Tuesday, October 11, 2005

# 95: We Are Responsible

One of the reasons there are so many unbelievers in the world is because most of us who profess Christ as Lord and Savior have not made the Gospel relevant in our daily living. The gospel does not influence others to any great degree because they don't see it in all areas of our lives. The influence of our gospel cannot be restricted to only certain areas, such as church attendance, good morals, or only speaking with our Christian friends on spiritual matters. Every moment presents a new opportunity to bring our relationship with Christ, in a realistic way, to every unique situation. For the most part, we don't do this. Even when we do, because of our moral imperatives, we usually fail to give Christ glory in a verbal fashion, fearing we will be looked upon as religious nuts. The truth of the gospel must affect all of our values and associations, including how we run our households and businesses; most of all, we must demonstrate in every specific circumstance who is behind our actions and why. Our God-given conscience must constantly assess our every action as to how it affects our community and those in our immediate presence. Why? Because the one we represent is Jesus Christ. In general, we have set a very poor example for the world to follow. Living in this fashion without giving the glory to God just makes us nice guys/gals who are considerate of others.

Atheists and skeptics know better than to believe in a religious message that has made us, because of our hypocrisy, the laughingstock of the world. The truth of the matter is that our lives don't match our words of profession. We are apathetic and indifferent to the needs of anyone who doesn't believe exactly as we do, especially when they don't believe at all.

I know that those who are involved with organized Christianity are not all fakes; nevertheless, I would rather see agnostics stay where they are rather than get involved in the fakery section of organized Christianity. How can I make such a statement? Because a new convert may not know what Christ really has to offer. Taking the validity of organized worship on blind faith, they may settle for much less, which makes it no Christianity at all. As one who continually shares his faith with anyone and everyone, I can say that it is much easier to witness someone who knows little or nothing about the truth of the Christian faith, than those who already think they have salvation through their part-time, couch-potato Christianity. The reason is that God can't give them something they think they already have. This fact alone tells me that not many registered church-going Christians will be able to experience the reality of the Good News to the point where it is the controlling factor in their lives.

That is the reason why I often think that this simple, unsophisticated blog has mostly been written in vain. I would love more than anything for all people who believe in Christ to behave in such a way that Jesus is clearly visible in everything they say and do. At the same time, I cringe at the thought of anyone in their right mind getting involved in any way with bogus Christianity. To the world in general, these two forms of worship (the real and the fake) are synonymous, yet they might as well be separated by infinity. What a paradox! This is the reason I wax redundantly, repeating over and over the many truths that are the foundation for living up to what God desires for us. Through grace, He allows us to resemble Jesus Christ. We could have His status as sons/daughters of God. What an unspeakable privilege: God’s desire to share His Life and Holiness with unworthy humans. Therefore, let us continually be aware of this phenomenal privilege and live up to nothing less than what we can be in God's eyes! Give me one legitimate reason why we can't actively believe that fact alone! If we do claim to believe it, let’s prove it by our lives. Dang it, I am mad! To those of us who truly believe that fact, let’s stop living as phony saints!

Yes, we all are guilty for the shape the world is in, yet it is not too late for us to do something about it. All the world wants to see is the living Christ in you and me; not a Gospel of empty words and excuses for our frailties, or a parade of our morals, rituals, traditions and formalities. These things per se, are of no value in making Christ known. The whole world is hurting for reality and it doesn’t even know where to begin to look!

I continually see the empty and hurting faces of people every day. It nearly kills me when words and answers are not enough. They have heard so many religious words, mine included, that they are totally meaningless to them. Where can they go to find meaning in their lives? Look around and you will see the results of their vain searches. Christ hurts for all who will not have the opportunity to believe Him because of their complacency and hypocrisy. I hurt more than words can express. That is truly sharing in the suffering of Christ. Also, I share the pain of the lost. I was one of those empty seekers much of my life: I would grab whatever I could. Maybe this will make me feel complete. Let’s do this, let’s go here or there, let’s buy this thing or that; then everything will be okay. Without knowing it, every person has an intrinsic, though dormant, craving to be what they were meant to be: clones-of-Christ-in-the-making. It’s sad to say that most will not have that hunger satisfied until, and only until, we get our act straight. God is waiting with open arms for the spiritually hungry to be enlightened by us. He needs us more than life itself. He can't do it without us. What more can God say? God’s love for the lost and His desire for them to have His life are virtually killing Jesus Christ all over again. His life counts for nothing without us. God will receive glory only when He sees the RESULTS of His Son in our lives; nothing less will do.

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