25 June 2024
What is it that really matters?
Those called to faith in Christ will engage human activities because that's how we demonstrate His teaching. Most of humanity has all kinds of other motives, but we don't rely on that. We do what we do because He has commanded it.
At least, that's the ideal. I can tell you that an awful lot of believers are still trapped in doing what they do for human motivations. Churches keep teaching human motivations. Sure, just be a normal human, love the government and stick with social expectations, except that you learn to talk a little different and give time and money to an organization. They think "ministry" is stuff you do at, or for, the organization.
As westerners, we live in a highly developed compartmentalization. We struggle with the idea that loading boxes on a truck, or fixing cars, or laying carpet, are things we can do as a mission from God. We struggle with the idea of seeking to glorify Him in those activities. Can you touch lives with mercy in those jobs? Can they be ministries?
Can I ride a bicycle to the glory of the Lord? I assure you -- whatever else it might do to satisfy some hope or desire of my flesh, scratching some itch, that's not enough reason by itself for me to do it. Under the Covenant, I have to justify the time and expense as obedience, or I have to stop and invest the time and resources somewhere else. I cannot justify doing something simply because it's common to other humans.
If He is not Lord of all, He is not Lord at all.
You've heard that before, I'm sure. That's what I'm getting at. God doesn't give vacations. You might take a break from some commitment to other humans, but you never take a break from thinking about His glory. It's relentless. Of course, He does want you to take a break from the human grind at times, but that's so you can give Him more attention -- because you need that. Or He may want you to give attention to someone or something that is not part of your routine.
Either way, you are following His command. How He communicates that is highly variable and not the subject here. The point is that you respond according to your convictions. We do not operate the way the rest of the world does. That's what matters most. With or without an immediate community, we must stand under the Covenant. We have no expectation that the rest of the world would even acknowledge it, much less show interest.
What drives most humans may appear to be a thousand different things, but as long as they do not operate in faith, there is one principle unifying every human concern: anything but Christ. Satan offers a jillion things that have no meaning, because the only meaning for humans is pursuing the Lord.
Let's state this clearly: The habit of fear, dread, pessimism, hopelessness is a sin. It is the result of refusing to trust in the Lord. But so is empty optimism and the thrill of ambition. The flavor of the feelings themselves don't matter -- good, bad or indifferent. To embrace a sense of human purpose, or to despair with no purpose at all, is a rejection of Christ. The only thing that matters is glorifying Him. Giving power to the various human feelings is dangerous, because it plays into the Devil's hands. It serves to empower his grip on your life; it glorifies him and his rebellion.
Nobody says you aren't allowed to have human feelings; they are unavoidable. Job managed to grouse an awful lot before he went too far. You are supposed to be at war with your fleshly nature. Your own soul is the true battleground of spiritual warfare. How your flesh gets used, the message you send to the world, is the issue. Words and expressions on your face are not magic; that's a lie of "name-it-n-claim-it" religion. Rather, the issue is disappointing the Lord and defiling His reputation.
Do you understand that the Prosperity Gospel is just the western materialistic rights-based thinking read back into the gospel? This stuff about our "rights" is hostile to the Bible. God owes us nothing on the fleshly level; obviously nobody else does. He grants things as privileges of His grace.
Don't break His heart. Everything you do and say is in His Presence, so there are no secret moments from Him, only secret moments with Him. You belong to Him, so stop working for the Enemy. Keep peace with Him.
This is the only reason we exist.
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