What are we doing wrong? Part 2

The gospel is unchanging. The church, however, needs to consider what to change about the delivery of the gospel message to make it more clear while not changing the content of it in an attempt to be less offensive.  We also need to find practical ways to demonstrate the message of the gospel. It has not and will never change. We must however be very specific in our aim. Satan is the target and the goal is to release his captives with the truth. This is not done by attacking those who do not know the truth. We must have genuine concern for the lost. When we see every human as souls with an eternal destiny, then the importance of sharing God's truth becomes evident. We must do our part. Being an athlete in high school and college the times of sitting on the bench were frustrating. Whether it was due to inexperience, needing rest, or injury, the lack of ability to contribute to the success of our team was not pleasant. Yet, in our Christian lives we often are content to sit on the bench and let other players do all the work. Maybe we watch from the sidelines because we are not sure of what we are to do. If we were truly confident of our purpose we would eagerly live it out, determined to make a difference in the outcome. Our purpose is to share truth lovingly and yet unapologetically leaving the acceptance of truth to the individual. This is done in a couple of ways.

 

First, it is imperative we share what we are FOR because most of the world is very familiar with what we are against. Our message has been received by many as a bunch of legalistic rules that must be followed in order to be a good Christian. And anyone seen breaking a rule is deemed a hypocrite. We have all heard that argument. When in reality it is not about the rules at all. What?!?! That's right, the rules are for our protection not for our saving. Once we experience the love of Christ and give our lives to Him, we know that His guidelines are for our best interest. Sovereign God established the parameters of righteousness and morality when He laid the foundation of creation. These parameters have not shifted or evolved with society. What children of God are FOR is a loving relationship with the sovereign God who in turn is our guardian and provider. He has written a love letter, the Bible, to us guiding us to our best life possible. Obedience to Him results in blessings. "Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth." Deuteronomy 28:1. We need to share that not only do we obey out of fear of the almighty, (“Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, that you may fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. Deuteronomy 6:1-2) but more importantly out of love for Him. These scriptures are being spoken to the Israelite people. Those who worshipped Him already. Following His statutes does not result in salvation. True salvation produces following His statutes. 

 

I recently asked a class of Christian teens if they thought it was fair for a person who accepted Christ as an elderly person to receive the same reward as the person who gave their life to Christ at a young age and lived a life devoted to Him. They all felt like the life long servant of Christ should be rewarded more. This is a common misconception in the church, that even followers of Christ feel they are some how short changed during this life by lifelong service and sacrifice. When the definition of sacrifice is "the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim." (dictionary.com) What we give up is insignificant in comparison to what we gain in return. The much greater reward is having the Holy Spirit, God Himself, residing in us to comfort, guide, provide, and protect us from all things throughout this life, as opposed to facing it all in our own strength.  That is the message we are to understand in our own hearts and to convey to others. What an immeasurable blessing to walk though this life, which is filled with trials and pitfalls, with the creator of all things by our side and in our hearts.

Lord, how they have increased who trouble me!
Many are they who rise up against me.
Many are they who say of me,
“There is no help for him in God.”

But You, O Lord, are a shield for me,
My glory and the One who lifts up my head.
I cried to the Lord with my voice,
And He heard me from His holy hill.

I lay down and slept;
I awoke, for the Lord sustained me.
I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people
Who have set themselves against me all around. Psalm 3:1-6

How can there be any negative to that?!? The power and wisdom who created all things, loves us enough to guide, to let us know what is best for us and bless us when we are faithful. "A faithful man will abound with blessings, But he who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished." Proverbs 28:20. When we acknowledge the sacrifice Christ made to redeem us unto Himself by His death on the cross, our overwhelming gratitude and undying love compel us to obedience trusting His way.

Second, we often express truth as if we are in some kind of contest with others to prove them wrong. As if we are waiting for some dim light bulb to go off over the head of the unbeliever, with a heart ready to think, if not say, 'I told you so!' The unbeliever would be very reluctant to offer any satisfaction to such a condescending approach. We, who are blessed enough to comprehend the truth, are responsible for releasing the captive from their chains by handing them the keys of truth because we care for their souls. We must understand that God does not expect those who do not know Him to be obedient to his precepts. But the church must not embrace sinful behavior and lifestyles. We must stay true to God's word out of love and devotion to Him as well as to not lead others who do not know Him astray. What draws the lost to saving knowledge of Christ are faithful examples being lived out in front of them. Lives that demonstrate grace and piety along with maturity that does not rate one sin as smaller than another. The piety is necessary for demonstrating in practical ways our love for Christ and obedience to Him, as well as an unwillingness to question His wisdom.

