All For the Lord

I was catching up with an old friend the other day, and I noticed something in the way she talked that was . . . let's say "odd," for the moment. She has moved to a new area and is involved in a new church (that was the long and short of the catching up, really). I think that her new church is (gulp) . . . changing her.

I knew she was a Christian for a long time, but if I didn't know before I was talking to her, I would certainly have figured it out quickly. That's the "odd" thing about the way she talked, she always brought "the Lord" into the conversation. She talked about how her new pastor's sermons are convicting, but that it's actually good because it challenged her to grow. Don't get it wrong; I'm not saying that she wasn't a good Christian before. What I am saying, however, is that her speech patterns are full of things that I miss hearing on a daily basis: her conversation is "seasoned with salt," she's actually getting to where she's able to "give the reason for the hope [she has]." She says her pastor's sermons are convicting; I say her conversation is!

As I wrap this up, I'm left to wonder which is worse: the fact that neither I nor those around me are talking about Jesus enough for someone to know we're Christians, or the fact that people won't recognize that I referenced two verses of scripture in my description of how she talked (Colossians 4:6 and 1 Peter 3:15, in case you didn't know). Let's talk more about the Lord; it will make us more (gulp) accountable to our own words and we will always be witnesses to those with whom we talk.

Exchanging Reverence for Relevance Part 4: My Views

I have come to the conclusion that if we fail to show the fear of God, we are not giving a complete witness. In developing this series of blogs into a message or possibly a short series, I came to a point where this hypothetical situation was necessary:

Let’s pretend you’re hanging out with some friends who aren’t Christians. That’s a good thing. Let’s pretend they want to get drunk. That’s a bad thing. There are a lot of people today who will tell you that it’s ok for you to drink with them because they’ll be able to identify with you more and that makes them more likely to become Christians. I disagree. If you do it, you’re telling them it’s acceptable to God that you do so. Scripture says otherwise. “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). Now let’s take it one step further and say that you all pile into a car drunk and die. When it comes time to be judged, you’ll be ok because you’re saved, though that sin will be burned away (1 Corinthians 3:11-15). Your friends, who died with you and from the same sin you committed, being unbelievers, will be punished for it by hellfire rather than cleaned by God’s refiner’s fire. I don’t like scare tactics, but sometimes the truth is uncomfortable.

So we see that if we don’t demonstrate the proper fear and respect that God deserves and demands, what we end up demonstrating a falsehood: that God’s judgment is not to be feared.

And so, for now, I will end my online persuit of this topic.