c h r i s t i a n l i f e
Tares and wheat
When god is moulded to the preferences of a society, group or person the result is the worship of an imaginary god who exists only in their mind. But the person who allows them self to be conformed to Jesus by the word of the Lord is spiritual, known to the true and living God, and their name is written in the book of life.
Body first
Increasingly I understand that Gods most powerful mode of operation is often through his body, not just some small part of it. Perhaps it is unfortunate that a lot of our Christian stories emphasise a particular individual, just as the world loves to do. It is true that God raises up individuals with outstanding ministries, however I believe we need more stories that draw together the complex threads that show how God can use his body in a concerted way.
Not what you have
The children of this world measure their life in terms of what they have, but the true Christian measures their own worth in terms of what they can give. This thought extends well beyond money and possessions only.
A little religion makes rich
It seems that a little religion makes rich, while too much religion makes poor. The clean hard working life brought about by a little religion often brings much material reward, however those who are poured out to others in their life, their giving, or their ministry, do so because they have heavenly priorities that negate all possibility of gaining (or at least retaining) significant wealth.
Worldly wisdom
It is possible to kill Christian endeavour in the name of responsibility, for ‘long term' planning may at times prove to be the opposite of living by faith and sometimes is wise only in a material sense. Thus, although better than foolishness, the exaltation of material wisdom can undermine divine priorities and fruitfulness.
Bulding the Kindom of ?
Christians have never been so committed as they are today to building the kingdom of ‘heaven' – building wood, concrete, steeel, pretty much wood hay and stubble. Visible testimony of our ‘success' in making the gospel worldly.
In our image
Is Christianity in the process of being made over ‘in our image' such that what will eventually be worshipped will be little more than the cumulative tenets of our culture embodied in a God that exists only in our own imaginations?
Communities and ministry
In a functional community it is very easy to have a ministry because peoples lives are intertwined and there are fewer barriers to continual hospitality, serving one another and natural non-invasive witnessing. In contrast, I suspect that a lot of angsting over 'having a ministry', often in a more institutionalised sense, relates to frustrations we experience because of hindering factors in western society. These hindrances are largely to do with aspects of modern culture such as the non-geographic grouping of communities (made possible by the motor car and communications), the lack of community engagement brought about by home entertainment, the individual way that we gather information and the general trend towards more individualistic living. Satan seeks to put as many walls around each individual as possible in a kind of 'divide and conquer' strategy. If we are cut off from each other we fall more easily and fully into his power. I believe Christians need to make a conscious effort to break this trend, and one simple way is to make our homes as open and as welcoming to others as we can. Other possibilities may include things as simple as just allowing more of our time to be available to others, or taking the time to ring, write to or visit people instead of working on some personal project.
Lukewarm
We read the words of Jesus to the Laodiceans and pass comment on them, and perhaps even see them as relevant to Christianity in the modern western world, however we seldom say to ourselves “I am lukewarm” or “I am blind” or “Christ stands outside the door of my heart and knocks”. We are more inclined to compare ourselves favourably with those we perceive as worse. After all we may think that we are not ‘rich and increased with goods' (in our foolish comparison to those who are richer still, rather than the poor of the two thirds world). Yet I have hardly met a Christian, including myself, who is not to some extent under the spell of materialism. Will western Christians ever face up to the nature and scale of their biggest Achilles heel?
Suffering
It is impossible to be Gods servant unless we can accept suffering in the flesh. Suffering is the place of the flesh, but for those of us used to the molly coddling western world that seeks to eliminate all suffering, inconvenience and uncertainty this is very hard to absorb.
Will we accept possibilities like poverty, hunger, lack of security to our person, overwork, illness, overtiredness, being misunderstood? Most of us feel hard done by if we have to trade down our car or endure some other minor loss or disappointment.
The real messages of the New Testament are often not getting through any more. Christianity is a very high calling to holiness, separation from this world, serving others and suffering in the flesh.
Motives for service
If we lose what we are out motives for service will subtly shift to trying to maintain the appearance that we are still what we are expected to be, but most can not continue on this ground for long.
War on order
Service to God is often at war with the desire many of us have to keep our lives in a certain peaceful order. Prioritising on serving others hits our own objectives and ‘to do' list hard at times. Unless we are willing when required to lose the neat, ordered, everything up to date way of life, then service will generate resentment the moment it moves outside the neat confines we allocated it. As soon as service is infiltrated by resentment, discouragement and depression is likely to follow close behind.
Cultural impediments
In the west there are huge cultural impediments to deeply understanding the Christian message and the way of the cross. We are born into comfort and convenience, all our lives we expect to have our needs met, the expectation or desire for success is ingrained and our idea of minimal is still a very high standard of living. Thus even when people do intellectually grasp the message of the cross it usually remains hidden from the heart because we can't accept it. Those who live in the two-thirds world and are more acquainted with suffering, and loss are better prepared to understand what Christianity really is.
Last days
What sorrowful days we live in, to see peoples hearts everywhere swallowed up in materialism and both hardened to and ignorant of the terrible cost. The cost to families as the love of money casts a dark shadow over the love of children. The terrible cost to the living world that God has created as we accelerate at high speed towards the cliff of environmental collapse. The terrible cost to the soul, fattened in it's self-satisfaction, but barren and separated from God. If it's grievous in the world, it's a tragedy in the church where every boundary is blurred and gross covetousness often goes under the guise of enhanced worship.
We know that the last days must come and the bible accurately describes their spiritual condition, yet to observe the great apostasy from genuine faith is heart wrenching. Deception deception deception, the modern Christian is ripe for all of it because many values of this world have been repackaged for Christian consumption. Will Jesus find faith on Earth?
Discernment
As I engage in various activities I have an inescapable awareness of whether it is profitable or not, whether it is spiritual or carnal, what is plain sin and what is an acceptable engagement with this present world. I'm not saying I always act perfectly on this awareness, but whether I act well or otherwise the awareness is always present. What really worries me is that this discernment seems virtually non-existent in most Christian teens; instead all manner of complete worldliness seems to just get swallowed whole without the slightest examination. There seems to have been no training or development of these senses in them. Such complete misunderstanding of the difference between carnal and spiritual, except in the most obvious area of sexual sin, bodes very poorly for the future of true Christianity in this country.
No worse than predicted
The parable of the mustard seed and the parable of the wheat and the tares taken together teach us that the church was predicted to become excessively large, contain a mixed multitude of saved and unsaved and become the lodging place for many agents of Satan. A clear hold on this truth means that what we see today is just as expected and therefore should not be a cause for disillusionment. Looking at it this way can free us from worrying about a general situation that was predicted by Jesus anyway, and clear the path just to focus on how we are going to live a genuine Christian life in the circumstances.