Sharing Your Faith - Simple and Profound

Today's America reveals that Christians seldom share their faith in Jesus Christ outside of church circles.  In fact, the truth is that often in the functions and activities of the church, little is shared by anyone except key figures.  We hear of preaching to the nations but we hear little of sharing to the individuals we meet and interact with on a daily basis. 

We have retreated as Christians into our safe cocoons.  In ministry and life we only want the "Christian" brand and scene.  We have Christian schools, sports teams, hangouts, etc..  I asked a question in our Bible Study group yesterday that gets to the heart of this - how many non believers do you know and interact with in your life?  I remember growing up and attending public school that I was around many.  In public school I had teachers who were Christians.  They shared and cared and taught.  Yes there were a few that were not believers.  Yet there was a respect present.  During pewee football, we would load the guys up after practice and go to our church Revival meetings.  Most of the team was happy to go. 

Today, we discover the shelter approach being implemented by parents.  We talk about protecting.  We emphasis fear from evil influences.  We have withdrawn from the public and thus, rarely except within family do we find anyone that we have close relationships with that provide opportunity for sharing the Gospel.  We talk about events at church that we hope will attract people.  But we do not share Jesus with those we do not want to be involved in our lives.  One could rightly say that we have adopted a "cult like" attitude towards our faith and lives.  But not totally!  For in our version, we are NOT as faithful to our beliefs and to God as the cults are to theirs.  We miss worship and Bible Study for any reason.  We put things before God that cult members would never put before their beliefs.

We have forgotten the role that God placed us in here on earth - we are missionaries.  We have a calling to reach people!  Yes, we have a calling to preach to the nations also.  But our simple beginning starts with GO and share Jesus with all people!  We can send money for special projects and do offerings to support missionaries serving around the world but we are to also BE missionaries.  We are to care that people who die without Jesus go to Hell. it should disturb us that our lack of sharing has led to such an increase in people who have not seen a Bible nor have heard that Jesus died for them.  Why is there no remorse and sadness?

We are quick to tell people how to live and yet we are selective in whom we desire to attend church with.  It is easier for us to promote our soapboxes and feel good projects than it is to reach a world that needs Jesus.  Lives all around are falling apart.  People are experiencing things that many of us have never had to deal with.  Children are growing up in homes where the normal roles of parents are corrupted and the lack of love and interest from parents to their children screams from every direction.  And we as Christians just sit in our cocoons safe and feeling good.  We point out the evil.  We are good at that.  We attack politicians as if they really could or would do anything that could fix our issues.  But we keep Jesus to ourselves.  As Christians we only seek to practice the parts of the Bible that we like.  We are as selective with our faith as we are with sharing Jesus.  We create man made systems of theology that excuse our sharing and we seek churches that only emphasis the certain things we like to attend. 

Sharing our faith is simple!  The only requirement needed is obedience to God.  He promises that if we will be faithful, He will save!  The Gospel is profound!  The fact that someone loves us - period!  The fact that someone died for us!  The fact that we can avoid Hell!  The fact that God has given us a guide book that fits our lives no matter where we come from and answers our most difficult questions!  The fact that anyone can receive Jesus!  Profound may be to small of a word!  The Gospel goes beyond our understanding.  The Gospel is freeing!  The Gospel is life giving!  The Gospel is AWESOME!

So can we answer why do we not share it and live it?

Why the Trifecta of Scandals Should Matter to Christians

In a world of conflicting views about how faith and politics should interact we discover a defining moment in the current trifecta of scandals.  Benghazi, AP News Subpoenas, and the IRS targeting of individuals should be a wake up call to Christians in America.  For those who have had enough of the political involvement among evangelicals, you might want to revisit that thought.

