the basic message #E253

3/14/04

I never met Chuck Bragg, but after reading a recent story in the Baton Rouge Advocate, I feel like I know the guy.  The article chronicles the life of Bragg, and overall, it's a sad story.  It seems that the 61 year-old Bragg was at one time a very successful salesman, but like many successful salesmen out there, he abused alcohol.  While there are thousands of success stories about alcoholics turning their lives around, a couple of things in this story caught my eye.  I'll quote from the article:

 "He (Bragg) was married, making good money, with two children.  Bragg was also active in his church as a deacon.  But behind the appearance of a moderate middle-class life, Bragg harbored a secret, one so deep that he couldn't even reveal it to himself.  He was an alcoholic."

I find it interesting that a man can be serving as a church deacon while operating as an active alcoholic.  I find it even more interesting that this is probably not an isolated incident.  I don't know what denomination Chuck was a part of, but most groups (like the Southern Baptist) scrutinize the lives of a prospective deacon before appointing him to that post.  Does this mean that the church has started "looking the other way" when it comes to the bad habits of their deacons?  If the church has sunk so low to allow people to serve that clearly violate the commands of God, then we're in real trouble.  But let's not get bogged-down in this situation, but rather let me quote Bragg:

"The (Salvation) Army gave me something that the 12-step program did not.  The Army gave me Christ."

I think the Salvation Army is a great organization, and when I read about them helping guys like Chuck, that opinion is solidified.  But there's one thing in this quote that puzzles me.  Chuck said the Army gave him Christ, so what did the church (that appointed him to be a deacon) give him ?  I don't want to belabor this subject, but I do want to make a key point here- a person can be a member of a church and even serve as a church officer and not know Christ.  We have become a nation of easy-believists that assume that a church member, and especially a deacon already possesses Christ.  That's a dangerous assumption.  It's an assumption that can land a fake Christian in Hell.  What can a person do to find out if they're a fake or a genuine Christian?  Listen to what Chuck says about alcoholism:

"The only way to stop being a functioning alcoholic is to make the diagnosis yourself.  There are 100 different excuses you can have.  An alcoholic, in his mind, doesn't have a problem."

Couldn't we say the same thing about fake Christians?  I had to diagnose myself to be a fake some years ago.  That was tough, because I seemed to be saying and doing all of the right things, but there was one big problem- my heart wasn't right.  How so?  I liked to hold onto grudges, I liked to nurse some views that didn't mesh with what God's Holy word says.  I wanted to execute convicted criminals swiftly and I argued the pro-choice viewpoint eloquently.  Going even further back, I was a racist, and a racist can't enter Heaven.  (If you find scripture that says otherwise, please send it to me)  Fake Christians and alcoholics are very similar- neither one believes he has a problem.  By the time an alcoholic realizes he has a problem, he has usually blown his entire life.  By the time a fake Christian realizes he has a problem, he is often already in Hell. 

I admire Chuck Bragg and his struggle to regain control of his life with God's help.  I pray that he will succeed, and I know without a shadow of a doubt that he will as long as he aligns himself with God's will.  I know that anyone reading this that holds some doubt about the authenticity of his Salvation will also succeed by aligning himself with God's will, but once again, the candidate has to first admit that there might be a problem.  Some overly proud Christians might snort, "John needs to remember that we don't have to doubt Jesus' promise of salvation."  I don't doubt Jesus for one minute, but I do certainly doubt the wisdom of some folks who clearly violate the teachings that Jesus gave us.  Go back and read the story of "Doubting Thomas" and you'll see that Jesus not only avoids judging those of us who have questions, he actually embraces us and patiently proves that he is the Christ.  Isn't it time to ask him to prove it to you?