Its amazing how often religion gets its hooks into us. Here are some questions that I have found a challenge this week as I have thought about just that issue:
1.I obey God because…
a.then God will give me things.
b.it delights God and mirrors his character.
2.When I am criticised by others I…
a.am furious and, or, devastated because I think of myself as a good person.
b.Struggle, but it is not critical to think of myself as a good person. My identity is built on God’s love for me in Christ.
3.My identity and self worth are based on…
a.how hard I work, how moral I am or how others perceive me to be. I am prone to swing between pride and feeling like a failure.
b.Christ who died to save me because of the grace of God. I am so bad that he had to die for me and I am so loved that he was glad to die for me. I live in the light of that grace.
Showing posts with label Christ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christ. Show all posts
Friday, 17 August 2007
Tuesday, 17 April 2007
Its all just talk.
Do you talk about Jesus as naturally as you do about the team you support or your kids or your hobby? If people are to see that Jesus is the thing I treasure most, if they are meant to ask me about the hope that I have then it must be reflected in my conversation. If I only talk about him in 'God conversations' then people will think we compartmentalise our lives and that we are hypocrites.
I'm not saying we continually spout theological words and phrases but that our faith and our saviour should be a part of our everyday lives. So often the temptation when asked is to say oh yeah I think this. When actually I think this because the Bible says so. If that's the case why not say it. Yes you may get the odd funny look but it is saying morality is a matter of God's revelation, he sets the standards that I live by, it isn't that I've just decided this is right or wrong based on how I feel.
When someone talks about their problems with you I guess with a Christian we'd naturally offer to pray for them. So why don't we do that with all of our friends? If a friend is struggling at work why don't we offer to pray with them. It shows them that we believe prayer works, that we are dependent upon God.
When they ask how our week has been why is my reply so often not in terms of what God has done, even when people from church ask, let alone when my mates from the pub ask? Is it that I am afraid? Is it that I am embarrassed? Do I fear their rejection?
How can I expect them to ask me about the hope I have if I never articulate that hope in my every day conversation. How will they take Christianity and Christ seriously if they do not see that his sacrifice and love dominates the whole of my life not just one little compartment.
"But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord" I Peter 3:15
I'm not saying we continually spout theological words and phrases but that our faith and our saviour should be a part of our everyday lives. So often the temptation when asked is to say oh yeah I think this. When actually I think this because the Bible says so. If that's the case why not say it. Yes you may get the odd funny look but it is saying morality is a matter of God's revelation, he sets the standards that I live by, it isn't that I've just decided this is right or wrong based on how I feel.
When someone talks about their problems with you I guess with a Christian we'd naturally offer to pray for them. So why don't we do that with all of our friends? If a friend is struggling at work why don't we offer to pray with them. It shows them that we believe prayer works, that we are dependent upon God.
When they ask how our week has been why is my reply so often not in terms of what God has done, even when people from church ask, let alone when my mates from the pub ask? Is it that I am afraid? Is it that I am embarrassed? Do I fear their rejection?
How can I expect them to ask me about the hope I have if I never articulate that hope in my every day conversation. How will they take Christianity and Christ seriously if they do not see that his sacrifice and love dominates the whole of my life not just one little compartment.
"But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord" I Peter 3:15
Thursday, 12 April 2007
always prepared to give a reason for the hope that you have
It is quite a challenge that Peter makes in his letter (1 Peter 3:15) 'always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.'
It assumes that people will have looked at your life and had questions to ask you. In fact at the start of that verse Peter even tells us how to ensure that is that case; 'But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord'. If people see that Christ is Lord of our lives, that we are seeking to live for his glory and not for our own then it will provoke questions. If people see that actually we are maximising the law not minimising it then they will ask questions. If people see by our actions that we love others because we have been loved by God then they will ask questions.
And that is when we must be ready. I think the first challenge for us in 2007 is to be close enough to people that they can see that Christ is Lord, unless people are seeing how I act under pressure, in the home, on the squash court, in the pub how will they ever know that we have a hope. Unless we are in the world people cannot ask us the questions Peter assumes they will be asking. We have to get out of the Christian ghetto, move away from the holy huddle. And not just into superficial relationships but to real relationships that show those around us that we love them, that we care, that we are different.
Only then will it provoke questions about the hope that we have, about our reasons for believing such hope. Then we must be ready to answer those questions. I wonder some times if we spend so long on preparing to answer the questions that by the time we feel we're ready we have no one who knows us well enough to see our lives and to ask the questions.
It assumes that people will have looked at your life and had questions to ask you. In fact at the start of that verse Peter even tells us how to ensure that is that case; 'But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord'. If people see that Christ is Lord of our lives, that we are seeking to live for his glory and not for our own then it will provoke questions. If people see that actually we are maximising the law not minimising it then they will ask questions. If people see by our actions that we love others because we have been loved by God then they will ask questions.
And that is when we must be ready. I think the first challenge for us in 2007 is to be close enough to people that they can see that Christ is Lord, unless people are seeing how I act under pressure, in the home, on the squash court, in the pub how will they ever know that we have a hope. Unless we are in the world people cannot ask us the questions Peter assumes they will be asking. We have to get out of the Christian ghetto, move away from the holy huddle. And not just into superficial relationships but to real relationships that show those around us that we love them, that we care, that we are different.
Only then will it provoke questions about the hope that we have, about our reasons for believing such hope. Then we must be ready to answer those questions. I wonder some times if we spend so long on preparing to answer the questions that by the time we feel we're ready we have no one who knows us well enough to see our lives and to ask the questions.
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