Progress
Was Christ for progress or against progress? From the following scriptures what would be your answer?
Matthew 5:17 (NIV)
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
In writing to Timothy, in I Timothy 4, Paul urges Timothy to set an example to other Christians through his speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity. I Timothy 4:12. The reason for this was for the name of progress or furtherance of the Gospel message. “ 15 Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress.” He goes on to charge him to, “16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.” I Timothy 4:16
We need to watch what we are saying and how we are saying it. We need to ask ourselves the question: Does it further the Gospel or tear apart those for who we care deeply? Paul says in I Timothy 4:1 that in the end times, some will depart from the faith. He charges Timothy to keep watch of his behaviors, his words, his actions in order to progress not regress and not just for him but for other believers as well.
Paul, in chains in Rome, furthers the Gospel to those to whom he is chained (Philippians 1: 12 -14). He writes an encouraging letter to other believers and urges them to continue in their faith. His eyes were not on what was happening to him but rather they were focused on how he could further the Gospel. His progress wasn’t to get out of the situation but to spread the word of God. That my friend, is a focus centered on Christ and not on our circumstances. Paul was convinced that he was where he was for a purpose and that purpose was to progress the Gospel of Jesus Christ not only for him but through the church, Philippians 4:25, Paul tells the church at Philippi, 5 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith,
Today, as Church doors closed due to the pandemic I was amazed at the opportunity they had to further the Gospel through online services. I’m sure most pastors, who are generally “people persons” did not prefer to preach the Gospel to a camera but would have rather had people in the room, yet, they had the potential to reach so many more through this method of spreading the Gospel. It gave the Holy Spirit the opportunity to work in the lives of those in which the preacher could not physically reach. As the protests and riots continue in our country, due to injustices to others, we need to ask ourselves, “Am I focused on the injustice or am I focused on the One who will right all wrongs?” Do my words and actions progress the Gospel or are they progressing a cause?
Responsibility
I identify most to the responsibility portion of this diagram in the worldly sense of things. I have been taught to work hard, do my very best, and that my actions are what make me or break me. Because of that, I have doubted myself more than put my trust in the Lord. If I work hard and fail, I tend to think it is all my doing, that I should have done better. I should rather look at the situation as an opportunity that God is granting me to do His will rather than my own will. I am responsible for my sins and I am also responsible for by repentance of those sins but God is the One who can forgive those sins. When I put responsibility into the Biblical meaning, it changes the way I think and the way I feel about any given situation.
Paul, again was a great example of this. He was responsible to preach the Gospel and he did what he was asked to do. His response can be found in Romans 8:12 -13 12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
Our responsibility, our obligation should be to the One True God, not to man, not to government, but the One with the ultimate authority, the authority of Christ. How do we do this? How did Paul do this? How did the Early Church do this?
As Christians, we should live by example and be an example to others. In I Thessalonians Paul is writing to the church at Thessalonica and he speaks of how they became imitators of Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy and of the Lord. I Thessalonians 1:7 (NIV) “7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.” Our responsibility as Christians is not to ourselves, to our family, to other people that deal with the acts of the flesh, our responsibility is to the Lord and through Him, to live a life that portrays His example, His love, His grace, His forgiveness, His mercy. Galatians 5:22-23 says it best, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
I Thessalonians 5:11gives us of our responsibility to one another as Christians, “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”
Bottom line, we are responsible to make our actions reflective of Christ, not for our own gain but for the gain of the kingdom. Nothing more or nothing less. We do this by being imitators of those whom came before us whose sole purpose was to build the kingdom of God. Am I meeting the expectations of Christ or am I trying to fit into the expectations of this world?
The question comes down to this, are we working hard for ourselves and others or are we working for the Lord’s harvest? Luke 10: 2 says, “He told them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’” Who are we working for, where does our responsibility rest?
Identity
Who do you identify with? Is it your family heritage? I finally gave in and did one of those DNA test to find out where my lineage came from. I was hoping the results or at least dreaming the results would show that our family came from some royalty from some far away land. I found, however, just the opposite. A large portion of my identity revealed that my family came from Ireland and most likely were shipped to America because Ireland did not want the likes of us. We were either criminals or low life’s that needed a new life away from Ireland. We were placed here as indentured servants, banished to a land far from home. Somehow the Lord was gracious to us. Someone came to know the Lord, through a follower of Jesus Christ. Someone witnessed to someone in my family giving them the Good News of Salvation, making it possible for me too, to find forgiveness through Christ Jesus more than a century later. Now, I don’t need a DNA test to know that I am from royal blood. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords, I call Father. It took someone to see their own responsibility to Christ, someone willing to share the Gospel, for that to be possible for me. My identity is not in my human ancestry tree, it is based on Christ and Christ alone.
I did a search for “identity” in the Bible and the only topical reference I could find was Genesis 45. Looking at Joseph, a man that could have been bitter because of his family’s actions, we see that His identity did not fall upon his family but rather his relationship with God. He saw the bigger picture, he saw the reason for his distress. Genesis 45:4 – 7 (NIV) “ 4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 5 And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. 6 For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. 7 But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.” I never thought of it before, but God allowed my ancestors to be taken from their homeland in order to find life in Him. This gave me the chance to find my identity in Christ and to share it with others. That’s a big, WOW, for me to comprehend. What am I doing to share that identity with others?
James points out to us in James4:14, the importance of identifying with Christ and not the world, James 4:14 (NIV) “ 4 You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.”
My life verse is found in Paul’s writing in Galatians 2:20 “20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Are we allowing our identity to reflect that sacrificial life of Christ or are we letting the world and individuals determine our identity.
Are we, in the church, standing up for the individual’s identity in this world or are we working to help them see their identity in Christ? Where should our focus be, in this world or everlasting life with Christ?
Security
Where does your sense of security rest? Does it rest in the powers of the government, powers of the police system, powers of the military, money, your friends, strangers or does it rest in the power of the One True God?
Often times we can find ourselves questioning government, media, the health system, insurance or anything or anyone that we are asked to trust. Skepticism can rule our life if we are not careful. Discernment is a gift to be blessed with and one that can be valuable if used properly. Psalms 119:125 says, “I am your servant; give me discernment that I may understand your statutes.” We are not called to be servants of this world but to serve the Lord in this world. If we are going to do that and rest in our security in Christ we need not trust the ways of the world but rather understand the statutes of the Lord and follow Him and His ways. Where does our trust rest? Is it in the system or with the Lord? Does that mean we can’t ever trust the system or does that mean we need to trust the Lord to provide the leaders according to His statutes/His rules?
Philippians 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
Psalm 48:14 (NIV) 14 For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end.
Romans 8:38 – 39 explains our security through Christ, 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Conclusion
I will close this by saying that I believe we all have ways of viewing the world but if our focus is on the world rather than furthering the Gospel, we need new glasses. If we view all things through Christ, we realize our mission on this earth, and we focus on Him, we will indeed be looking through rose colored glasses that reflect the love of Christ. If we speak of things of Christ, not on the things of the world, lives will be changed. When we speak on worldly things, all that it brings is conflict and division. Let us build up the Kingdom of God rather than tearing it down. The last is a diagram of how I see it when we focus on Christ.
Seeking Him with all my heart,Sheila