We must not see the lost as our enemy. The enemy is Satan. Our life with Christ is a blessing and we must humbly share that blessing with others. This does not guarantee that all will accept Christ. His word tells us not all will. If it were simply a matter of doing everything the right way EVERYONE who came in contact with Christ would have followed.  We will be hated and persecuted but our confidence in the truth we profess, and the one who protects us, gives us the strength to share it anyway. The church must not stay silent on morality for fear of alienating some. The church is to be a living representation of Christ on earth and is to be accepted as such. If not it is not the church. It is some twisted conformation of what society wants it to be.  The truth IS Christ. "Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." John 14:6. If anyone rejects the truth of God's word it is the same as rejecting Him. We must first believe that a life devoted to Christ and obedience to Him is the optimal life to live. Second, we must convey that the obedient life is inclusive of anyone and welcomes all who will choose it the way it is and the parameters it has.

 

What are we doing wrong? Part 1

The body of Christ is a beautiful thing. I am awed at how Christ molds us together to be used for His glory. We are instruments in the hands of the master each with individualized skills and gifts designed for a specific purpose capable of the super natural. Nothing is lacking in ability only availability on our part. I am so grateful for it. There are a couple of things, however, that are imperative  we as a body need to do better, not only as an individual church or denomination, but world wide and as individuals. People are lost and dying all around us, our society world-wide is spiraling into a depth of degradation I never dreamed I would see in my lifetime. The church has become mute in providing the moral compass for the world. We have become afraid of the pushback from the secular world as if the secular has become stronger than us. What are we afraid of?  Here are the two messages we must convey.

 

First, we must attack the enemy without attacking his captives. Most people do not make life decisions for the purpose of angering God. They are not setting out to self destruct their lives, they truly feel they are making the very best decision for themselves. The enemy has deceived all of us at some point. We are inexperienced tenderfoots in the crosshairs of Satan. The only wisdom we have comes from Christ. Without Him we are helpless at the hands of the enemy. We must have a heart of caring for the defenseless. We must realize and convey to others that the only thing that differentiates us from the lost is Christ. Without Him, we are no better than the vilest offender. "For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of ALL." James 2:10. We who are saved by grace often feel we have been forgiven of those sins we consider "forgivable." The gossiping, the occasional lie, being selfish, and occasionally prideful, because we haven't been so bad, right? Many seem to feel it did not take as much of Christ's precious blood to save us. James, the brother of Jesus, lets us know that we all are just as vile as the next. The selfish prideful and haughty are just as perverse as the homosexual-murderer-child molester. We are guilty of it all. We must not be deceived to think our sin is more forgivable than those of others. When we are humbled by our position before Christ we see others with empathy who have also been deceived by the enemy. We are to hate the evil and the enemy but must not demonstrate hate for his captives. "Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;" Romans 12:9-10. We deliver a devastating blow to Satan, the captor, by speaking the truth to his captives in love. Truth is what sets them free. "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32. That is our purpose, to be instruments used by God to set the captives free. We have been freed. Therefore, there is no greater calling than, having experienced freedom ourselves, to share that freedom with others. We too were once deceived and bound by the enemy. We must be sure of who our enemy, Satan, is and set our sights on him, knowing he is using his hostages as a shield.

 

The second message we must convey is, our opinion of right and wrong, good and evil is completely irrelevant. God Almighty and Most High, is the only one who has the authority to determine what is righteous or perverse, what is virtuous and what is corrupt. He established it all when He created the universe and His word is final. We cannot add to it or take away from it. Even our questioning of it does not alter or affect it. It is complete and everlasting. How foolish would it be to think that even though God created us to be and have intelligence that the intelligence given to us by Him could alter Him or what He has established in any way. And thank you Lord that it does not! God does not change even though circumstances do. When we speak truth it is not "our" truth. It is God's and it is not ours to explain why. We are simply to proclaim the truth and know that Christ's great love for us is at the root of all instruction. His love for us is so great we cannot even comprehend the depth of it. "For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him." Romans 5:7-9. We do not speak truth because we hate the one who does not know it. That would be ridiculous. We speak truth because we are compelled to speak it, because we abhor evil, and out of love we want others to know what the truth is.

