My zeal has consumed me, because my enemies have forgotten Your words.
—Psalm 119:39
Have you ever looked at the way our culture is going, especially what our youth are buying into, and found that it made you angry? Did you know there is a place for righteous anger? Even Jesus, who was God among us, was angry. We know that He displayed anger when He drove the merchants and money changers out of the temple, because they were ripping off God's people. There is a place for righteous indignation.
Indignation rose within the apostle Paul when he saw the way the culture was going. We read in Acts that while he was in Athens, "his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols" (Acts 17:16). The word "provoked" could be translated "exasperated," "irritated," or even "roused to anger." Paul was grieved to see the absolute absence of the living God and, in His place, every conceivable substitute.
If we want to reach our culture for Christ, then we must first have a burden for the people we are seeking to reach. The problem is that far too often, those outside of the church only know us for what we are against. They don't know what we are for. They know what we oppose, and I think there is a place for that. But do they know what we believe?
We could talk all day about various techniques we can employ in telling others about Christ. We could address the difficult questions unbelievers raise and how to best answer them. But none of that will really matter if we don't care about lost people. Do you have a burden for those who do not yet know the Lord?
The world needs to hear about Jesus. And we need to tell them about God's love.
Copyright © 2009 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved. Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
4 comments:
I am amazed at what our kids learn today. I had an interesting conversation with my son about a top line social issue that he had already learned about somewhere. It never came up before, as I did not see the need to discuss it, but as an 11 year old he is obviously exposed to quite a bit.I began the reeducation process this weekend. The difficult part is educating him how to explain the belief to others without being insensitive or judemental. Only God can provide cover for that. Without him, our love would not be seen.
Have a great week.
Praying for you today JMB. I too had an interesting discussion with my 8yo son about evolution and you can imagine how that went. He learned it in school, so it has to be fact right?? Anyway, I defintely have a passion for those who are lost. And, I also agree that we often do not do ourselves any favors by being overly negative and not showing God's grace. You have have to build a relationship with folks for them to respect your position. Love to hear others thoughts. Especially that GSiano guy.
Blessings
cas
well my son is only 18 months old so no conversations yet but i guess i have some fun stuff in front of me!
i think the balance is how to be bold with your faith without being judgemental. very hard to do.
read it. like all the comments today.
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