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Who
do we model?
When
I was a new Christian I was coddled and bottle fed, God kept me
still until I learned how to walk, then He set me out on my own.
But I chose to hold on to others hands believing they knew more
than God about how I should be conducting my life. It took me
ten years to totally surrender to God. Had I not been brought to
brokenness when I realized I did not have a personal
relationship with God; I would still be sitting on a pew
complacent with my salvation.
This
is a problem I see today, just to many bottle fed Christians.
Too many Christians are content with having their salvation,
having no desire to follow Christ’s example of serving their
fellow man. Most are happy to sit on a pew on Sunday morning,
listen intensely to what is preached, and then walk out the door
without having heard a word of what was meant by the sermon. A
few have grown to depend on going on a yearly mission project to
reinforce their belief that they are serving God. Some measure
their relationship with God by the number of people who are lead
to Christ through their miniscule effort. (These haven’t
figured out God is in the soul saving business, we are just His
sowers of His seeds and water bearers to give drink to His
garden)
As
a body of believers we need to teach, “What do you want
from me God?” and not why are you doing this to me? But
few ask the question “what do you want”, and why? Most have
been drawn into the American dream that we are a people who must
have everything our hearts or mind desires. We are so caught up
in “things”; yes “things” which we say are a blessing
from God, but have become a heavy burden in our life. In our
quest to keep all the “things” they no longer have
time for family or friends let alone Jesus. Many come to church
on Sunday but on Monday it is right back to their job so they
can make more money, to buy more “things” and get their
children to whatever activity they as a parent has chosen for
them to participate in. They let a schedule they set out of
desire and quest for “things” run them instead of
controlling their own life. And Jesus? What happened to Him?
He got left on the church pew! Many
people have come to believe they can please God with token
prayers, while giving 99 percent of their affection to their
job, home, family, and recreations.”
To get our attention, it seems, God has to allow a dramatic
event to happen in our life. When this happens we expect God to
immediately fix all that we have messed up, and most times we
fail to wait on God, we take our problems and attempt to fix
them our self. When we do wait on God, we go right back to
leaving Him on the pew once He had gotten us through a bad
situation.
We
need to teach that if one follows the basic principles God has
laid before us, such as putting Him ahead of our own desire,
realizing when He said He would provide for us, that He did not
include “a lavish provision”, only the basic necessity’s.
We need to remember the treasure we lay up on earth cannot be
taken with us when we die. And if we hoard them for ourselves,
they are of no use to God.
We
need to teach that the example Christ set is the example we
should be following. Christ did not set the example of being in
church on Sunday is what is most important. Nor did He set an
example of work, work, and work, get more “things”; The
example He set was serving people, serving to the point of
sacrifice. He told us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves,
yet we covet our neighbor and will go to any extreme to keep up
with him or knock him down. He told us to “Go into all the
world” yet we only go to church. We don’t witness because we
have been taught that to witness means saving souls! Pardon me
but nowhere in any translation of Gods word have I read that it
is my job to save people. The saving of souls is the work of God
and the Holy Sprit. (1 Corinthians 3:7 So
neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only
God, who makes things grow)
Christ’s words tell me in Matthew 28:19 and Acts 1:8 my
job is to be a witness, to share the love of Christ, I am also
told to serve my fellow man, to care for widows and orphans as
well as those who are in need. By going to where the lost
and hurting are you are allowed not only the opportunity to help
with their physical needs, but you are provided an opportunity
to minister to their spiritual needs by presenting God’s
message of hope. As a disciple I am to “GO” and be a witness
by planting and watering, and this is best done through our
following the model Christ laid out for us by His actions. Let
God handle the saving part. (1 Corinthians 3:7)
By
disciplining I don’t mean inviting all our
non-Christian friends to Christmas and Easter programs. I mean
setting an example by our lifestyle, by being receptive to God
as He shows us the needs of others. And when He does, acting on
His word by being there to lift someone with a kind word, or by
doing something which they cannot do for themselves. By being
the ear that listens to the hurts, which others have, and
offering words of comfort.
In
James 2:14-26 we
are told; what good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have
faith but has not deeds? Can such faith save him? (15)
Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.
(16)
If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm
and well fed," but does nothing about his physical need,
what good is it? (17)
In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by
action, is dead. (18)
But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith
by what I do. (19)
You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons
believe that-----and shudder. (20)
You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds
is useless? (21)
Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he
did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? (22)
You see that his faith and his actions were working together,
and his faith was made complete by what he did. (23)
And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham
believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,"
and he was called God's friend. (24)
You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by
faith alone. (25)
In
the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered
righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies
and sent them off in a different direction? (26)
As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds
is dead. (NIV)
We
need to heed Gods word and start being doers of His word,
instead of just hearers. Our actions will speak much louder than
any words we can speak. This is, after all, the model Christ set
by example.
Myself
I choose to serve a Risen Savior, a Mighty God, one who saved my
soul from the pits of hell, a God who took my life and
transformed it from one filled with hate and anger to one filled
with love and compassion and as long as I have breath in this
body I will continue the task He has laid before me. I refuse to
do the religiously correct thing, of offering prayer to those in
need. I will reach in my pocket to buy the hungry food, and as
they eat I will tell them how God fed me when I hungered for His
word. I will get my
hands dirty repairing the home that is in need of repair, and as
I do I will tell them how God repaired my broken life. I’ll
tell them if they open the door of their heart, Jesus will come
in and repair their life also.
I
will go to the inner city of Muncie Indiana, the hollows in West
Virginia, the farmland of Mississippi, the jungles of Honduras,
and the mountains of Jamaica. Wherever God leads, I will go and
live the call by serving those in need and sharing what God did
for me, and sharing the love and gospel of Jesus Christ.
Clyde
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