That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard
about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in
Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life,
to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful
desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to
put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and
holiness. (Ephesians 4:20-24)
Though I am free and belong to no one, I
have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law, I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law, like one not having the law (though I am nto free from God's law but am under Christ's law). so as to win those not having the law.To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have
become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save
some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share
in its blessings. (I Corinthians 9:19-23)
Yesterday, I shared about separation from God.
Today, Paul tells us that for the Christian, the goal is the reverse:
separation from sin, the world, and the lifestyles both promote. We’re to strip
off the old ways, and dress in new clothes: new attitudes of our minds (WDA!),
and a new, righteous and holy self.
This is the exact opposite of what a significant
portion of the Church seems to be doing. The Church seems to be moving toward
the world, clothing itself like the world in order to be “relevant” to the
world. In part, I can understand this. In the second passage shared above, it
speaks of Paul becoming like those he wanted to win to Christ.
The problem is that if we become like the world,
the world will not see its need to be saved. Relevance to the world may well
condemn the world. What I find when I read through Scripture isn’t a long list
of things we’re supposed to do in our relationship with the world and those in
it. What I find is a long list of things we’re supposed to do in our
relationships with God and with other Christians (AKA, the Church) and a short
list of things we’re to do in relation to the lost.
Yes, Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. He
spent time with the lost and He was criticized for it. But He traveled and
virtually lived with His disciples. He told stories to the world and explained
the stories to His disciples.
Since we are to put off our old selves and put on
the new self, the question really isn’t how relevant we are to the world. It’s
how relevant we are to God and His Church.
Do we show half the concern we show about being relevant
to the world about being relevant to the Church? What portion of our attention should
the Church get? Which is more important to us, that we interact well with the
Church, or that we interact well with the World? How many of your friends are
part of the Church? How much of your focus during the week do you give to the
Church? It it home, or at least home-away-from-home, or are you more at home in
the world? Putting all this a different way, are you deliberate in your dealings
with either the Church or the world? Are you intentional in your relationship
with either? Do you make up your mind, or do you just go with the flow?
I think we’re called to be deliberate and
intentional toward both, but that our focus should be on getting our
relationship with God and the Church (each other) right.
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