The Reality Problem!
Rom 8: 1- 11 1There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. 3For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 10And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Good News is that Christ came into the world to seek and to save lost sinners. All that is now required is to pray a 30-word prayer coming to the front, sign a little card or put your hand on the television screen and you're in! Very seldom we're asked to internalize the commands of Jesus Christ - to begin a lifestyle of service, self-sacrifice, and suffering based on dependence & subjection in obedience for the sake of our Lord.
We're uncomfortable about scripture verses talking about taking up the cross and seldom does our spirit-man lead and dominate our flesh-man. Most people are not willing to break out of the velvet cage of comfort and convenience to begin a radical lifestyle lived from an inner reality that affects the world.
Have we asked this question: When is my life going to demonstrate His compassion to the needy world around me? To love as He loved, walk where He walked, interact with the kind of sinful people He did and live the life of self-sacrificing service that was His trademark. Whom we claim to be is disconnected from what we know, and what we know is even more removed from what we do. For many in the audience in a service, it is just a kind of spiritual entertainment for the Sunday/ what-ever-night they came to.
Isn't it a watered-down gospel, a Convenience-store Christianity ? A place to go get what you want?!
We're willing to be students of Christianity rather than disciples of Jesus Christ! There is so much information about God, but so little knowledge of the Holy One
What are the reason for this degradation? We know its' devil's trick using human weakness.
1. Dis-unity: History & experience proves that religion by itself almost always divides rather than unites people. These divisions are based on an invisible system of discrimination against others based on age, race, education and economic background!
Some modern church growth teachers are now openly applying marketing techniques to further divide and create churches based on demographics rather than spiritual birth. We are almost always fascinated by having the best and the biggest. Social scientists say that the last sign of life in any movement comes when it starts to build monument-style buildings which is the case now for many churches. This has to do with the next point.
2. Self-centered nature: Someone who is self-centred cannot and will not respond to Christ because they are not submitted to Him as their Head. God is not just asking us to give money to missions, but to make missions the central passion of our lives! Jesus meant His Church to be an organism, primarily a missionary organism!
The only kind of Christianity we want is a pragmatic kind that shows us how to have a positive mental attitude, get ahead with our career plans, win friends and influence people - bumper-sticker theology. Popular notion about Christianity today is that we might be merely happy, healthy and wealthy.
Our set-goal by the Lord is to fellowship and worship with one thing in mind: reaching lost men and women wherever they are. We should to be a people willing to exchange anything and everything we have for the pearl of great price - the kingdom of God. (Mt 13:45-46)
The question that must be asked of every Christian activity we support is simply this: Will this event create any impact on a lost and dying world? If the answer is no, then we must reconsider being involved in it. We must ask if this is something from our agenda or His.
3. Greed : It is a pity that the concept of missions has been so cheapened that many Christians now they equate it with fund-raising. Many view missionaries who are visiting home churches as a travelling salesman and even more tragic is that some missionaries do behave this way. Many pastors spend far more time meeting with church-growth consultants, fund-raisers and salesmen than they do seeking the face of God for His will, plans and solutions.
The test of our true affection is not how much we give, but how we live. Missions is not something we do, but something we are.
We shouldn't be casual about the lost world when God considered it so important that His only solution was Calvary!
Why do a people who should have so much have so little in reality? With all this knowledge and skill, why is there no great move of God in our churches today? ? having the form and not the power!
- The World is Dictating Its Standards to Us.
- We have ruled out the supernatural and opted for self-sufficient, virtual Christianity knowledge and information have become equal to doing.
- We're not listening, not submitting to our spiritual head. We're so busy with our own plans, agendas, activities and pleasures that
- We've lost sight of the one and only purpose for which Christ redeemed us.
Authentic Christianity is not reserved only for missionary heroes and super-saints. It happens not only in the pages of the Bible or on faraway foreign lands, but on the street where we live, at our work, in our school/college/university and it is available for every believer, but we must make daily choices, must decide to begin personally. A gospel without the cross is no Gospel at all.
How can we resolve this problem?
1. Get Revelation of Who He is in fellowship: Just like Moses at the burning bush, we've to come face-to-face with the Living God. Moses had tried in his own power to deliver Israel without success.
2. The true Jesus must rule and that means He rules us our proper place is at the feet of the Lord Jesus.
He humbled Himself to come as a human baby, revealed Himself as a servant and died as a criminal, but He rose from the grave as our Saviour & Lord!
3. Having fellowship with one another, strengthening each-other like a body.
4. We are to be the Body the hands and feet of Jesus in this present world. Lost men and women in this dark and dying world will not be found unless we search for them. (Mk 16:15-20)
5. We are ambassadors of Christ in the courts of a rebellious world. Paul described us as - Christ's ambassadors.
An ambassador is given authority by his government to represent the best interests of his nation. He can make and break contracts for his government and handle all kinds of affairs. But, they do not debate the wishes of the ruler (king) but simply obey them without discussion or question.
6. He wants us to operate in His authority and power.
In Genesis chapter one God gave man the authority but it was ruined through sin. But now through Christ we are potentially restored to live as God originally intended man to live in the Garden of Eden.
7. God is more interested in bringing heaven to our hearts than us to heaven! (Lk 17:21) That is why He did not glorify us immediately after our justification!
But, God does not commit His authority at random to anyone.
Meditation:
- The Question we must ask is: If my Christian service were to end today, would it make any difference in eternity?!
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