The enemy wants us to keep silent. He has trained and deceived his captives to lash out in anger when truth is spoken because he knows truth is what will free them. We should not be surprised by the venom spewed when we stand on God's word and are faithful to spread His message. The truth terrifies the enemy. We have nothing to fear and must not keep us silent. There are too many captives who depend on us. We must however remember these two things. Our crosshairs must be squarely leveled on Satan and not his hostages. Our goal is to free them. We also need to step out of the argument by expressing what we believe to be true. Our acceptance of truth does not validate truth. It is God's truth and it is up to the individual as to whether or not they accept it. Truth is not subject to time, circumstances, or popularity. It is not graded on importance by percentage of acceptance or rationalization. It is truth, it is Christ, and in order to accept it you must first accept Him. We must not be mute out of fear of persecution. People's eternity is at stake and as we move closer to Christ we must share so others can also. 

 

 

 

 

Virtues: Nouns or Verbs?

There are lots of terms commonly used in the church today. We hear about values such as love, faith, and patience and the importance of such things. When we consider these virtues, then take inventory of them in our own lives, often we feel comfortable and confident of our mastery in these areas. For example, we have love for others and for Christ, we have faith in Him and the promises in His word. Love, faith, and patience (and there are others) are considered virtues, qualities to be had. They are listed in the dictionary as nouns. In grammar class a noun is defined as a person, place, thing, or idea. These virtues are ideas many feel we possess in living an honorable Christian life. There is one challenge with this principle. The classification of these ideas is wrong. They must be verbs, actions to be lived out in our everyday life, even in circumstances when it seems impossible to be portrayed. It is only in Christ we can demonstrate these qualities. We do not possess these things unless we demonstrate them.

Let's look at faith as an example. There are many times faith is described as something to be had. However, when faith is something we possess it is demonstrated. It can be seen. "Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.” Matthew 9:2. Our faith is evident to others by living out our salvation in practical ways. When we have faith it is not something we need to expound about. It is visible to those around us. "For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything." 1 Thessalonians 1:8. When we face trials, are pressed on every side, broken and poured out, yet can remain faithful to Christ and praise Him for the sole reason of, He is worthy, our faith is on display to others. Not for the purpose of showcasing our faithfulness, but to showcase the worthiness of Christ. If we truly have faith in our lives, it is acted out, demonstrated. "Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." James 2:17. James, the brother of Jesus, explains this simple fact. If we have faith we will have works as well. And then he tell us, when our faith is tested it produces patience. 

Patience is another virtue we can look at to prove this point. To have patience, it must be exhibited, otherwise it is a statement which could be made by anyone. Words are easy. It is not to be proclaimed, it is to be demonstrated. The only way it can be demonstrated is by our faith being tried. "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience." James 1:2-3. To possess patience is to bear out patience in our daily lives. True patience is not simply maintaining proper behavior in our job, or in challenging circumstances in public, where we know there will be consequences for our rash behavior if we do not. True patience is in our hearts, in addition our actions, in private with our children or even our friends or loved ones.  Patience is loving, having kind words or thoughts in trying times. It is not popping off and then feigning sincerity. Patience is acted out, demonstrated. It cannot be possessed without being lived because being lived is how it is possessed. But patience is not the greatest of these things.

. . .The greatest of these is love. This single word in the English language is used to describe many different characteristics. The Bible has four different Greek words for different types of love. The entire Bible is the love story. Yet our culture has minimalized the word to describe how we feel about ice cream. It is the most powerful virtue we can exhibit. It changes lives and hearts, ends war and heals wounds. Love breaks chains and strengthens the soul, and yet without Christ we are not capable of possessing or showing it. It cannot exist without being demonstrated. In relationships with others we can know if we are loved by peeling away all the words and looking at the actions. Being told we are loved is no proof. We can only know if we are loved by how we are shown. Christ's love for us unmistakable, not only because he told us, but because he showed us. "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8. If we love, it is demonstrated. "And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning: that we love one another. This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it." 2 John 1:5-6. We cannot have love for Christ or for others without it being acted out. Christ declared that the two greatest commandments are to love Him and to love each other. It is not enough for our love to be spoken, it must be shown. "My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth."  1 John 3:18. Love is defined in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. It explains how love is to be manifested in our lives to be seen by men to glorify God. Manifestation is a must regarding all virtues. They are to be acted out to touch the hearts of men for the glory of God.

As we take inventory of faith, patience, love, as well as other fruits in our lives received by the Holy Spirit, we must first determine if we demonstrate those virtues, and if so, how. "We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father, knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God." 1 Thessalonians 1:2-4. These virtues are not strictly nouns to be held or possessed. They must also be verbs which are evidenced to others. Our faith will have works and be tested to produce patience. Our patience exists only in trial. Love is shown as well as spoken or proven untrue. Virtues do not exist to be had but to be shown. A virtue with no evidence has no purpose. Christ has made us what we are, the noun. Then comes our purpose, what we do, the verb. When we show these traits as true representations of our hearts, we draw closer to Christ.