Should We Remain In Our Current Situation
Often when Christians get saved we try to persuade them to withdraw completely from the society they were once a part of. Lots of parents even try to persuade others that they should pull their kids out of public school, and home school them or private school. Or if they work at a place where non-Christians work, we often try to pull them out of that and tell them to find another job. Sometimes this is not a bad idea, if you work in a strip club, maybe you should consider quitting, but if you work at a Wall-Mart stocking at night with a bunch of non-Christians I don’t see any reason to quit. I even knew a guy once who worked in a Casino, and I would even say that is no reason to quit.
If we pull out all Christians from the non-Christian atmosphere, there will be no place for Christians to influence the world. They will just look like a bunch of fanatics, and there are groups today, that have done just that and pulled out of the world completely, and they are not looked on in a positive light, and they do not draw all people to them. Rather they do the opposite they make a spectacle of themselves.
As Christians we are to be a light to the world, a light on a candle stick not hid under a bush.
This little light of mine,
I’m gonna let it shine
This little light of mine
I’m gonna let it shine
Hide it under a bush go no
I’m gonna let it shin
Hide it under a bush go no
I’m gonna let it shin
Mat 5:14-16 (ESV)"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
We are to be a light unto the world, not have the mentality that we are to separate ourselves from all people who are not Christians. That is the opposite of what Christ did, in fact those are the exact people that he gravitated to and reached out to. As Christians, it is not withdrawing ourselves from the world that shows them we are Christians, it is by our good works that they will give glory to God.
As Christians if we want to make a difference and affect change in the lives of the lost, we need to be around them befriend them, help them out show them the goodness of God. God’s goodness shown through Christians leads men to repentance, and expresses God’s infinite love through us. It is a wonderful concept that God always receives all the glory, and men come to repentance. It is not by our labeling and shunning, or removing and rejecting, but by our love, which we are able to show because of the love that was shown us.
Rom 2:4 (KJV)“Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?”
Paul even confirms this in Corinthians, which he is speaking to the people that they should stay where they were when God saved them, for that is the place in which God has placed him that he should receive the most glory. We each have a task and we each have blessing which the Lord has blessed us with, and he wants us to be intergrated in the world, instructing all men in the paths of righteousness. We are the vessels chosen by the Lord to proclaim the gospel, he didn’t have to choose us, but he blessed us with the honor of being ministers of life. So may we always be mindful of where the Lord has placed us and give thanks, rather than complain, how wonderful it is that the Lord has placed us in a place and opened a door for us to witness just by our actions.
1Co 7:17 (ESV)“Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches.”
1Co 7:20 (NIV)“Each one should remain in the situation which he was in when God called him.”
1Co 7:22-24 (NIV)“For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord's freedman; similarly, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ's slave. You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. Brothers, each man, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation God called him to.”
May we learn to encourage others who are in the world in their pursuit of God, and holy lives. That the world by their goodness should come to repentance and see the light in you shining like a light on a hill. May we put ourselves into the paths of the lost everywhere, for a witness of Christ to all me in all the world that we can claim the promise of Christ coming.
Mat 24:14 “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
If we pull out all Christians from the non-Christian atmosphere, there will be no place for Christians to influence the world. They will just look like a bunch of fanatics, and there are groups today, that have done just that and pulled out of the world completely, and they are not looked on in a positive light, and they do not draw all people to them. Rather they do the opposite they make a spectacle of themselves.
As Christians we are to be a light to the world, a light on a candle stick not hid under a bush.
This little light of mine,
I’m gonna let it shine
This little light of mine
I’m gonna let it shine
Hide it under a bush go no
I’m gonna let it shin
Hide it under a bush go no
I’m gonna let it shin
Mat 5:14-16 (ESV)"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
We are to be a light unto the world, not have the mentality that we are to separate ourselves from all people who are not Christians. That is the opposite of what Christ did, in fact those are the exact people that he gravitated to and reached out to. As Christians, it is not withdrawing ourselves from the world that shows them we are Christians, it is by our good works that they will give glory to God.
As Christians if we want to make a difference and affect change in the lives of the lost, we need to be around them befriend them, help them out show them the goodness of God. God’s goodness shown through Christians leads men to repentance, and expresses God’s infinite love through us. It is a wonderful concept that God always receives all the glory, and men come to repentance. It is not by our labeling and shunning, or removing and rejecting, but by our love, which we are able to show because of the love that was shown us.
Rom 2:4 (KJV)“Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?”
Paul even confirms this in Corinthians, which he is speaking to the people that they should stay where they were when God saved them, for that is the place in which God has placed him that he should receive the most glory. We each have a task and we each have blessing which the Lord has blessed us with, and he wants us to be intergrated in the world, instructing all men in the paths of righteousness. We are the vessels chosen by the Lord to proclaim the gospel, he didn’t have to choose us, but he blessed us with the honor of being ministers of life. So may we always be mindful of where the Lord has placed us and give thanks, rather than complain, how wonderful it is that the Lord has placed us in a place and opened a door for us to witness just by our actions.
1Co 7:17 (ESV)“Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches.”
1Co 7:20 (NIV)“Each one should remain in the situation which he was in when God called him.”
1Co 7:22-24 (NIV)“For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord's freedman; similarly, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ's slave. You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. Brothers, each man, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation God called him to.”
May we learn to encourage others who are in the world in their pursuit of God, and holy lives. That the world by their goodness should come to repentance and see the light in you shining like a light on a hill. May we put ourselves into the paths of the lost everywhere, for a witness of Christ to all me in all the world that we can claim the promise of Christ coming.
Mat 24:14 “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
posted by James | 12:42 PM
2 Comments:
Good stuff, James!
BTW - It's . . .
Hide it under a bushel, No!
I'm gonna let it shine.
Oh, and one other thing. I finally quit my job in that casino. Just thought I'd update you.
:)
Shows you how much I paid attention in VBS.
LOL
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