...“Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.
I recently listened to a fellow pastor share an encouraging word to his congregation via the internet. Speaking right before Christmas, and encouraging his church to stay focused on Jesus this season, he reminded them to remember the 'joy' of the season, but to not take it too far. This is itself is a great reminder.
As true Christians committed to Jesus and His ways, we should be able to find joy in all things. This however is only possible if we are focused on Jesus and not self.
The trouble in today’s modern Christianity is that pastors and teachers are all too often afraid to give people the truth in love, because the truth is sometimes hard, and often offensive. Let’s face it, if we are told that we are being selfish, that we are not focused on Christ, and that there are ways to draw closer to Jesus and really commit to Him in a more personal way, we can take this two ways: either we will look at these words with reflection and see that yes, there is room for improvement and humble ourselves before God – OR, we will take those words into our ears (ears that are so used to being ‘tickled’), and get angry, be offended. Man is not currently wired to be indifferent, we’ll choose one way or the other until our Spirit nature replaces that of the flesh.
But the pastor went on in his encouragement to enjoy Christmas. Don’t feel like you have to suffer (was his intended thought), don’t feel bad for having nice things he went on to say. And he’s right, we should not. God has blessed us all with much in this nation. But he did not stop there. He continued by saying, (direct quote) “You can’t not have (those) nice things!” Well, actually, yes, yes you can ‘not have nice things’.
Americans (generalizing) do not understand suffering. We know suffering. My comments are certainly not being made to belittle those who truly are suffering in this country, and yes there are many who are. But my point is that many who ‘think’ they are suffering, really need to reevaluate their lives. Yes, we can not have nice things. Sometimes a simple life is the one with the most blessing.
To me it is unfathomable that a pastor would tell his congregation, ‘you can’t not have nice things”. Think about it. It’s quite literally feeding materialism and greed, and taking away the possibility that God might have a plan in one’s socioeconomic home. God is in control after all isn’t He? Does this mean that those people who don’t have nice things are not God’s people? What is a ‘nice thing’, and who defines what a ‘nice thing’ is?
There are a lot of nice things in life than many of us would be better off without. The life that is filled with electronic brain stealers and time-wasters is one that up until one generation ago we all did without. Children watch more TV than ever, and spend more time gaming than ever before. The average male teen spends between 12-31 hours a week just playing video games. This is not counting other computer time or phone usage. One of the fastest growing trends these days in teen fellowship is ‘after hours’ teen gaming facilities! No more ‘clubbin’, now it’s gamin’. Don’t think that teenage girls are better because they spend less time gaming. They make all that time up, and more, on chatting on cell phones, texting (or worse), and social networking (Facebook, Twitter, Blogging etc.). Society, it can be argued, suffers for these ‘nice things’.
Do we need $45,000 cars or can we do with a $10,000 or $1,500.00 car and spend the difference supporting Christian faith organizations that help the needy in the name of Jesus? That’s the rub.
We need to humble ourselves, and spend some time trying to receive God’s good word. Even if we do not understand it all, or have trouble really getting things to come together in the application of what you read into your daily life, God hears. God recognizes, and if we truly seek Him as Daniel did, He will reward us with understanding. He will come in response to us. How can a loving Father do anything other?
The key point here is to recognize that we do not need to live lavishly to be a proper representation of Christ. We simply do not need to live lavishly. We do not need to have all the ‘nice things’, and that we can do without some ‘nice things’ in spite of what our hearts or minds tell us.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that video games, Facebook® or cell phones are ‘of the devil’. But each of these things, like just about any other thing that we are attracted to, can become at the very least a distraction of our attention, and at worst our own little gods.
Satan’s two most effective tools today, in my opinion, are these: distracting your eyes from Jesus (getting you to waste your time), and materialism. How are these things affecting your Christian walk?
The principle is that of stewardship and being responsive to how each of us is called to use his resources for God's glory. All of the things you mentioned are not evil in themselves, but can be used in inappropriate ways and pull us away from God.
ReplyDeleteGod does not condemn wealth, but I agree with those who have said that the test of prosperity is a more difficult than the test of poverty. It is much easier to forget God when in luxury than in poverty.
Another line that I heard from Alistair Begg years ago, "do you have stuff or does your stuff have you?"
I think the things Satan uses to distract us are the things he tempted Jesus with: food, wealth, and control.
ReplyDeleteLike mhmcintyre said, God does not condemn wealth. I think that God will let you have as much material wealth as you want, as long as you keep Him as your first priority in life. I seriously think that. Doesn't the Bible say that if you put God first, you can have the desires of your heart? Obviously not desires with an evil motive, or stuff God knows wouldn't be good for you, but true, right desires of your heart. Like having friends. Family. Those things that should be free gifts. And if you don't have a dad, God can be your Dad. That type of thing.
God promised us an abundant life. I think that abundance starts inside us with virtues and extends to material things once we are spiritually mature enough to be responsible with those material things. Even the things many of us take for granted are very valuable gifts. People who are often alone appreciate people more than those who have people around them all the time. Lonely people get so excited when they get to talk to someone. I think God removes these gifts from our lives so that when we get them back, we can be truly grateful for them.
Jane
Jane, thanks for commenting. Yes, God has certainly promised us abundant life. Through His Holy Spirit all of our Spiritual needs are met. With regards to relationships like family, a Dad etc, God has mercifully provided us with the perfect foundation in the church body to meet these needs. If our personal family life is bad, for whatever reason, be it drug addiction, alcoholism, abuse, we are told we can find refuge "in Him", and the church body is the best place to seek this. Good godly people from a bible teaching church who's number one goal is to make their congregants the best fed and best loved people in their community are churches where the people truly care for other people, as God has called us to do.
ReplyDeleteWith regards to material things, I think this is where a great many teachers get it wrong. Adundance does not mean (necessarily) material things. Certainly God can bless anyone in such a way, but our abundance MUST be founf IN CHRIST. And when it is such, material things no longer hold true value to. What really holds value is things that are eternal - like our realtionship to Jesus, and His Grae and mercies that we can pass on to others in order to further His kingdom, not ours.
Loneliness can be a hard thing, but Jesus is always there, and He created the church with a purpose. Take advantage of that purpose. Get plugged in with a local church who's pastor & leadership will seek to feed you spiritually. At that point, there will be no need for lonliness to raise its ugly head again. I will be praying for you!