All to often we in the church, with all that’s going on in our world forget about the basics. We let the things that are happening in the secular world side track us from what we are suppose to be doing for God.
It is very easy to see what is happening in politics and society and see how far away from God our society is. Its so very easy to stand on a soap box and criticize the secular society we live in, but that is not what God wants.
The Apostle Paul when he walked into Athens I’m sure realized just how far from God the secular society of his day was, but he didn’t criticise . Instead he said these words.
Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus, and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; “for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:
TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.
Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you:
“God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is LORD of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.“Nor is He worshipped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.“And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, “so that they should seek the LORD, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each of us;“for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’
“Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent. “because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”
Acts 17:22-31
Paul was I believe a Christian leader after God’s heart. He concentrated on the job at hand, evangelism and teaching. The primary jobs of the church.
It’s a job I see as forgotten by many who claim to be church leaders in the media.
It seems to me that the easiest way to get a Christian leader in the media side tracked today is to pass a law that they disagree with.
Suddenly it seems that the pulpit they have in the Media becomes a soap box for them to criticise and condemn, both the government that passed the law and anyone who agrees with the law.
They forget Paul’s words to the Romans.
Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities,
for there is no authority except that which God has established.
The authorities that exist have been established by God.
Consequently, he who rebels against the authority
is rebelling against what God has instituted,
and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.”
Romans 13:1,2
Even the most uneducated Christian has to admit that when Paul wrote those words Rome was not the type of democracy we see in the United States, or Canada.Although when it comes to it’s multicultural make up Rome was almost as certainly diverse.
I’m sure Rome had many laws that were not exactly compatible with the beliefs of the early Christians. Yet the gospel not only survived but thrived.
They did so because they stuck to the basics. They presented the gospel, and taught the converts what it was to be a Christian.
They didn’t jump up on a soap box and scream “you heathen that law is wrong!!” they couldn’t. To do so would have meant the end of the fledgling church.
Paul could never have stood in the Areopagus and denounced the practices of those who worshipped Diana, or Bacchus.
He couldn’t have called on the Roman emperor to end the bloody gladiatorial contests that went on in the Colosseum simply because they were against what he believed. Even though he had freedom of speech.
Christ taught that we were to love our enemies. In loving we are showing respect even if we don’t agree with them. Love and respect are virtues people see in others and more often than not return in kind.
“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” states Paul in Romans 12:18
“Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord.” he adds in verse 19.
God is the righteous judge we are not.
God will ultimately hold all men to account, even Christians.
He however does not want us to be a stumbling block to those who are seeking Him. That’s why the call not to judge. That’s why Paul states, "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." Romans 12:20.
We as Christians have an obligation to complete the work Jesus began. To make disciples of all nations.
Jesus was emphatic when he said, “ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:17
Many in the church today are out their criticising our society. We don’t need them.
What we need are more leaders like Paul, preaching the pure Word of God.
The answer to all the worlds problems is Christ Jesus.
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