“That's me in the corner
That's me in the spotlight
Losing my religion
Trying to keep up with you
And I don't know if I can do it
Oh no I've said too much
I haven't said enough”
Those of us who are high achievers like to achieve. For us its an end in itself. And because we like to achieve, we don’t like to fail. In fact, if we make less than an A, we’re pretty sure the sun will not come up the next day.
But I seem to be failing – continuously. I keep failing the Litmus Test that so many of my Republican Christian friends have been administering. I just can’t seem to manufacture the venom and hatred that seems to be the defining characteristic of this sub-culture. I have a pretty clear picture of what they’re against. The question remains open as to what they are for.
This usually manifests itself during the presidential elections. However, it seems to have escaped the boundaries of the election campaign. I am very concerned about the attitudes and the statements of so many of my Republican, Christian, friends.
Please take careful note the order of my adjectives …Republican comes before Christian and thus it modifies the adjective that comes after it. And that is the problem!
Too many Christians are filtering their beliefs through their political grid. It should be exactly the opposite. Our politics – indeed every aspect of our entire life - should be filtered through the grid of scripture.
Too many Christians are making the gospel message they are to be proclaiming through their life very unattractive with the constant stream of venom that spews from their mouths.
Tell me: How does that line up with Ephesians 4:29? Check it out (emphasis added):
“Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.”
Every election year, I see tremendous energy and passion spent in criticizing the candidates and policies they oppose. I always hope to see just half that much energy and passion spent living out the Gospel, obeying the call to spread the gospel as we are going (Read again the Great Commission as a call to all believers. Matthew 28:19-20) or using their spiritual gifts serving one another in the church as we are all called to do.
Jesus said that “They will know you by your love.”
Wow. I wonder what those outside the church know us by?
In his excellent book, The Jesus I Never Knew, Philip Yancey makes this observation:
“Jesus did not say, ‘All men will know you are my disciples … if you just pass laws, suppress immorality, and restore decency to family and government’, but rather, ‘if you love one another.’
The issues that confront Christians in secular society must be faced and addressed and legislated, and a democracy gives Christians every right to express themselves. But we dare not invest so much in the kingdom of this world that we neglect our main task of introducing people to a different kind of kingdom, one based solely on God’s grace and forgiveness… If a century from now all that historians can say about evangelicals of the 1990s (and 2000s) is that they stood for family values, then we will have failed the mission Jesus gave us to accomplish: to communicate God’s reconciling love to sinners. (emphasis added)”
I am not worried about what historians will say, what will the Lord say when we stand before Him?
I keep wondering what difference we could make if we would truly follow Jesus and do as He did when he encountered people whose value systems and lifestyles he didn’t approve of.
Look again at John 4. He treated the woman at the well with dignity and respect…and introduced her to the Living Water that changed her from the inside out.
I keep wondering what would happen if we, the Church, would reclaim the territory that we abandoned and begin to take care of the poor, the widowed, and the orphans rather than abdicating that responsibility to the government.
If we are really concerned about the moral decay of our society, we should spend our energy sharing with others the only source of authentic and lasting life change: Jesus Christ. When we come to Him, He begins a transformation process that moves from the inside out.
And I am confident of this very thing: He who begins this good work will be faithful to complete it (Philippians 1:6).
I am continually reminded of the practical atheism in our lives (mine included). We claim to know the Lord, yet we live, talk, and make decisions as if we didn’t. We proclaim the sovereignty of God, yet complain when election outcomes and legislative agendas don’t align with our wishes.
Rather than wringing our hands about the outcome of elections or the latest legislative action, I think its time to get to work on the task we are called to do.
That's me in the spotlight
Losing my religion
Trying to keep up with you
And I don't know if I can do it
Oh no I've said too much
I haven't said enough”
Those of us who are high achievers like to achieve. For us its an end in itself. And because we like to achieve, we don’t like to fail. In fact, if we make less than an A, we’re pretty sure the sun will not come up the next day.
