Philippians 2:3-5
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.”
2:14-16
“Do everything without complaining or aruging, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you
shine like stars
in the universe as you hold out the word of life.”
Casting Crowns has a song called ‘What If His People Prayed.’ What if the Church really lived in the way God calls us to? What if we prayed for our leadership and each other with sincere hearts and Humbled ourselves in our search for God’s face. Another song of theirs is ‘If We Are the Body.’ If we are the arms, feet, and hands of Christ why are we not going further, reaching more, and walking radically in our faith? “Why is his love not showing them there is a way?… Jesus is the way.”
Why aren’t we doing these things? Why aren’t we loving? Why don’t we stand out? Why don’t we shine like stars? In a generation that is crooked and depraved, if we are not standing out like stars, what does that say about us? About the Church? About the generation of youth and young adults who proclaim Christ as their King and God?
What if? What if we shone like stars? What reason do we have for wanting to shine brightly? What better way do we have to display Christ to the world than to stand out as distinctly different? Is there any reason more important than that we are handing out the word of life!?!
I am tired of being apart of a generation that blends in so well with the world. Being part of a Church whose members are not all in for Christ. Yes, everyone can point to someone or some church in the world, or to some part of their own life and say, “Hey! Look at this part of what we are doing! We stand out here and… yadda yadda.” As much as integrity is important in what you do behind the scenes, and obviously not diminishing what God can and does do in those situations, what difference does it make if we are not being visible to the world?
If we do everything the world does and they even help and love others/the poor better than we do, yet we sit in our houses reading our Bibles and meeting at church, how are we any different?? In the way we work if we don’t give our all for the glory of God, working hard and constantly looking for more ways to help or to get more done, if we don’t respect others and think of their interests above our own, beyond simply being cordial and not disrespectful, how can be possibly stand out? We are great at being a ‘Christian’ towards those we love or want to be a positive influence on, but what about everyone else that we don’t exceptionally care for?
Luke 6:31-36 talks of just this, “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that.”
Yet! What sets us apart is that “But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back.” Being different is based around such simple things such as “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
Not apathetically, but rather in sincerity!
You would think that on the race we would be a group of young adults that stand out as crazy for Christ. That we would not blend in some easily with the world because everywhere we go, we have a fire for Christ that is so hot, we burn anyone that comes within 10 feet of us. Yet, there are many of us racers that blend in. Not because of their heart or their intentions but rather because of what they actually do. From a lack of hard work ethic, to lack of integrity, to disinterest in ministry, to disinterest in contacts or the communities of people that we are in and associate with day to day, month to month. So much is focused on me, myself, and I. It’s so much about my walk with Christ, my spiritual mind, and my happiness. I need to spend my time in the word, with the Lord. I need to grow in the Lord personally. Yes, we need to be personally healthy in our relationship with the Lord in order to help others, hence Matthew 7 but our focus should be on bringing glory to God through our actions in order to bring others into relationship with God.
Our spiritual walk is important but our #1 call in life as a Christian is not necessarily to pray, or to read the word. Yes, again they are important and I don’t want to diminish that, but our #1 call is to love, God and others. But we can’t keep blending in! We need to be love to the world, in the same way as Christ was. We must be light in the darkness in order to bring people to Christ. More than anything, to work to save others from damnation.
I am personally frustrated of seeing apathy among the people of God. I don’t care about your heart or the intentions of your heart if you are not acting upon them. Your intentions could be absolutely pure and great, wanting to save the lost and lead people closer to Christ. Yet, if you are not standing out from the world, it makes no difference!
It may sound a bit crazy, but the end is coming! It is upon us at this very moment! Christians must not be apathetic, but rather in earnestness we must act to change, act to shine. Not for ourselves, but rather for the sakes of others.
We need to let them know we are Christ followers by our love. By our dedication, passion, hard work, generosity, gentleness, kindness, and self-control. Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. Let us be confident and unashamed for the gospel, not directly for ourselves but rather for God and for the sake of others. Let us shine like stars in the universe, as we hand out the only word of life!
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P.S. My good friend and squad mate, Francis still needs support to stay on the race! Please consider supporting him on his blog!! http://francisfaucher.theworldrace.org