First Benghanzi
How can any Christian condone the ease of which the Administration is brushing off the fact that 4 Americans died?  Where is the outcry?  Have we heard the reports of how these men were killed?  It was horrible! When an Ambassador is murdered along with other Government officials and we do not feel or see the outrage, we are in worse shape than many think as a country.  I find the Gosnell trial and little response on the horrendous acts of murder and the cover up of Benghanzi highlighting how pathetic our understanding is for the preciousness of life.  The endit movement to put an end to child sex slavery is important.  But we must remember it is equally important!  We must not forget that all life is valued and precious.  When the Government of our country so easily brushes the value of life away and when the President of the United States has the audacity to actually say to Planned Parenthood "God Bless You" - the evil we feared would come has actually already arrived!

Second AP/Fox News Scandel
A free press is vital to a free society.  A country that threatens and intimidates the press is a country where freedom is fleeing.   Christians should be the first to take note of such a dangerous course.  Yes we have had freedom for years.  Yes we have often abused such freedom.  But we cannot afford to allow such freedom to come to an end!  It is one thing to get beat - it is another to not put up a fight!  A move to control information is a move that will find itself seeking to control what is preached in churches across America.  Pastors are you ready for this climate?  Will you stand strong and preach the Word of God even if it means audits, harassment, and even jail time?

IRS Target of Specific People and Groups
This one gets to the core of the threat to the American way of life.  Did you read the title of this section carefully?  It was not only the Tea Party that got targeted.  Specific people were targeted.  I am told that more evangelical pastors have been audited under this administration than ever before.  When the IRS goes after specific people, America is no longer free!  This scandal ties in with the AP/Fox News scandal.  When the Government is allowed to target specific people due to their message and beliefs, while fast tracking and look away from others who are in agreement with the Governments position, you and I are seeing a day that has never ever been before in America.

And all is not over.  The fourth scandal will hit in October when we all discover that the overhaul of the healthcare system is a disaster unlike any we have ever seen.

Do Christians care?  When will we engage?  These scandals matter!  They matter more than you and I can even imagine!

If we do not fight the culture...?

I have suspected for some time now that a day would come in the USA when we would see more than rhetorical attacks against Christianity and Biblical principles.  I suspected that these attacks would come in my life time.  I did not suspect that these attacks would come so soon.  But enter the Chick Fil-A saga.  And here we are.

When Dan Cathy acknowledged his beliefs about marriage he ignited a storm that has brought Americans to a crossroads.  As a citizen, Cathy simply simply stated that marriage should be between a man and women.  As a citizen he has every right to say what he believes.  But there are those in America who disagree with that right depending upon the content of what is said.

The crossroads is not tricky.  As a country we will either take a right hand turn and once again be a Republic of freedom and constitutional law or we will turn left, and lose our freedoms while traveling down a road mixed with tyranny and the absence of religious freedom.  Yes, the crossroads is now in front of us.  We are waiting for the moment.  The decisions of which way we turn are upon us.

Why now?

Over the past few years the fight for right and wrong has been hit with apathy and left leaning ideology.  The hits that came were NOT from those outside of Christianity.  Our attacks have come from within Christianity.  Gone are the leaders who rallied us in the past.  Their replacements have presented a different model.  A model that frowns on culture wars and embraces naively the idea that people will accept all the differences and NO one will be harmed.  We have been told by these few that discrimination will not occur.  For once we cease the war, our love will earn the respect of those different from us.

They have been and are WRONG!

We have paved the road that has brought us to this crossroads.  We ceased from fighting.  We compromised our beliefs.  We joined the culture.  And we are paying for all the above dearly.

Men and women died so you and I could be free.  No politician or elected official has the right to tell a business owner or church or group of Christians, what they can and cannot say.  NOT in America. 

Or can they?

This is the crossroads.  If Chick Fil-A is attacked for her owners remarks, then why not go ahead and attack churches of all types?  You think I am crazy?  Think about the following.  In Chicago where the mayor is a former presidential Chief of Staff (who claimed that chick Fil-A was NOT welcome in Chicago) their zoning laws are allowing a strip club to go up next to a catholic home for the elderly run by nuns.  Just a few years ago the outcry over this type of decision would have been more than vocal.  Today, there is silence.

