Category Archives: Christian life

Angry Christians

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coffee pauseIt’s time for Christians to get angry!

  • We should be angry that there are millions of people living life on the brink of starvation.
  • We should be angry that there are billions of people with no Christian witness in their area.
  • We should be angry that Satan continues to ruin lives and destroy families around the world.
  • We should be angry that those aren’t the things that make us angry!

And we should be really angry that there are people angry over what’s printed or not printed on the cups that their overpriced coffee is served in… and these people claim that their anger has something to do with Christ!

Public figures, news, and Christian love

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girl reading newspaperThe other day, the Abilene Christian University Board of Trustees issued a statement of confidence in the school’s president, who is in the midst of a divorce. The Christian Chronicle, a well-respected newspaper within churches of Christ, published an article reporting on the incident. When they received criticism for the article that was published, I took the side of the journalists, arguing that such reporting about a public figure was warranted.

That said, I think we need to learn the difference between the responsibilities of a journalist and those of a brother in Christ. That is, I’m not a publication. I’m not expected to treat Christians “objectively”; I’m to treat them as family. I should look at a “public figure” and see a person. I should look at tragedies in their lives as moments for ministry, not talking points for doctrinal issues nor university politics.

The Christian Chronicle was right to report on this issue. That’s their responsibility as journalists. Now it’s up to us to pray for healing and to let this news spur us on to minister to all hurting couples within our brotherhood.

Image courtesy of MorgueFile.com

Out of the salt shaker

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We’ve been looking this week at the idea of Christians living their Christian lives out among non-believers, rather than focusing merely on what’s done inside the four walls of the church building. It’s the idea of being the salt of the world. Salt has to get out of the salt shaker to do any good.

It’s the concept of being the light of the world. Jesus said, “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16) We do the things out in the world, not cloistered away among ourselves. Peter said, “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” (1 Peter 2:12) To some degree, our good lives have to be lived among the pagans, in a way that they can see our good deeds. Not doing good deeds to get glory from men, but doing good deeds to bring glory to God.

In Acts 17, after Paul had spent time teaching in Thessalonica, some Jews came looking for him. They grabbed one Christian and dragged him before the authorities saying, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also.” (Acts 17:6) I think it’s safe to say that the Jews weren’t concerned about what the Christians were doing somewhere off in their church buildings. No, the accusation was “they’re turning the world upside down.” These Christians were living lives that were changing those around them, affecting their society and changing it forever.

Again, our times of worship are important. But they can’t be the main focus of our lives as Christians.

Honoring God In Our Jobs

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Yesterday, we talked about our time in the church building not being the totality of our Christian life. So how do we live out our faith outside the assembly?

There are lots ways in which this can be done. It’s seen by the way that we work. As Paul said, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” (Colossians 3:23-24) Martin Luther King, Jr. described it this way:

If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the host of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well.

Years ago, back when I was in college, I spent a summer in Long Beach, California. To support myself I worked at a Peugeot bicycle warehouse. I didn’t actually work for Peugeot; I worked for Thomas Temporaries, who sent me to work at the warehouse. It wasn’t extremely hard work, but it was a lot of effort for the little pay that I earned. It was not the average person’s dream job.

Toward the end of that summer, when I was about to return to Texas to go to school, the warehouse manager was bidding me goodbye. He made the comment, “I’ve never had a temp that did everything I asked him to, the first time I asked.”

I saw my opportunity and told him the truth: “That’s because I’m a Christian, and I’m not just working for you. I’m working for Jesus Christ.” Now, I’d like to tell you that the man immediately begged me to tell him how to be saved, but that’s not what happened. I’m not even sure that I said exactly what I should have. But I do know that I worked that summer exactly as I should have.

Can you imagine if Christians had the reputation of being the best workers out there? If people saw them as dependable, honest, hard-working, good-natured employees? What if people knew that Christians complained less, focused more and always put in a full day’s work? I can see how that would make an impact on the world.

Photo by Jmabel

Christian life or Christian hobby?

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In our Bible classes at the University church in Abilene, we’re looking at the book of Hebrews. James Thompson, a man who has studied and written about Hebrews about as much as anyone, is a member of our congregation and has prepared some excellent study materials.

We looked at a long section today, starting in chapter 8 and going through 10:25, the famous “not forsaking the assembling” passage. As we discussed the passage in class, I was struck again by how incongruous an over-emphasis on the weekly assembly is with the arguments presented here. That is, Hebrews is all about encouraging one another daily, finding ways to help each other with the Christian walk. It’s not just about meeting on Sundays.

At times, I’ve shared with others some thoughts based on the hours in a week. We’ve got 168 hours in every week. If we were to sleep 8 hours each night, we still have 112 hours. Now, how many hours do we spend at the church building? Generously, most of us spend up to 5 hours per week: 3 on Sunday morning, and 1 each on Sunday evening and Wednesday evening.

5 hours out of 112. Can you imagine if that were the sum total of our Christian life? That’s not a “life,” that’s barely even a hobby. Most of us spend more time than that watching the news.

We have to realize that all of our time is God’s time, all of our life is our Christian life. The times of Christian assembly are invaluable, but they aren’t our Christian life. In many ways, they are the times that prepare us to go out and live the Christian life.

Don’t forsake “the assembly,” nor the “assembling.” And remember that our duty toward one another and toward God doesn’t stop with those times.