Dear Lukewarm Christian,
We all know that the gospel of Jesus Christ has power. How many of us believe that? Not many. How many of us are a testimony of that? Even fewer.
As Christians, we are to be devoted to the "ministry of the Word." (Acts 6:4) Do you know what that means?? A pastor or minister is more or less, a servant of his church. The Greek word used in that text is diakonos....which means, "to wait upon" or to "serve".....a waitress or waiter. I'm a waitress, so to me that is a very clear picture of how we should live. When the Bible talks about the "ministry of the Word" it is talking about the "serving of the Word."
Picture this: you are the server.....the Bible is the customer. The Bible is sitting at the table, telling you what it wants from you....this is your response, "sorry, I'm fresh out of obedience today.....no sir, we don't serve mercy at this church.....ummm, I can talk to the pastor, but I'm afraid that the use of the word "hell" in sermons is considered unkind, and unsafe for the general public.....well, I'd like to give you what you want, but you're asking too much, can you order something else??
Are you serious?? Would you really say that to a customer? Of course not! You'd say, "Fruit of the Spirit? Coming right up sir. With a side of repentance? Why certainly, I'll get right on my knees. And for dessert, you'd like some missionary work in India, which requires me selling all that I own? It'd be my pleasure."
If the Bible is real, why don't you live it out? It says to give away all that you have, so why are you still hoarding away money for retirement? Where in the Bible does it say to pay all your bills before you tithe, before you give to those that have even less?? The Bible says not to let "ANY unwholesome talk come out of your mouths," so why do you gossip and call it a prayer request. The Bible says to only think on things that are true (you're not allowed to believe the lies of the enemy), lovely, noble, excellent (the excludes a lot of media), admirable (excludes even more media) and praiseworthy (no self-condemnation)....so why are you depressed watching pointless television?
Loved ones, when people look at your life it should be like reading a book......the Bible. The unsaved at work should feel like they've just read the New Testament when they look at your life. There should be miracles, the power of God, faith, unconditional, perfect love, you should be COMPLETELY different
If God is the Creator, then why are you still telling him what to do? Why are you still giving him conditions on how far you are willing to follow him? You are created for HIS purpose, so why do so many other things in your life come before him??
If Jesus is real, if he REALLY is the son of God, why are you living in the world?? Why are you spending your time on sin and frivolous pursuits? Do you know that he has set you free?!?! His blood paid for your sin. Your debt was PAID IN FULL, yet you return to your sin over and over and over. Why don't you tell more people about Him? He has given you EVERYTHING, yet you are still ashamed to mention his name in the presence of those that need him most, your unsaved friends.
Do you know who you are? If you profess to know Christ, you are his AMBASSADOR. "We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We
implore you on Christ's behalf:
Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Corinthians 5:20-21 What is an ambassador?? "a diplomatic agent of the highest rank accredited to a foreign government or sovereign as the resident representative of his or her own government or sovereign or appointed for a special and often temporary diplomatic assignment." Do you see what this says?? We are assigned by God (the king of a sovereign nation) on a temporary diplomatic assignment (sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ until he takes us home) to a foreign nation (this world). Now, look back at the passage in 2 Corinthians 5. That says that in order to be a good ambassador, we must be reconciled to God (REPENT!!!) An ambassador doesn't give his own opinions, right? He only says what he has been told to say by the one in authority. So, you CANNOT just say whatever you want to the people of this world. You need to be reconciled to God so that your actions display only him, not yourself. I mean, you are appointed as God's righteousness, that's amazing! He took our sin, so that we could be his ambassadors, his righteousness to the world.
Too hard you say? Too much work?? Too radical?? Shut up. Get behind me Satan. Don't you think the cross was hard? I mean really, we have been given a gift!! Jesus Christ, the son of the LIVING GOD, has freed us from sin! Do you really want to tell me that abstaining from a few petty, sinful pleasures, and giving away a bit of time from your life (which is meaningless without him anyway) is too hard a task? Come on now.
By the way, I'm not writing this to you, I'm writing it to me.
Love,
Julie.