There is something wrong here!  Terribly wrong!

Though I am Baptist, I praise the Catholic church for fighting against many of the provisions in the healthcare reform bill.  Many Baptist have been silent.  Are Catholics now going to be targeted in the manner of Chick Fil-A?  Ask the priests and Bishops of the Catholic churches what they teach about same sex marriage.  Are they no longer welcome in Chicago, Boston, or San Fran?  Are Baptists next?  We see defense of criminal non profit groups like Acorn and yet we see attacks on non profits who support values and Biblical principles. 

If we do not get back into the fight we will lose the right to do what we are doing now as ministers and churches.  If we do not get back into the fight our children will live in a country with freedom only as a history point (if they even mention it at all).  And if we do not get back into the fight, we will have NO ONE to blame but ourselves.  For the weapons used against us were NOT more mighty.  We just ceased from using our weapons and thus allowed strongholds to build up in our lives, communities, and culture.

It is true that Christianity has always been more productive when freedom was lacking.  I do not for one moment think that fighting the culture will solve all the problems.  But I do know that abandon the fight will bring about attacks on Christianity like we in America have never seen nor experienced.  We are forgetting the real issues at stake.  We are forgetting we are salt and light.  We are blowing that which was bought and paid for with blood and ultimate sacrifice.  How dare we.

We cannot afford to sit out the fight any longer!

Most people know what it means when they hear that someone has a burden from the heart. When the heart is gripped by a great need, little in life can match the power of the moment. It is in these moments that we are more prone to "cry out" to God in a way that does not occur on a daily basis as it should.

For the past five months it seems that I have been in more meetings of multiple types (not all with ministers or church people) than I have been in many years. As I took time to reflect back on the first half of 2010 this week I noticed a common thread through all of the meetings. In every facet of life, trials and tribulations persist. Whether a person is in the ministry, a member of a church, a business person, or ____________, we all share this common bond - in life there is pain. And yet more than this aspect was a shocking revelation. People from all walks have noticed something is missing and have asked the following:

What has happened to the STATESMEN?

History clearly teaches that Statesmen convey a quality of leadership that organically brings people together and of elder-ship, a spirit of caring for others and for the whole. A Statesmen never promotes oneself nor do they solicit promotion from others. When a person rises to the level of Statesmen, it so obvious that honor and respect flow automatically. This type of person walks a basic and simple life keeping the focus locked in on the whole and never lowering themselves to acts or words of self absorption, division, or destruction. They get the respect due to their constant giving of respect. They rise above the mess and lead by example. People follow for their message is clear and the absence of selfishness promotes trust and loyalty.

Today we live with a huge void in our world. From politics to spiritual issues. From families to cities. A generation of statesmen have, or are, in the process of passing on. In their place we have a polarizing and extremely destructive new wave. We are seeing experts of finger pointing and blame. We may be taking this to an all time new level. We see situational ethics being applied while denial of such cries out simultaneously trying to point the finger rather than humbly break from our own sick state.

Do we not realize the time and the hour?

Natural disasters. Wars and rumors of more. Oil spills. World-wide economic collapse. Unparalleled calls for one world type governing. Why is this not driving us to our knees? Why in schools, city council meetings, hospitals, churches, denominations, conventions, and more do we continue to walk this path which is forbidden? We are told in scripture the following:

Hebrews 10:24-25

24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,

25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching .
NKJV

The more I read the above verse, the more my burden grows. The plan is simple. The call is clear. Do our hearts break over the things that God desires in and from us? Oh that we would see the rising of many Statesmen for this time period. People are seeking the answers from government, political affiliations, drugs, alcohol and untold more. No answers are being found from these paths.

We who have a placed our faith and trust in Jesus Christ through repentance of sin, are to be the voice in the wilderness. Oh that this would be true. We have serious issues of eternal life in heaven or eternity in hell. Our time is up for the ridiculous. May God break us and raise up a new generation of Statesmen loudly declaring the way of the Lord!