(Further reflections on “Ignorance”—Sunday 7-May-2023)
When a life is put to death, it stays dead. But when “the Author of Life”—Jesus, who was put to death, and the death was put to death (cf. 2 Corinthians 15:50-58) and Jesus stays “the Author of Life.” And He remains the Giver of life. He has become the Savior of the world, to those who believe in Him. He rules and reigns in believer's/followers’ life. They are disciples of Jesus, who were- and should be still, called Christians (cf. Acts 11:26).
Disciples, in the Bible, are those who had encountered, believed, followed, and who live out the Good News of Jesus. They live out the Gospel by faith and not by fear of rejection or/and persecution. They speak the name of Jesus to those around them. And the people cannot but notice the “before and after knowing Jesus” differences in the life of the disciples.
Nowadays, the term or picture of being a Christian, generally speaking, had ‘morphed’ into a few possibilities, which likely reflect a sad reality: (a.) A ‘Christer’, who loves to attend church on Christmas and Easter; or (b.) A 'Consumer’, who only knows to consume and wants to be served rather than to serve; or (c.) A ‘Loner’, who either desires to be alone or finds it difficult to connect or fellowship with other fellow church members who are different from him/herself. To ‘loners’, uniformity is comfortable but diversity is scary; or (d.) An ‘Insider’, who once got saved (usually second generation) but then became comfortable being only around a ‘Christer’ or/and a ‘Loner’ and have become ‘inward-looking’ Christians. They have lost interest in reaching out and sharing the Gospel to non-yet-believing or unchurched friends out there; or (e.) An ‘Ignorer’ who idolizes ‘celebrity’ speakers or miracle workers. They don’t bother to have a commitment to the Body of Christ but made a commitment to big rallies and events that can hype and spice up their lethargically unspiritual life. They are like the crowd who marveled at Peter and John (cf. Acts 3:11-12) and thought they had the power to heal. To ‘Ignorers’, their heart looks for what they want to see and hear. Since they lack the interest in reading/studying God’s word, they lack the knowledge of Scriptures. As a result, they do not like to read or to see 2 Timothy 3:16 in action. They might like the teaching part, but not reproof, correction, and training in righteousness- though they may also like the idea. Certainly, since they want to be served, they don’t bother to be equipped for every good work. So when life gets tough, they lack faith and are full of all sorts of fears. Little do they remember that lack of faith is basically lack of God’s word, for we know “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).
Now what? If you can be brutally honest with ourselves, you may somewhat see yourselves in one (or all) of the ‘-ers’. But there is hope in Christ for us. #1.| We need to remind other fellow Christians and be reminded about God’s works through/in Jesus; remind each other to read and live out the Scriptures; and remind one another that Jesus’ name is powerful to bring salvation and healing for the soul as well as the well-being of our life.
#2. We need to repent daily/weekly, to return to the Lord and turn our back to sins, so that it can be blotted out by Jesus; to spend time with the Lord daily, so that our soul can be refreshed on a daily/weekly basis; and to actively listen to Jesus and His word daily/weekly.
#3. We need to remember God’s covenant to those who believe, from the time of Abraham to Jesus; to remember Jesus’ resurrection that assures hope to all believers; and to remember to turn our life away from sinful tendencies and wicked inclination of our thoughts and actions. And last but not least, let us begin to live our life in the full sense of the word, “Christian,” who is a disciple of Jesus Christ, who knows the Lord intimately, lives out the Gospel and not religiously- being one of the above ‘-ers’.
Lord, be gracious to all the above '-ers' and let us be 'lovers' of God.
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Pastor Lap
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