lover of Elohim? What would happen if He stopped blessing me? What if He never did another thing for me? Would I still love Him? Please understand, I believe in the promises and blessings of Elohim. The issue here is not whether Elohim blesses His children; the issue is the condition of the heart. Why do I serve Him? Are His blessings in my life the gifts of a loving Father, or are they a wage that I have earned or a bribe/payment to love Him? Do I love Elohim without any conditions?”

He said, “That American Christians do not really love Him and that it originates in how they came to Him.  Most of us came to Him because of what we were told He would do for us. We were promised that He would bless us in life and take us to heaven after death. We married Him for His money, and we don't care if He lives or dies as long as we can get His stuff. We have made the Kingdom of Elohim into a business, merchandising His anointing. This should not be. We are commanded to love Elohim and are called to be the Bride of the Messiah ~ that's pretty intimate stuff. We are supposed to be His lovers. How can we love someone we don't even know? And even if we do know someone, is that a guarantee that we truly love them? Are we His bride or have we prostituted ourselves to others?” 

We are told repent and accept Christ and let Him into our lives.  But as I have said before repent means to turn back to Him, to the starting point of Torah.  The Church talks of Grace and yes, He is full of Grace but that Grace is what allows us back in and His Grace was never meant to be greasy. 

Jude 1:4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our Elohim into lasciviousness, and denying the only Adonai Elohim, and our Adoniai Yahushua.

What is lasciviousness? By definition it is wantonness, lack of self control, and reckless freedom.  That does not sound like fruit to me.  We have a choice.  We are given free will and like the Israelites in the wilderness, He gave them the Torah, His Instruction for His people. He tells them, “I put before you blessings or curses.”  One brings life and one brings death.  "Therefore, choose Life."  The Bride chooses Life.  She chooses to prepare herself for her bridegroom.  Which one are you?