What would people think?
Today I read 1 Peter 3 and 4. Some great verses here, but one that really got me thinking...
"For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do--living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you." (vs.3-4)
In context, this passage is talking about suffering for Christ, and the readers of the time were doing just that, and were being encouraged to stay strong. This verse especially is talking about being slandered as suffering for Christ. 1 Peter has a fairly wide audience--"strangers in the world, scattered throughout..."--and they would have been both of Jew and Gentile background. In the pagan cultures they are living in, they see these sins every single day to the extent that others would wonder why the Christians don't join in.
I strongly believe that the Church needs reformation first, then we can reform our country. But the majority of churches these days are not even teaching Biblical worldviews! Sadly, too many people think they're Christians just because they go to Church on Sunday. But the Bible says that we are supposed to be Holy--set apart for God. We're supposed to be different! But most "Christians" these days take such moderate or conservative views of their faith that one can hardly tell any difference between them and the world--in how they dress, speak, entertain themselves, how they treat other people, but most importantly--how they deal with sin (or rather, how they don't). And I'm not just pointing the finger, I struggle with this too! The early Christians, however, were so different by the world's standards that people could tell...and slandered in heaps.
But our lukewarm "Christians" don't like receiving verbal abuse. So they go to church and youth group, and get "high" on Jesus, and they don't cuss too much, and maybe don't get drunk, but they don't want to be too different. I mean, shocker, what would other people think of them?
And that's exactly the point!!!
*Sigh* And I'm sorry that I've been ranting a bit, but I just feel very strongly (as you can probably tell) about this topic. Unfortunately, I've had several friends who have gone far down the path of wanting to look like the world in every way possible, and still be a "Christian" so they don't go to hell when they die. It drives me to tears at times!
So as an encouragement to those who struggle with wanting to look like the world, myself included...
"So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good." (1 Peter 4:19)
So, I don't claim to have all the answers, I know that I'm not perfect in this area of my life either, and I know that the other side of the pendulum can be harmful as well. But I beg you to examine your own life (I can't judge you), as the Scripture tells us, to see if you're walking with the Spirit, or if you're trying to see how close you can walk to the cliff without falling off.
~~~
Change the world!
In Christ,
Ellie
"For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do--living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you." (vs.3-4)
In context, this passage is talking about suffering for Christ, and the readers of the time were doing just that, and were being encouraged to stay strong. This verse especially is talking about being slandered as suffering for Christ. 1 Peter has a fairly wide audience--"strangers in the world, scattered throughout..."--and they would have been both of Jew and Gentile background. In the pagan cultures they are living in, they see these sins every single day to the extent that others would wonder why the Christians don't join in.
I strongly believe that the Church needs reformation first, then we can reform our country. But the majority of churches these days are not even teaching Biblical worldviews! Sadly, too many people think they're Christians just because they go to Church on Sunday. But the Bible says that we are supposed to be Holy--set apart for God. We're supposed to be different! But most "Christians" these days take such moderate or conservative views of their faith that one can hardly tell any difference between them and the world--in how they dress, speak, entertain themselves, how they treat other people, but most importantly--how they deal with sin (or rather, how they don't). And I'm not just pointing the finger, I struggle with this too! The early Christians, however, were so different by the world's standards that people could tell...and slandered in heaps.
But our lukewarm "Christians" don't like receiving verbal abuse. So they go to church and youth group, and get "high" on Jesus, and they don't cuss too much, and maybe don't get drunk, but they don't want to be too different. I mean, shocker, what would other people think of them?
And that's exactly the point!!!
*Sigh* And I'm sorry that I've been ranting a bit, but I just feel very strongly (as you can probably tell) about this topic. Unfortunately, I've had several friends who have gone far down the path of wanting to look like the world in every way possible, and still be a "Christian" so they don't go to hell when they die. It drives me to tears at times!
So as an encouragement to those who struggle with wanting to look like the world, myself included...
"So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good." (1 Peter 4:19)
So, I don't claim to have all the answers, I know that I'm not perfect in this area of my life either, and I know that the other side of the pendulum can be harmful as well. But I beg you to examine your own life (I can't judge you), as the Scripture tells us, to see if you're walking with the Spirit, or if you're trying to see how close you can walk to the cliff without falling off.
~~~
Change the world!
In Christ,
Ellie
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