With this in mind, take a little time to consider how many of your fellow-believers willingly discuss the things of God with you. Do many of them have only a surface understanding of the Scriptures? Do others look at you blankly if you talk about God, Jesus or the Scriptures, especially outside of the church setting? Do they change the subject? Are many of them more comfortable discussing sport, movies, music, celebrities or anything but the things of God? Does this type of shallow believer describe people you know? Yourself?
Anyone that knows me personally will tell you there was a time when it described me, so I have been as "guilty" of this type of attitude as anyone, which is partly why I feel qualified to discuss it. Now some reading this might think "So what? I've said the 'sinners prayer', I have my ticket to heaven, that's all I need to know". Well if that's you (or me), we need to go to the Word of God and see what it says. Perhaps some of us need to take the time to check our hearts.
When writing to the Corinthians, Paul said "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?" (2 Corinthians 13:5). This is very good advice, but if you are going to take this advice, keep in mind the following: Every man's way is right in his own eyes, But the LORD weighs the hearts (Proverbs 21:2). God knows our hearts, so whereas we might be able to deceive ourselves into thinking we are fine, God cannot be fooled. Perhaps we need to adopt the attitude of the Psalmist who said "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (Psalm 139:23-24).
It is our prayer that you will be encouraged to examine yourself and that you might invite God to examine your heart as well. If we know more about our favourite sports team than we do about Abraham, or if we can discuss the intimate details about our favourite celebrity but we cannot discuss our Faith, then it is well past time to stop and take stock. It is my belief that when we do this, we will have the opportunity to demonstrate a more effective witness to the people around us, both to believers and unbelievers. Please take the time to let us know if this encourages you to do so.
2 comments:
I reinforce your comment about the 'Post Modern' age. I's no longer important what is objective truth but merely what we think is true. Emotions dictate and reign. It is almost impossible to have a rational conversation with people who believe this. The work of the Spirit cannot be overemphasized in seeking to touch the lives of unbelievers.
Sadly I thought much of what Garth described here was only found in the U.S.; sorry to learn that it must be representative of much of the Western Church. I've always been careful to limit my comments concerning the Body to the Church found here in the States. It's hard to find anyone who enjoys talking about the Lord and His word. Or is willing to place Him in the context of ordinary talk - meaning that if one wants to talk about sports, to do so without excluding God. Do you follow me? He should be present in all we say or do; He is alive in His word. Therefor His word should live through us. The only way to allow this to occur is to know His word. How can you "live by the Spirit" without knowing the word. Anyway, sorry to ramble. Bottom line, I appreciate what was written here. May God bless you.
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