I actually posted this on Facebook a few weeks ago, but some of my readers aren't on Facebook, so I'm posting it here now for them...
God has been teaching me so much lately, and it really seems to be centered on Grace right now. (You know how He likes to get a theme going...haha)
A couple of weeks ago at church the speaker asked a question I'd never really thought about before. He said, "When people think of you as being a Christian, what does that look like to them? Do they automatically think of all the things you stand against...a list of rules and judgments? What does it really mean to be a Christian? Is it just that we are conservative and judgmental of people whose lives don't match up with ours?"
He went on to talk about how in reality, being a Christian is about living a life of love, acceptance and grace, which is just an outpouring and extension of the love, acceptance and grace Christ has given to us.
That's what I want people to think of when they think of me as being a Christian...that the expression of my Christianity is grace, not judgment. I'm still digesting this, and want to do more writing about it. But it's sort of a paradigm shift for me...which has been happening a lot since I read The Shack. Haha. I guess in so many ways, the conservative judgmental thing has been a large part of my identity as a Christian, and I just really want that to change. NOT that I am changing my moral values at all...
Romans 6:1-4 "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life."
...but I want people to know and experience of love of Christ. And it is only because of my (our) love of Jesus that I try to live by the standards God has set for us as believers. It's not just a bunch of rules that He put in place to ruin all our fun... The standards He set for us are because He loves us and knows what's best for us. He's protecting us from the consequences of sin.
However we do have a certain responsibility to encourage each other to grow in our faith and love of the Father...
Hebrews 10:23, 24 "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds."
...So, I think it is a fine line to tow between holding up what we know to be Truth regarding sin and how God wants us to live and exemplify the GRACE of Christ. Jesus was the Perfect example...
John 1:14 "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."
I'm going to stop here because I feel the urge to begin rambling and I don't want to lose the point of this...Grace came through Christ (John 1:17), and that's what I want people to see in my life and experience from my relationship with them
God has been teaching me so much lately, and it really seems to be centered on Grace right now. (You know how He likes to get a theme going...haha)
A couple of weeks ago at church the speaker asked a question I'd never really thought about before. He said, "When people think of you as being a Christian, what does that look like to them? Do they automatically think of all the things you stand against...a list of rules and judgments? What does it really mean to be a Christian? Is it just that we are conservative and judgmental of people whose lives don't match up with ours?"
He went on to talk about how in reality, being a Christian is about living a life of love, acceptance and grace, which is just an outpouring and extension of the love, acceptance and grace Christ has given to us.
That's what I want people to think of when they think of me as being a Christian...that the expression of my Christianity is grace, not judgment. I'm still digesting this, and want to do more writing about it. But it's sort of a paradigm shift for me...which has been happening a lot since I read The Shack. Haha. I guess in so many ways, the conservative judgmental thing has been a large part of my identity as a Christian, and I just really want that to change. NOT that I am changing my moral values at all...
Romans 6:1-4 "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life."
...but I want people to know and experience of love of Christ. And it is only because of my (our) love of Jesus that I try to live by the standards God has set for us as believers. It's not just a bunch of rules that He put in place to ruin all our fun... The standards He set for us are because He loves us and knows what's best for us. He's protecting us from the consequences of sin.
However we do have a certain responsibility to encourage each other to grow in our faith and love of the Father...
Hebrews 10:23, 24 "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds."
...So, I think it is a fine line to tow between holding up what we know to be Truth regarding sin and how God wants us to live and exemplify the GRACE of Christ. Jesus was the Perfect example...
John 1:14 "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."
I'm going to stop here because I feel the urge to begin rambling and I don't want to lose the point of this...Grace came through Christ (John 1:17), and that's what I want people to see in my life and experience from my relationship with them
No comments:
Post a Comment