Leviticus 20:7 Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD
I want to talk about something that should be the natural way of life for every Christian, but is rarely seen today, and that is how to live godly lives in this ungodly world.
Let me make this clear, I love the church. I have been a Christian for 15 years and have missed 3 Sundays. When our family go away on holiday the first thing we do is look up the churches in the phone book to find one to go to. So this is not a dig at the church by looking at a current problem .Its to try and facilitate discussion around potential solutions.
I have been wrestling with this issue over the last few weeks, in the light of the recent moral and spiritual misadventures of two prominent Christian leaders.
What have we learnt from this tragedy? What are we doing in our lives, and the lives we lead to avoid this happening?
I grieve for the body of Christ when this happens .No one wins, people are hurt, angry, disappointed, and the name of Jesus is treaded in mud. Yes people can be and are restored, healed, forgiven and do go on in life.
For the record I have prayed, am praying and will continue to pray for all involved.
But that’s not the biggest reason I am grieving, the biggest reason I am grieving is because when ever something like this happens why is the church so quick to go into damage control rather than preventative control. Why do we take the position of the ambulance at the bottom of the hill rather than be the gate at the top.
I have heard messages on how to handle failure; How Jesus restores broken and fallen people. Great theology .Grace is God .Grace is the Bible. But we take Grace to the extreme when we try so hard to justify sin, and justify why we behave in a certain way.
Wouldn’t it make sense to not only show us how to mop up the mess but also how to avoid the disaster
I want to hear how to overcome sin, not just how to respond when we are overcome by sin
The Bible is not only a repair book for those that have fallen it’s a prepare book for those that want to live victorious
God says we can be HOLY .We CAN be victorious over the flesh.
ARE we pursuing this? Do WE believe this?
In many of our churches today, we're not taught anything at all about the separated life unto godliness and holiness. In fact, if someone preaches holiness, they're labelled a "legalist."
What we now find as a result, is many people who name the name of Christ, just go on living in their sin proclaiming that they really know Him, and that God understands why they do the things they do, and there'll be no price to pay for their sin.
One writer said "Many so-called Christians are so far from holy living, that they virtually have contests to see who can come closest to the pit of sin without falling in." It's sad that many times in this politically correct age, we give them a politically correct gospel filled with pop-psychology, and think we're doing the will of God, when in reality we're taking them by the hand and walking with them down the road that leads to hell.
God is looking for a people who are not interested in pleasing anyone but Him. We as Christians are responsible for this generation, to show them the truth not only in what we say, but more importantly, by how we live.
I will leave you with a quote from D M Moody
A holy life will make the deepest impression. Lighthouses blow no horns, they just shine.