In the last week, I have seen several examples of Christians being Christians in the world. If our main purpose in life is to emulate Christ, then our actions should be quite telling:
- One minister was seen in the streets with protesters of a recent judicial verdict; social equality and racial justice phrases written on poster boards and being shouted from the lips.
- A Christian nurse frustrated over lack of care of her superiors on some patients in the hospital.
- A person testifying to the evident kept promises of God - he had sowed financial seed and God had greatly blessed him personally and financially. His conclusion was that all people should give more to the particular ministry he supported.
But a question remains - Which of these advanced the faith?
May I submit that none of them did because none of them are about the faith; rather, they are about what the individual believes, not what God has said.
True faith is a testimony in our hearts and lives as to what God has said and what God has done.
The Christian is a witness; we are not attorneys. A witness tells what He knows; an attorney argues a point. A witness need not argue.
True faith therefore, from the witness of truth, brings the message of eternity to a finite world for all to hear.
What we speak of God and how we act must speak to the world in which we live of our Holy God.
It must be timeless and on time - an eternal truth with a personal application and meaning for today.
But this is a problem for us today because our message and our messengers of God's truth isn't what it use to be; or rather, it is what it use to be and that is the problem.
Many Christians have not yet adapted to this generation.
With this adaptation, it does not mean that we sacrifice the truth of God, the holiness of God or any other attribute of God; it does mean that these things come in a way or in a medium which can be accessed by today's generation.
That is why you see these words in a blog from the internet and not a pamphlet on a street corner.
I caution all Christians not to reject the new because it is not the old way; I also caution not to accept the new simply because it is new and different.
No - we must speak in an appropriate, solid, even, manner and refrain from jumping to fad after fad. God never changes - nor should we in values or in our faith in the absolute truth.
Yet, we must make the truth understandable and readily available in this generation.
With that said, it should be cautioned and pointed out that we have lost or are losing one of the most valuable thoughts we have ever enjoyed - a lofty concept of a Holy God.
It seems that in the last 20 or so years, a high, lofty concept of God and His matchless majesty has been substituted for a lower one.
And this low view of God is responsible for many of the other things we have seen take place within the realm of Christianity.
- Priests that have been removed from parish to parish because of inappropriate sexual activities; this was the solution rather than prosecution.
- Evangelists who are more of entertainers than preachers, guiding their 'show' from town to town; but when they leave, local pastors have deal with the hurting, confused seekers of God that are left behind.
- Pastors who remove church money or use a church credit card for their own personal items; or even using a church's non-profit status to buy themselves a car.
Each of these show a lack of integrity and holiness as God is Holy.
This new Philosophy of a low view of God has caused us to have more open and informal worship, which is good; but it has also caused us to lose the awe of the Divine Presence when we worship - and that is bad.
When a minister of any flavor or stripe defiles the sanctuary of God and God's people, we stand amazed, hurt, betrayed - and we never really gain the trust back like we once had in our hearts.
In fact, due to such publicized activities - modern churches have trouble producing Christians who can enjoy a Spirit-Filled life walking with God.
The sad truth is that few ministers and even fewer parishioners know what it means to walk with God.
When in trouble, God has said, 'Be Still and know that I AM God...'
Those words mean next to nothing to the modern, bustling, self-confident worshiper of today.
So many churches today, especially in larger areas, are experiencing the phenomenon of what it means to be 'mega.' There are churches who have had greater gains in the last 20 years, than some churches have had in the last several hundred years.
Sadly, many have gained outwardly but have lost inwardly.
We have grown numerically in many ways but spiritually we have become big time losers.
The decline of the holy has caused all types of problems - sexual failings, moral earthquakes, and financial struggles, as well as ethical nightmares.
If the church regularly deals with these issues among its own, what does that say for the rest of society?
The message must be of Christ and the messenger must always be true to Him.
If you are having trouble with this or of your view of God - a rediscovery of God's holiness and majesty will go a long way in your life.
The simple truth is that erroneous thoughts of God will lead to erroneous living.
If Christians were reading the saints of old such as Augustine or of John Calvin, we would not be in the condition that we are in today.
But Christians aren't reading anything much at all, and certainly nothing that would take heavy concentration. The modern mind is full of knowledge, but dying of starvation from lack of the Bread of Life.
As a Christian, you are the Messenger of the eternal Message of the Gospel.
Our greatest joy should be honoring the Lord through our lives - and if we do that repeatedly, our lives and our hearts turn more to God.
And that will produce more good, more of an understanding of who God is and what it means to be a Christian, than the labor it took to deliver the Message.
Until next time, try to win one for the good guys.
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