Dear Fellow Children of God,
This Friday in a mentoring meeting with Pastor Eugene
Larmi, his professor asked us to discuss the question of how to reach people in
today’s world with the good news of Jesus.
Pastor Larmi is taking a course at seminary on the Reformation. This question was meant to help us consider the
difference in relating to today’s world compared to the world in the time of
Martin Luther. So, how do Christians
share the good news of Jesus with the world around them today?
How do Christians share the
good news of Jesus with the world around them today? Our Promise Keepers men’s group grappled with
the same basic question a couple of weeks ago.
As we work through the study, “Lost Books?”, and consider how Scripture
was formed under the guidance of God’s Holy Spirit, we are looking at other
influences on the early church which offered false pictures of Jesus. So, as we considered these outside,
unreliable influences on the early church we came across the following question
in our study. “Today various philosophies from our own culture are profoundly
impacting many congregations and individual Christians as well. Discuss the effects our culture’s views on
political correctness, tolerance, abortion, homosexuality, sexual promiscuity,
etc., are having on Christian congregations and individuals.”
That’s quite a loaded
question! What I will tell you is that
the question I shared was supposed to be a discussion starter into a longer
study that evening. Instead, the men in
our group got caught up in discussing that one question and never got any
further. Hmmm.
However, God does give much guidance on how to witness to
the saving life of Jesus in a world that is ignoring Him or rejecting Him. Drawing on this guidance from God, the next
week we discussed the following 3 principles from Scripture. I encourage you to consider what God says to
His church as we witness.
First,
if the world around us rejects the Lord and His Scriptures, we cannot expect them
to have the same values. Nor can the Christian Church hold those who don’t
believe in God to the same standard that we expect from Christians. In 1
Corinthians 5 God guided Paul to deal with a sinful situation in the church in
Corinth. But, the church deals
differently with those outside the church than they do with those inside the
church. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 5:12, “What
business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge
those inside? 13 God will judge those outside.
. . Christians are often seen to be arrogant and judgmental by those
outside God’s church. If someone does
not believe in God, we cannot expect them to follow God’s teaching. No wonder people around us can refuse to
listen to God’s teaching when His people act in judgmental ways.
However,
God is the Creator of the world and there are natural laws that operate in the
world which display God’s creative power and authority. In our men’s class we also considered Proverbs
14: 34, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.” There are natural results and
consequences to behaviors of righteousness and to behaviors of sinful
rebellion. Even if people do not believe
in God’s direction through His law, nor believe in His love through Jesus, God’s
ways are still the reality of our created world. There is still punishment for sin. God still saves by grace through faith in Jesus. But, we are not the ones who exact judgment,
nor the ones who save. God does, and God
will accomplish His righteous purposes in this world.
Finally,
the best witness from a Christian is not judgmental words, but a life of faith
and obedience. In our men’s group we
read 1 Peter 2:11-12 and God spoke to us in these words. “11 Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and
strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your
soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of
doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits
us.” God’s people do have a
responsibility to witness. The greatest
witness is found in our lives even more than in our words. When we believe that God the Father sent His
own Son, and when we believe that Jesus died and rose for us, then God changes
our hearts so we want to serve Him.
The
world around us is complex and becoming more complex all the time. But there is a simple truth; actions speak
louder than words. When God’s people act
in faith, in obedience, and in love, their actions give an opportunity to
witness to others concerning the truth about God’s love for us in Jesus.
A Child of God, Seeking to Witness about Jesus in an
Effective Way,
Pastor Jonathan
P.S. Please look at the announcements below and
consider all the opportunities for growth and service in the coming weeks.
****
ABOUT ‘THOUGHTS FROM THE
PASTOR’ - I am sending these e-mail messages, hopefully weekly, to
all St. John members and friends whose e-mails I have. (I am regularly
adding new names of friends and members – in case you are just receiving this
e-mail for the first time.) However, if you don’t want to receive this
e-mail, please let me know, and I’ll gladly leave your name off my list for
this message.
****
No comments:
Post a Comment