Freedom didn’t come from secular or naturalist ideas. Freedom came about as a result of Christianity.
Jesus came to set the captives free, and He has done just that! It starts with the spirit of a man, but eventually filters into every area of his being and then out into the whole world and into every area of life.
For my entire Christian life I have been hearing this: “we need to be more relevant to the world to draw the world to Jesus.”
Usually this is expressed as a change in style of music, style of church service, etc. “We are the ‘cool’ Christians. We’re not like those other stuffy religious bigots. Come to our church.”
Much of my ministry career has been spent involved to some degree or another with World Missions. Striving to “contextualize” the Gospel into another culture is a challenge, but a necessary one. We want to see every people group in the world hear about Jesus in a way that they can understand!
This is just as true in America. We want everyone to hear the Gospel in a way that they understand.
I remember reading in an essay on contextualizing the Gospel about how challenging it is to present the Gospel in a relevant way without compromising exactly what the Gospel is!
Here is one key element of the Gospel that seems to get missed in America: Jesus is Lord!
He is the Creator and Originator of all things. He is the boss. The head honcho. The big cheese. The final say. The judge.
What He says is true – is true. What he says is false – is false.
Jesus is Lord of all opinions of truth!
Of course, God created each of us as unique individuals, so we can like chocolate-chip-cookie-dough ice cream over fudge ice cream. This kind of opinion is valid.
We each have different styles, giftings, preferences, etc. Sometimes there is no “one right way” to do things.
But sometimes there is only ONE right way. If Jesus says so. And don’t forget, when I say Jesus, I mean God. In other words, whether the Truth is presented from the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit it is still true.
Christianity is true whether you believe in it or not!
I have often wondered why there seems to be so little interest in Biblical Worldview amongst Christians. There seems to be a satisfaction with just getting “saved,” going to church, tithing, signing up for the usher’s list (or nursery, or bake sale, or softball team) and waiting for the end of time.
And of course, don’t vote for anyone who is for “special” rights for gays or pro-choice. Well, those two used to be sacred anyways.
But Jesus is Lord of All of Life, and His Opinion is Truth!
Here is my call to the Church of Jesus: Repent of believing whatever you want to believe and preferring whatever truth you want and instead surrender your Mind to Christ!
Be transformed by the renewing of your mind! Surrender Absolutely to the Lordship of Jesus Christ over your thoughts.
Think God’s thoughts after Him.
Ethics? Philosophy? Politics? Values? Leadership Principles? Work Principles? Financial Principles? In everything it is time to lay down our weapons and surrender to the One True God in the area of our opinions.
Lord help me! Help me see the world the way You see it! Get rid of my error. Show me the Truth. Teach me the Truth!
In the end, it doesn’t matter what my opinion is and it doesn’t matter what your opinion is. It matters what God’s opinion is on every issue.
It’s very hard to have real conversations about how the Gospel applies to All of Life unless we are all surrendered to and seeing the Truth of Jesus Christ as reveled to in the Bible and testified to by the Holy Spirit.
What do conservatives say? What do liberals say? What about Fox News? What about the Huffington Post?
“There are reports of rioting and looting across the country. But this is no time for such behavior. This crisis will be settled; central bank executives are meeting in Brussels even as I speak.
“I have alerted the Armed Services and issued a provisional order of martial law. This is not without precedent. President Lincoln took similar steps during the Civil War. I want to assure the American people that your safety and the just order of our society is my first priority.”
The President continued, “We must show the world that Americans are law-abiding, peace-loving citizens. So if you see military personnel in your area, obey them. The areas that have given us particular difficulty today have been largely secured. Fires that were wantonly set in Newark are being brought under control.” [Read More]
One of my facebook friends responded with this comment:
“It makes me want to be an ostrich. I feel helpless.”
I can hardly blame her. For the past decades the Church as a whole has tended to blame all of the worlds problems on the fact that “this is the end of the world.”
How then do we as Christians warn each other and the world of the very real consequences of ditching God and his ways and the consequences of making up our own destructive “answers” to the problems in the world? How do we do sound the alarm of what really could happen while maintaining hope and even assurance of what God is going to do in the Earth?
Here is my response on facebook:
Read Daniel 2:31-45. The Iron in the Statue was the Roman Empire. The Feet made of Iron and Clay are the remnants of the Roman empire. A Kingdom was promised to come in those days (The days of ancient Rome when Jesus came!) that would shatter all of the Kingdoms of This World and replace them with the Kingdom of God filling the whole earth.
It is inevitable. God has decreed it. There is always hope. In fact, there is more than hope, there is assurance.
Read Habakkuk 2:14. (Happens to be quoted on the left side of my facebook profile). The earth WILL be filled with the Knowledge of the Glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea! God has said it and He will do it!
Read Matthew 28:18-20. Jesus tells us to preach the gospel to all nations because All Authority in Heaven AND ON EARTH has been given to Him! Also because of this authority we should teach the world to obey everything that He commanded. (Remember that Jesus also wrote the Old Testament!)
God has given us dominion. Matthew 5:5 says that the “Meek will Inherit the Earth.” That should be us.
We cannot lose. Our job is to preach and teach and live out the ways of God in every area of life and society. God will turn that into Global Victory for Ever!
Perhaps this is one of the reasons why Jesus said things like “Do not Be Afraid.”
As God once said to Joshua “Shout, for I have given you the city!”
Charles Colson’s article is a great example of a dilemma that we have as Christians. How do we warn each other and the world of the inevitable consequences of sin and anti-Christian worldviews while still building hope and giving the instruction and strength to conquer?
Sin (including sinful ideas) produces consequences. The Power of God and the Gospel will triumph. The key is to see that this is true even when it looks like the whole world is “going to hell in a handbasket.”
It is times like that where we find out what we really believe.
Hopefully you will find that discussion encouraging.
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