Caught up with some new friends on the weekend who shared that they had been given a hard time from fellow Christian friends for moving to a suburb, that by certain people's standards, isn't as good as others.
It caused me to think about something I've been pondering on lately and that is a Christian's synchronistic lifestyle with the culture in which we live.
By all standards, from what I hear from people around me, I am meant to be making a whole stack of dollars, living in a nice suburb, paying off the house, driving a decent car, you know the drill. What I have discovered is that this is not only the dream of our society and culture it's also the dream of many 'Christians'.
The question I have about this is about simply hearing God's voice, obedience and faith.
If i hear God's voice correctly I'm pretty sure he's been telling me all my life, through his word, to seek Him first, not serve 2 masters, that He will provide my needs, to love Him and to love others before myself.
So if I have dream to be affluent is this not in total contrast to His word? Am I not being more like the world than a follower of Jesus?
So I think that one of the big reasons our local churches are slowing to have an impact on our culture is that the local church in many ways is just a mini culture of the same mindset. If it is that, then it's no wonder that the sick, the hurting, the broken, the lonely, the poor can't relate and don't find Jesus relevant.
John in the book of Rev had something to say about this, actually Jesus through John. It came in a picture of the lukewarm church at Laodicea, not standing for anything, totally affected by the surrounding culture. Jesus said the church was basically good for nothing.
I believe followers of Jesus don't just fit in to the culture and enjoy the ride with a little genie to rub when we get into strife, like a get out of jail free card. We're either for it or not. We either have faith in God to provide, hear His call, try to live the obedient life or we don't.
Monday, November 19, 2007
I$n't it time to break out?!
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3 comments:
"Jesus said the church was basically good for nothing."
What passages do you refer to for this?
Hey Paul, thanks for the comment. I was specifically referring to what Jesus said about the church at Laodicea Rev 3:14-18, it wasn't a quote of what Jesus said about the church global if that was what you were thinking. In my understanding Jesus pretty much states that the church (Laodicea) is neither hot nor cold and he's ready to spit them out of his mouth, my terminology . . . pretty much good for nothing. Does that clear things up? Thanks, Glenn.
Hi Glenn, thanks for the quick reply. I misread you, my apologies. In my first reading I agreed with you totally, but then thought that sentence was a little extreme, because I thought you meant the universal church. Gotta get the context!
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