Ye adulterers and adulteresses,
know ye not that the friendship of the world
is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore
will be a friend of the world is the
enemy of God. Do ye think that the scripture
saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth
in us lusteth to envy? But He giveth grace,
Wherefore He saith, God resisteth the proud,
but giveth grace to the humble.
Submit yourselves therefore to God.
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
James 4:4-7
Authentic Christians have a particular characteristic: they are not satisfied with mere outward appearance of good, rather they know to be concerned with the just and the motives behind an action and know the need for purity within the inner person. How Authentic Christians are to do this is to fight this battle between their carnal nature and the call of the Holy Spirit within them, calling them to obedience. This requires a person to avail themselves with all the resources that God provides so that they can resist the Devil, and to resist their love for themselves, that which is continually encroaching upon their sacred space. To begin a person must do self-examination so that flaws are revealed. So then, what are the answers to the questions, to that which we find to be incorrect? How are we to judge what is correct? It is simple: Scripture! If a person does not come to the place whereby they are reminded of their need for Jesus Christ, then it is probably they are cheating on the test. Do not just look for flaw; look for your strengths, those gifts that God has given to you to use, to be an outward expression of God, to be able to accomplish His purpose for your life. This will require work, to have a realistic view of human praise and the value a person may place upon honor based upon this world culture. You are worth the effort! Remember this: the praise of man is fickle! Praise of man by man is often given to those who do not deserve such praise and can be taken away just as quick as it had been given.
Here is where the Church has a "play" in this effort: they are to become friends, those attending Church have a need to form friendship with those who are also seeking to please God. It is good to have feedback from those friends, but this does not relieve a person from the need to exercise their conscience for only you know the true state of your heart. We do not just go to Church on Sunday and then go about our lives as though you have done enough: this is the state of too many people who attend Church. The Church leaders need to provide means for the congregants to be able to get to know each other and in large Churches it means to develop small groups to meet, to know each other and if one is not in Church on Sunday: call them! Many good things are happening but often it is more about "clicks" than reaching out to others. Here is something very important: you do not just wait for them to come to you: go to them! You do have a responsibility to be friendly. We must hold other friendships loosely and this is more likely to happen if true friendships are developed among other Christians. We are employed by God to advance His purposes and plans and we do not have to do this alone. Our employment is not the endgame, rather it is a means to a higher end, therefore, we do not praise the tool (That is us), rather we praise the tool, Scripture, God has given us this tool to accomplish the task that the tool was designed for.
Well, Sunday is coming: are you preparing? Are determining to be that friend? Are you willing to set aside small talk with the same person and to go and meet that new person? Are you willing to, if able, have a lunch date after Church at your home so that you can develop deep friendships? Hold the world at arms length: Hold your Christian friends close to you. We live in a world that detests Christianity, Christians, and are doing all they can to remove Christianity, so then we must draw together: "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for He is faithful that promised;) and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much more, as ye see the day approaching" (Hebrews 10:23-25).
A man that maketh friends must
shew himself friendly: and there
is a Friend that sticketh closer
than a brother.
Proverbs 18:24
Hold God in high esteem
Richard L. Crumb
No comments:
Post a Comment