This post is from one of the pastors at http://www.calvarychapel.com
We are living in a time and society where being politically correct is more important than being morally righteous. Our culture has placed certain boundaries and taboos on Christian speech and thought. What is right is considered wrong. The world wants us to be right in their sight rather than right in God’s sight.
We’re living in the kind of days described in Judges 21:25: “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”
We look to man as the final court of appeal to decide what’s right and what’s wrong. The result is an environment where legally right can be morally wrong and people are put off – even offended – by authoritative, truthful conviction from God’s Word.
Who is it that you’re living for? Are you living out convictions that come from God’s Word or do you expect God’s Word to bend to your convictions? If so, then you don’t see yourself as made in God’s image – you have fashioned God after your image. You’re telling God. It’s as if you have your own book out that makes much more sense than God’s Bible.
More Scriptural than Sympathetic
We’re sympathetic for the sinner. But we need to make sure our sympathy comes from the Word of God. We should feel sympathy for sinners because they are trapped. We should be sympathetic enough to tell them the truth rather than tell them what they want to hear because they happen to like the trap they’re in.
We can’t pick and choose truth according to our sympathy. We can’t live like we’re afraid to tell someone the truth because we might be offensive. We need to be afraid to offend because we neglect to tell the truth.
Romans 13:14 says, “…put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” Don’t live a life where you are more sympathetic to a cesspool of sinful fantasy than living a life that flows from scriptural thinking. The Bible says, “Resist the devil and he will flee.”
More Bold than Bewildered
The enemies of faith in Christ intimidate us so much that we get quieter and quieter about truth and righteousness because we don’t want to be thought of as critical or judgmental. We watch guys like Peirs Morgan lay into my good buddy, Kirk Cameron and it makes us timid. Kirk was on Morgan’s program to talk about his new documentary, Monumental. But Morgan decided to go down a different road. Here’s part of the show’s transcript:
[Piers Morgan] Do you think that homosexuality is a sin?
[Kirk Cameron] I think that it’s unnatural. I think that it’s detrimental and ultimately destructive to so many of the foundations of civilization.
Kirk answered gently and truthfully. Heavyweights all over Hollywood demanded an apology. But Kirk isn’t free to say anything else. Kirk gave an answer rooted in truth. Any other answer would further confuse people who are already confused.
There’s nothing to be ashamed of or to apologize for in the Word of God.
More Reliant than Independent
Psalm 20:7 says, “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the Lord our God.” God doesn’t want us to trust in anything other than Him for what we need. God is better at providing what we need than anyone or anything else. Sometimes in life we find ourselves wanting to trust in something other than God. The results are disastrous. A good example of this is the tendency for people to think that playing the lottery is wise financial planning. Statistics show that over 90 percent of million-dollar lottery winners are bankrupt within five years.
Here’s how God wants it to work: He wants you to rely on Him. For the battle, don’t trust in your own might. In your financial life, trust in God and live by His principles, and, in His economy, you’ll have everything you need. Those lottery winners I mentioned earlier don’t just become financially bankrupt, they lose everything. They lose their relationships and identities – they don’t even recognize themselves as their lives are being destroyed because they “won” money.
More Committed than Complacent
God wants you to declare war against your enemy so you can have peace. If your enemy is addictive behavior, it’s after you’ve conquered that you have peace. When Joshua went to battle against his enemies, it was after Israel fought and won the war that there was peace. God is a God of war [Exodus 15:3], but He’s also a God of peace [Romans 15:33]. I spoke to a woman that comes to our addictions ministry and asked how she was doing with her battle. She said, “Oh, I don’t come for me, anymore. I’m free. I come to encourage others in the battle.”
She’s has peace because she’s on the other side of her war. What is it you’re battling with? If you’re scriptural, bold, reliant on God, and committed, you will have peace.
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