But I seem to be failing – continuously. I keep failing the Litmus Test that so many of my Republican Christian friends have been administering. I just can’t seem to manufacture the venom and hatred that seems to be the defining characteristic of this sub-culture. I have a pretty clear picture of what they’re against. The question remains open as to what they are for.
This usually manifests itself during the presidential elections. However, it seems to have escaped the boundaries of the election campaign. I am very concerned about the attitudes and the statements of so many of my Republican, Christian, friends.
Please take careful note the order of my adjectives …Republican comes before Christian and thus it modifies the adjective that comes after it. And that is the problem!
Too many Christians are filtering their beliefs through their political grid. It should be exactly the opposite. Our politics – indeed every aspect of our entire life - should be filtered through the grid of scripture.
Too many Christians are making the gospel message they are to be proclaiming through their life very unattractive with the constant stream of venom that spews from their mouths.
Tell me: How does that line up with Ephesians 4:29? Check it out (emphasis added):
“Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.”
Every election year, I see tremendous energy and passion spent in criticizing the candidates and policies they oppose. I always hope to see just half that much energy and passion spent living out the Gospel, obeying the call to spread the gospel as we are going (Read again the Great Commission as a call to all believers. Matthew 28:19-20) or using their spiritual gifts serving one another in the church as we are all called to do.
Jesus said that “They will know you by your love.”
Wow. I wonder what those outside the church know us by?
In his excellent book, The Jesus I Never Knew, Philip Yancey makes this observation:
“Jesus did not say, ‘All men will know you are my disciples … if you just pass laws, suppress immorality, and restore decency to family and government’, but rather, ‘if you love one another.’
The issues that confront Christians in secular society must be faced and addressed and legislated, and a democracy gives Christians every right to express themselves. But we dare not invest so much in the kingdom of this world that we neglect our main task of introducing people to a different kind of kingdom, one based solely on God’s grace and forgiveness… If a century from now all that historians can say about evangelicals of the 1990s (and 2000s) is that they stood for family values, then we will have failed the mission Jesus gave us to accomplish: to communicate God’s reconciling love to sinners. (emphasis added)”
I am not worried about what historians will say, what will the Lord say when we stand before Him?
I keep wondering what difference we could make if we would truly follow Jesus and do as He did when he encountered people whose value systems and lifestyles he didn’t approve of.
Look again at John 4. He treated the woman at the well with dignity and respect…and introduced her to the Living Water that changed her from the inside out.
I keep wondering what would happen if we, the Church, would reclaim the territory that we abandoned and begin to take care of the poor, the widowed, and the orphans rather than abdicating that responsibility to the government.
If we are really concerned about the moral decay of our society, we should spend our energy sharing with others the only source of authentic and lasting life change: Jesus Christ. When we come to Him, He begins a transformation process that moves from the inside out.
And I am confident of this very thing: He who begins this good work will be faithful to complete it (Philippians 1:6).
I am continually reminded of the practical atheism in our lives (mine included). We claim to know the Lord, yet we live, talk, and make decisions as if we didn’t. We proclaim the sovereignty of God, yet complain when election outcomes and legislative agendas don’t align with our wishes.
Rather than wringing our hands about the outcome of elections or the latest legislative action, I think its time to get to work on the task we are called to do.
Rather than spending our energy on temporal issues, let’s focus on the eternal impact we can have by sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. He came to reconcile sinners to God…and He has given us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-20).
Let’s get on with it!
Let’s get on with it!
“That's me in the corner
That's me in the spotlight
Losing my religion
Trying to keep up with you
And I don't know if I can do it
Oh no I've said too much
I haven't said enough”
R.E.M. “Losing My Religion”
1 comment:
Love this! I totally agree. I'm reading "There's a Hole in Our Gospel" right now by Richard Stearns. He's the CEO of World Vision. It is about how we miss the poor in our interpretation of the Gospel. Put it on your list. Very good.
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