This weekend I got a unique opportunity to just be an extra adult help at a DiscipleNow weekend. If you know my background at all, you are aware that I am used to planning, leading, and speaking at such events. It's a rarity to see it from just a spectator role. I want to commend Jon LeMarque and Coosada Baptist Church for their investment in the life of those teenagers this weekend! It was well planned, prayed for, and operated! And the best thing, God did big things! Worship was led by the JJ Weeks Band and the speaker was Cody Deese. Now, I have to confess that he looks 18, but Cody did an enormous job bringing God's Word in clarity, thoroughness, and boldness! And, He's not even close to 18! Looks are deceiving!
I've made the statement before, "It's not about your happiness, it's about your holiness." And truth be told, this is a Biblical picture. However, after hearing from a very gifted speaker this weekend, I realize that holiness by itself is incomplete. In our attempt to be holy, we have isolated ourselves in our "Christian subculture" and have failed to do the second aspect of our mission. Holiness without engaging our culture will Christianity to the status of a hermit in complete insignificance. The pursuit of holiness must lead us to bring light into dark places. Light exposes darkness! We are the light of the world (Matthew 5:13). In our attempt to separate, we have isolated. How many lost people do you really associate with on a daily basis? For some, that number is woefully inadequate to engage the culture the way Christ wants you to! He was a friend of sinners, prostitutes, tax collectors, and crooks! He didn't conform to their lifestyle, instead He was the light that exposed their deeds as error in the first place! How will the world know their damnation if the hands and feet of Christ aren't active in sharing the Gospel to them ON THEIR TURF! Stop expecting the world to come to the church building! It's not going to happen that way. We must go to the hungry, the helpless, the broken, the destitute, the LOST! Scripture says it this way...
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. (James 1:27)
I don't like that word "religion", but in this context James is referencing it as genuine relationship with Christ that leads to action. Holiness is the second part of the equation. Engaging this culture is the first (namely here benevolence). Later James says, "Faith without works is DEAD" (James 2:26). If our "Christianity" only leads us to holy huddles on Sunday mornings inside our elaborate temples made by human hands, then it's not genuine Christianity. I like the movie To Save a Life because one key line exasperates my heart, "What's the point of all this if it doesn't change you?" The Atonement (the work of Christ on the Cross) was meant to change everything for us AND the world! If we hide in our church groups and refuse to make a tangible difference in our world, are we making a mockery of the blood of Christ? Who else is going to change the world? It has to be the Church!
What are you currently doing to engage your culture for Jesus Christ? Who are you missing because of your busy schedule and selfish lifestyle? The Truth of God's Word hurts, but ultimately heals us of our own hypocrisy and religion!
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