They say pictures are worth a thousand
words. A week ago I illustrated the
difficulty in growing spiritually the older we get with the fact of concrete.
When it is new (young) it is soft and pliable.
You can pour it where you want it.
However, it quickly begins to harden the older it gets until finally the
only way to reshape it is to destroy it and start over again.
The wisdom of God compels us to retain
pliability, that is, God’s wisdom is only able to take root in us to the extent
that we remain teachable. When we are
not teachable, when we are like concrete, damage can occur within the Body of
Christ as each of us asserts our own stubborn way. When we are not pliable and teachable, we
become like a hard surface. When you
fall on it or run into it… it hurts. What kind of Christian are you? Are you teachable, moldable? Does it hurt to run into you or fall on you?
My wonderful wife Christina came across this
picture while out with our children at a park, the day after I delivered that
sermon. She took this picture which is,
my friends, worth a thousand words…
Pilgrim Pastor… realizing that it is
easier to remain pliable like clay than to labor in vain to mold concrete…
Often, an unwillingness to
accept change in a Church is synonymous with an unwillingness to give up
control. We are called in the local Church to mutual submission to Christ and one another, not the assertion of our wills. We are to seek His will. Not our own.
Pilgrim Pastor
Every political season, I wrestle with how my faith in Christ ought to influence my political views and engagement. Should Christians get involved in politics, political issues or even vote? Will doing so entangle them in the ugliness of the world’s broken systems?
Whether it was anti-slavery, prohibition or other social movements in this country, most major social upheavals in American history were preceded or accompanied by spiritual movements and Christian revivals. In fact, it has been noted by many religious and secular historians that the Second Great Awakening probably had the single greatest impact on the anti-slavery movement.
It was Christian leaders like Harriet Beecher Stowe, Charles Finney, and Theodore Weld who influenced the founding of anti-slavery societies and preached against the sinful wickedness of that vile institution.
Probably the biggest problem with drawing too sharp a dichotomy between Christianity and politics is that in an attempt to keep the spiritual nature of the faith intact and unencumbered with “worldly” things, relegating the role of Christ and His Church only to Sunday morning or other worship times spiritualizes the faith to a level of becoming so heavenly minded as to be of no earthly good!
The realities of the Lordship of Jesus and the sovereign reign of God in the entire universe are lost when we divorce ourselves from the world’s problems.
Jesus is Lord of all things spiritual, philosophical and political. There is no part of this world where His influence is “off limits.” He is Lord of all.
What about Bible passages like James 1:27? “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”(NIV84)
I would submit to you that it is the task of Christians everywhere to do everything they can to bring passages like this to fulfillment. My burden is to see Christians caring for the widow around the corner directly by visiting, loving and helping her, as well as supporting community, religious and, yes, even governmental programs that also attend to her needs.
My wife and I have personally helped orphans, but we can’t help them all directly. If and when I am able to influence governmental programs in the area of helping those precious souls, I will do it.
Are politics potentially ugly? You bet. However, if the Devil himself brought me a care package for an orphan, I would take it from him, kick him out, and give that care package to the orphan. If political involvement is a means to helping that orphan, I will get involved.
Christian, there is nowhere that the reign of Christ does not extend, and while our primary mission is to share the love of Christ, there is no limit to the ways, spheres and extent that God calls us to do so.
Let’s get busy with both hands spreading the Gospel and the influence of the Kingdom.
(This column appeared in the Suffolk News Herald, March, 2012)
