I’m a fan of Fox News channel, well… sort of. Lately I have not been watching the news like I used to ’cause I can only take so much bad, bad news; and the world seems to be so full of it these days. The times in which we live are more dangerous than ever with “wars and rumors of wars” crowding everything from the weekly news magazines to the five-minute news segment you’ll hear at the top of the hour. Doesn’t it feel as though the entire world is spiraling toward Sodom and Gomorrah, or maybe Armageddon? But we shouldn’t be surprised because 1 John 5:19 says that “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” Isn’t that something?
But as Christians, we should not smirk at the misery or the merrymaking of our immoral culture. This is no time for smug self-righteousness. Oh, let the earth go to hell in a hand basket! No, don’t be saying that. This is no time to get cranky that our country has been hijacked by the “radical left.”
No, rather, this is the season, perhaps like none other, to truly influence the world, to showcase the love of Jesus through what I like to call, ministries of mercy… practical Christian love… hands-on help from heaven…
Others may whine about the triumphs of evil, but not us, not followers of Jesus. We know better. We know that ultimately good will triumph. So we showcase what the world should look like; in fact, what the new earth will look like – and we showcase it by rolling up our sleeves and walking across the street to help a neighbor, being polite on the highways, feeding the poor, telling about Jesus, helping the elderly and disabled, bridging racial distances, and raising the bar of common courtesy, saying “thank you” at the supermarket.
Listen, friend, this is no time to barricade ourselves away from the crazy world in which we live. No, no, no! This is no time to pull down the shades and live in the backyard. Ephesians 2:10 contains our marching orders where it says, “We are created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” We are to show people what Jesus really looks like, how he acts, the way he speaks, what he decides, what he thinks, who he befriends, how he loves.
Dr. John Piper has said, “The greatness of Christian exiles is not success, but service. Whether we win or lose, we witness to the way of truth, beauty and joy. We don’t own culture, and we don’t rule it. We serve it with joy and mercy, for the good of man and the glory of Jesus Christ.”
So friend today, take a quick attitude check. If you find you are pessimistic about our culture, then commit today to serve it in some practical way which showcases the love of Jesus. God has created you to do good works… and it’s one way to bring a little peace and quiet into our crazy world – the peace of Christ and the quiet of his love.
Used by permission of
JONI AND FRIENDS
P.O. Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 93176
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