Tuesday, June 27, 2006
"Salt and Light" or "Pepper and Darkness"?
I've been praying a lot recently for a revival in my own spiritual life, as well as the Christian community at large. If more Christians, myself included, would boldly stand up and obey God's Word, no matter what the cost... and to be "living sacrifices" who are willing to give up certain things if that's what it takes to get closer to God... that's when society will begin to change as a result of us being obedient "salt and light" and God will be glorified. Because the state of things right now in many of our churches and youth groups needs to change...
We often pick and choose which parts of the Bible we want to read and obey, instead of being 100% totally surrendered to God. We have TV shows and movies glorifying things God does not approve of, and Christians who not only enjoy it but imitate it and joke about it. We have music that makes immorality seem normal, and Christians who listen to it and enjoy it more than music that glorifies God. We have Christian friends who socialize all the time and talk about everything in the world, but never talk about their spiritual lives or Christian growth -- the things that really matter. We have Christian "friends" who tempt their other Christian friends to sin, to make themselves feel better about their own sin. We have Christians who want a certain image so badly that they're willing to sell God out to get it. We have Christians who, when they hear something challenging and convicting from God's Word, just call it "too extreme" and blow it off. We have college campuses where anything goes, and the Christians are right there living the same way, enjoying their "freedom" instead of being Christ-like. When are we going to start hating sin, like the Bible says, and being disgusted by sin, like God is, instead of pushing the boundaries right up to it, and even being entertained by it? The Bible teaches us to even "avoid the appearance of evil" and not to even "show approval of sin", even if we are not sinning ourselves. That is a high standard, but it is biblical, and we can do it with God's strength when we get serious about pleasing God as our top priority. Please think and pray about these spiritual issues. This is not meant to point fingers, because many of these things apply directly to myself as well. I just pray for a day when we start to see Christians making an impact on the world like God called us to, instead of being slowly lulled into being exactly like the world....
We often pick and choose which parts of the Bible we want to read and obey, instead of being 100% totally surrendered to God. We have TV shows and movies glorifying things God does not approve of, and Christians who not only enjoy it but imitate it and joke about it. We have music that makes immorality seem normal, and Christians who listen to it and enjoy it more than music that glorifies God. We have Christian friends who socialize all the time and talk about everything in the world, but never talk about their spiritual lives or Christian growth -- the things that really matter. We have Christian "friends" who tempt their other Christian friends to sin, to make themselves feel better about their own sin. We have Christians who want a certain image so badly that they're willing to sell God out to get it. We have Christians who, when they hear something challenging and convicting from God's Word, just call it "too extreme" and blow it off. We have college campuses where anything goes, and the Christians are right there living the same way, enjoying their "freedom" instead of being Christ-like. When are we going to start hating sin, like the Bible says, and being disgusted by sin, like God is, instead of pushing the boundaries right up to it, and even being entertained by it? The Bible teaches us to even "avoid the appearance of evil" and not to even "show approval of sin", even if we are not sinning ourselves. That is a high standard, but it is biblical, and we can do it with God's strength when we get serious about pleasing God as our top priority. Please think and pray about these spiritual issues. This is not meant to point fingers, because many of these things apply directly to myself as well. I just pray for a day when we start to see Christians making an impact on the world like God called us to, instead of being slowly lulled into being exactly like the world....
