But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too. Jason has harbored them, and these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king—Jesus.” —Acts 17:6–7
Some today are telling us that the most important thing the church should be focusing on is global warming. That is the priority we are to have, they say. But there is another kind of warming the church should focus on preventing, and that is people spending eternity separated from God in hell.
The church of the first century made its impact on the world through prayer and through preaching. It was said of the early church that they turned the world upside down. And that, by the way, was offered as a criticism, not as a compliment (see Acts 17:6).
May God give us more “criticisms” like this, because it seems today the opposite is happening in the church. We have double standards and moral compromise and little to no power. G. Campbell Morgan said, “Organized Christianity which fails to make a disturbance is dead.”
What concerns me is that we are not making a disturbance anymore. We are so worried about fitting in. We are so worried about relating. We are so worried about being cool that we have forgotten what it is to make a stand for what is true. My fear is that instead of the church turning the world upside down, the world is turning the church upside down.
Vance Havner said, “We are not going to move this world by criticism of it nor conformity to it, but by the combustion within it of lives ignited by the Spirit of God.” That is why we need to get back to what the early church experienced as given on the day of Pentecost, because they turned their world upside down. And in this crazy, topsy-turvy world where wrong is right and right is wrong, we need to do the same.
Used by permission from Harvest Ministries with Greg Laurie , PO Box 4000 , Riverside , CA 92514 . All rights reserved. Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
For more relevant and biblical teaching from Pastor Greg Laurie, go to www.harvest.org
6 comments:
G-money, I thought this was right up your alley. Thought this was fairly thought provoking and wanted to see what you all thought??
cas
My thoughts are how ritualistic church has become. Stand, sit, kneel, stand, repeat. Instead of asking why certain things are done we have become complacent sheep with an expectation that we deserve XYZ.
I and the church need to make a difference in the lives of the people we come into contact with every day. I need to question the not only my activities at church as Iceman said but also the activities of my everyday life. Is there any life there? Does my life show any evidence of God's love and existence.
That's all I got. What do you guys think about this devotion?
trm, I really like your comment about "Does my life show any evidence of God's love and existence?" It really made me ponder if that's true for me.
well, i can say Iceman that our service does not follow that routine, but there is defintely some routine involved. personally i don't think that is the point. i think it is more about what the churches are focusing on. agreed, ritualism is not the greatest, but if it were bringing new believers through the door in droves, we would not care. The bottom line, is we are all called to represent Christ and the salvation HE HAS GIVEN US AND PREPSENT IT TO THOSE AROUND US. Does not mean we need to be handing out tracks at work, but each of you may be the only true bleiever that some people meet. So, you all have a pretty heavy responsiblity and I am certainly square in the middle being in the sciences.
i pray we can all be more diligent about offering up what we believe and why.
cas
Following up with Iceman comments, I think that some ritualistic actions in church often fall short on reaching (teaching) the word of God to new believers. They may like the ceremony but miss the message.
-LT
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