"Part of reckless abandonment is realizing how much our culture has affected our behavior patterns. You want to be Christlike, but your lifestyle is a reflection of Vogue or Cosmopolitan rather than a new creation in Christ. A.W. Tozer said 'A whole new generation of Christians has come up believing that it is possible to accept Christ without forsaking the world.'"
How scary is it, that we live in a world that tells us "Yea go ahead and believe in Jesus and even live for Him, but don't worry because it's okay to get drunk and sleep around too."
I think the really scary thing is, that so many Christians do live this way. I know I used too. I felt that as long as I had faith in Jesus I could also live in the world. I could still go out to parties and get drunk, I could gossip and slander in any which way I wanted to, but it was okay because you know, I had Jesus.
Not only was I deceiving myself, but I it just made me realize how little of Jesus I actually had. The more I read the Bible, the more I know that there is no neutral ground when it comes to faith and salvation. You either accept Jess as your Savior or you don't. There is no middle ground. What's tricky about this life and this generation, is that society has made a great push for us to believe there is. They spew lies saying that you can have it all and eventually saying that living in the world is better than living for Christ. And that's just not how it is. If you make a conscious effort to be with your Savior, you behavior patterns will begin to change - for the better if you're truly dedicated to His kingdom. I know I've experienced this firsthand pretty radically over the past six months. Do I still make mistakes? Of course. But I make the conscious effort to live differently than I ever have before.
There is no middle ground when it comes to Jesus. There's only Higher Ground that saves eternally. Check out James 1:22-25 to see the light on society's deception. There's some pretty awesome truth there.
Oh Tristan, I am right there with you! I feel like for so long I've had a little bit of Jesus, but I've still basically done my own thing and lived the way I wanted to. However, God doesn't want halfhearted followers; He wants all of us. God calls us to a life that's so radically different from the norm!
ReplyDeleteIt is totally different when you actually try to live for Jesus. It's hard! It means you have to do things that are directly opposite of the world's standards. It's hard because we want to fit in and have lots of friends. If we follow God, people might think we're weird, or extreme, or just plain dumb.
But their opinions don't matter. "Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ." Galatians 1:10
I'm so glad we're in this together! You have no idea how much you've encouraged me lately. Your walk with the Lord has strengthened my own!