“The ‘do what makes you happy’ culture is so toxic for Christians. We are not called to do what makes us happy. We are called to do what glorifies God. Christianity isn’t always sunshine and happiness. It’s hard work and dedication to Him, not us. Do what glorifies God.” Unknown
The election shed light on many emotional reactions
If you haven’t noticed, there was a pretty big election last week. I am kidding of course, how could you miss it? I’ve said it many times before, social media is both a blessing and a huge curse. Just a quick scroll through socials showed people screaming, venting, celebrating and just crying endlessly in reaction to the election. While I do have concern for the variety of feelings, I did have a moment of pause about humanity and Christianity specifically. After about five minutes of scrolling, I decided that I had indeed had enough for that day. Who were we worshiping? God? Self? A Political Party?
Social media is a conundrum
After pondering the responses on social media, the news, the general zeitgeist of both sides of the political spectrum; some thoughts came to mind. First, I too used to get very upset at the prospect of a certain political party having power. I would argue, get frustrated, call people idiots and get upset. I had fallen into a “folly of the simpleton.” The inspiration had become me, myself and I, rather than the mindset of a Christ follower. Shakespeare once said, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women are merely players.” Are we though? Are we who profess Christ just players or followers of Him? Are we striving to make our character more Christlike each day?
We can get engrossed in self rather than seeing the big picture
Feelings and emotions are perfectly acceptable, particularly in the wake of such a big election. But after you take that moment of reflecting on your feelings, perhaps take time to grow in Faith and reactions to such situations. I am not a huge fan of little lists that I find online, but this list really spoke to me last week. Here are some ways that we can indeed follow in Christ’s footsteps when life inevitably happens.
4 Things Jesus did and did not say:
–Jesus didn’t say: “Follow your heart.” Proverbs 28:26 tells us that He who trusts in his own heart is a fool. Why? Our own hearts deceive us. Our hearts are self-serving. Hearts leap from gratefulness to avarice in a matter of seconds. To put it bluntly, it screams, “Me! Me! Me!”
–Jesus said: “Follow me.” John 10:27 – My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. Jesus uttered the phrase, “Follow me.” 21 times in the Gospels. To follow Jesus is to lead a life that is beyond ourselves. How often do we look to the things of the world to salve our weary souls? Jesus promised in following Him we can fill the “God shaped hole” that is within us.
–Jesus didn’t say: “Be true to yourself.” If I am true to myself, I will only look out for number 1. Me. Humanity in its sinfulness is inherently selfish. This is not a nice concept to ponder, but it is the truth. Self-interest swims to the very top when you just swear allegiance to self. Think about Black Friday in the States. How many times have you seen someone trample another for something as small as a little material thing? Delusion, pride, and base impulses are the product of just being true to yourself.
–Jesus said: “If anyone desires to be My disciple, let him deny himself [disregard, lose sight of, and forget himself and his own interests] and take up his cross and follow Me [[a]cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying, also]. Think about it, what was the character of Jesus? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness and self-control. That is just a few of His attributes.
–Jesus did not say: “Believe in yourself.” Certainly, it is ok to believe that you can do something if you have the capability and knowledge to perform tasks. Self-confidence is good when well-regulated. Our culture at the moment is very much in the camp of copious self-affirmation. If you took a moment and thought of believing in yourself in a Biblical manner where would that lead? Our natures are inherently sinful. Jesus told us in Mark 10:18 that only God is good.
–Jesus did say: Believe in Me. “Do not let your hearts be troubled (distressed, agitated). You believe in and adhere to and trust in and rely on God; believe in and adhere to and trust in and rely also on Me.” Our hearts and our beliefs without God are deceptive. Sure, there is goodness in humanity but that only goes so far. We need the grace of God and His goodness to help our humanity. We must believe in Him rather than ourselves. If we don’t, we will find ourselves sorely disappointed.
–Jesus did not say, “Live your truth.” I know that this particular phrase is uttered a lot in our current society. I hear my kids talk about their friends telling them this very phrase. After that phrase, my kids have often described their friends’ perceptions as “Delulu.” After asking, “Delulu?” That is today’s slang for delusional. What does delusional mean exactly? It is a false belief or judgment about external reality, held despite incontrovertible evidence to the contrary. Our hearts can often lead us astray.
After all, the scripture tells us in the Amplified version: The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly perverse and corrupt and severely, mortally sick! Who can know it [perceive, understand, be acquainted with his own heart and mind]? Proverbs 14:12 tells us: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”. Sometimes our truth is a trap. Often times when we rely heavily on our truth we fall into the trap of sacrificing everything to the altar of feelings. Our feelings are quite changeable and fickle.
–Jesus did say: “I am the Truth.” “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. When I was doing a little research about Jesus’ referring to Himself as the truth in Vine’s expository dictionary. What I found was absolutely amazing. In regard to Jesus being the truth, the meaning is not merely ethical “truth,” but “truth” in all its fullness and scope, as embodied in Him; He was the perfect expression of the truth; this is virtually equivalent to His statement in John 14:6. Jesus’ perfect expression of truth causes us to walk in His truth. His truth is constant and absolute. Our perspectives may vary as we trod through life, but if we desire to walk in the truth of Jesus, we will eventually walk into the fullness of the truth of Jesus.
What conclusion do we draw from all of this?
Often society tells us that a life in service to God is not capable in the modern world. First, we must realize that there are those believers in the world who face real atrocities in this life. Death, imprisonment, persecution are often the realities that those brave believers face. I encourage you to take a moment and check out Voice of the Martyrs, there are truly some heart-wrenching stories of believers who were looking to eternity as their reward. When I was a child I often heard the phrase, “Be in the world but not of it.” That phrase confused me greatly. But after much reflection and study, the Message translation succinctly gives us our charge as believers.
Romans 12:2: “So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”
All of these points lead to one place
Each of the points that are echoed in the world lead to one place; the god of self. Each of the tenets of Jesus lead us to a higher purpose and calling in our lives. They give us meaning. Let us be the voice of prayer and concern when others are struggling. Let the light of the truth shine in all the dark places. Pray, seek and study until you are brimming with God’s Word. The world is a crazy place. Thank goodness we have the rock and stability of truth in the scripture to light our way. Worshiping God gives great rewards. May we walk in His ways.
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