Thursday, February 2, 2012
Who Should Christians Follow
Once again I have been faced with the question of modern idolatry in the form of dedication to a man. This has become so common, more than any other sin, this one has overtaken our society by storm. God said that we are not to "say you are of Paul or Apollos." 1 Corinthians 1:12 If we are completely dedicated to Christ then we could never say "I follow the teachings of ......." pertaining to a man. If we quote a man's writing more than the teachings of Christ or find ourselves unable to express our Christianity solely in terms of Christ and Him alone, then we have an idol. Christ was very clear that He wanted us to see only Him. I am reminded of the days when our children were growing up and I was attempting to instruct them, and their eyes were wandering all around the room, distracted by the other people in the house. I had to continually admonish them to "look at me while I am talking to you." As their eyes and hearts were diverted to other people and things, I had to be vigilant about bringing their attention back to me. I knew that if I allowed them to be distracted, they would not carry out my wishes or learn any important lessons. This is how we, as stubborn children, are with God. He is continually nudging us to come back to focus on Him and only Him. As long as we will not let go of our human idols, we cannot progress any further. The challenge today is to practice for one week resolving not to mention the name of any man in reference to Biblical principles. Could we go through an entire week, only speaking of Christ and His principles without mentioning a man's name in conjunction with our study? What a novel idea!
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
We as a Christian culture do not take lying and stealing seriously in the body. We think of it with no more shame than eating too many cookies. We protect the offender with flattery rather than rebuking them with instruction and shame.
There is more than just criminal activity here. Many of God’s principles have been broken by this one single act. When we steal from others we are deceitful. When we steal we are dishonoring our parents, husband and children, they are the ones most harmed by our thievery.
When we steal we are taking what does not belong to us therefore bringing hardship on those we steal from and bringing shame to Christ when we bare his name.
When we steal and go before the judge claiming that it is our parents fault or our upbringing that festers in our deepest recesses, with bitterness and anger we are lying. We are lying when we say we can’t help ourselves, what we mean is that we want people to feel sorry for us, so that our shame is diminished and even eliminated.
When we steal we are teaching our children wickedness and how to excuse their sinful behavior and how to lie to get out of trouble.
When we steal we mismanage our funds in terms of the fines and jail time we pay after being caught. We also spend other peoples money through tax dollars that are used to house and feed us while we are in jail.
We inconvenience our friends when they have to agonize over going to court with us and coming back later after our sentence is up. We may even break up a marriage or friendship when those who love us feel we can no longer be trusted.
We are terrible examples to the judge and other workers in the courthouse who know that we are Christians. Our witness is damaged and it is so far reaching that those in the courtroom who have seen the carnage will go and disparage Christ to all their unsaved friends and even persecute other believers because of our actions. Very often our names are printed in the newspaper for the entire community to see, further damaging the reputation of Christ and His followers.
When we steal we cause division within the church between the flatterers and those who are concerned about holiness and confession and brokenness in the soul of the offender.
In short when we steal we damage the name of Christ and His followers in our homes, in our communities, in the courtroom while teaching young people and small children to lie, deceive and harm others for their own desires. And lastly, when we excuse our sin by blaming others, we are dishonoring God and breaking all ten commandments.
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