A committed life (or, how to live in this evil word)

Committed to the cause!

Politicians, athletes, activists, and businesspeople are committed to their cause, whether that is serving people, winning a medal, reaching a goal, or making millions. They are people willing to give their time, energy, and devotion to something. They are often totally focused, loyal, and dedicated. 

What about Christians?

What about us? Are we committed to the cause, to a life that pleases God? Are we focused, loyal, and dedicated or are we standing with one foot in the world and one foot in the Kingdom? I pondered those questions the other day, wondering why so many Christians are being influenced (and sometimes end up being paralyzed) by everything that is happening in our world today.

Our instructions are quite clear

The Bible calls us to live a certain way. 👉 And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God (Titus 2:12). It doesn't say we should live in this evil world with fear, worry, and anxiety. Quite the contrary.

Maybe you say, 'Marja, that's not easy.' Well, no one said it would be easy. If we continue to read in that same chapter we will find out how it is possible to live that way. We are called to look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed.

A committed life

So, we can and should live a life devoted to God while looking forward to what is to come. And then comes verse 14: He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds. Totally committed to doing good deeds. It is the antidote to being sucked into the dramas of this world if you ask me!

GIVE yourselves to God (4)

Oh well, so many articles, thoughts and debates about Christianity, Somehow we find it difficult to make our inner convictions visible. Church attendance, theology, gifts, functions, servant hood and other outer works are being submitted to thorough research again and again. We will, however, always end up at the cross at Calvary. That is where Jesus gave Himself in total surrender. He laid down His life in order to give life to all mankind.

Surrender. What a beautiful and difficult word, it is the foundation of the Christian faith. Surrendering ourselves, everything we have learned, everything we possess and everything we did wrong. Surrender is the dawn of a new beginning. God desires total surrender from every human being. Not because He wants to control us, but because He desires to heal and renew each aspect of our lives and to use it for His work here on earth. Offer yourselves to God, Paul says. That is giving our whole being as an instrument of righteousness. According to the Bible our whole being is spirit, soul, and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

The scripture I am using as a basis for this series can be found in Romans 6:12-14, Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

In the previous blog posts we have seen that our spirit is born again (a new creation) and our soul is being saved (preserved). So, what is the deal with our body? The Bible says that our earthly body is mortal (see Romans 6:12 for example) and will therefore perish. Many churches regard the body (also called the flesh) as sinful and therefore most sermons will rather be about spiritual things than about physical things. Sermons about the body are not so popular. But the Bible speaks about it often and always in a very clear and simple way!

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship (Romans 12:1). We need to offer (give) our body to God as a LIVING sacrifice. That sounds a bit theatrical, but it simply means we have to make our bodies available for His service.... to do stuff! To use our hands and to move our feet, maybe even to go to places where no one wants to go.

The Bible warns against wrong use of the body (sexual immorality, gluttony etc.). In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 we can read the following, Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

Honor God with your bodies. What a strange command, how do we do such a thing in our daily lives? We have often learned that we should not give too much attention to the flesh. But... the human body is a temple wherein the Holy Spirit desires to live. We have to keep that temple clean. Let's be honest, if we do not feel at home in our own body, why would the Holy Spirit feel at home? Let's make sure we have a clean house! Give your addictions, cravings, bad habits, pains and frustrations to Him and ask the Lord to do a work of renewal.

Together we are the body of Christ on earth. If we do not do what He did when He walked around on this earth, how can His name be glorified?

Talent & the Kingdom (4)

It is fun to write this series on Talent & the Kingdom in a period that I have two new books published, one in the USA and one in Holland. My Neigbor's House is the fifth book in a series about the Ten Commandments in the 21st century and deals with the last commandment: do not covet... It will be available later this year and I can only pray and hope this book will be a tremendous help in your spiritual journey.

In the previous posts we have seen that building or advancing God's Kingdom is not optional, it is an assignment, a calling we receive from the King. Let's go back to Matthew 25:14-15: Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The next thing we can learn from this introduction to the parable of the talents is that the man entrusted his property (talents, money) to his servants. He entrusts the property to them, which means he is still the owner! His servants are the stewards.

Jesus is still the owner of whatever He has entrusted us with. Whether that is money, talents or opportunities. However, we are called to do something with it, so as to reach other people, who can reach other people... yes, you got it. It doesn't matter which field your talent is in. Let's say you bake the best apple pies in town. Why not organize a coffee morning once a month or so for women in your street? Women you may never meet in any church. Ask your kids to make flyers and start inviting people. You do not have to preach or teach, this is about building relationships. The deeper conversations will come before you know it... especially after everyone has enjoyed your scrumptious apple pie!

This is only a very simple example of using (managing) the very thing God has given you. He is still the owner and entrusts us with basic assignments. It is His desire that we will go into the world with what we have and with what we can do. Let's not make this too difficult :) He trusts us to go for it.

4) God is still the owner of our talents, we are the stewards!

Talent & the Kingdom (3)

The very last parable Jesus shared before His crucifixion was the parable of the talents and the Kingdom. I believe His disciples really got that message, because after Jesus went back to heaven to be with the Father, they went on their way to build God's Kingdom.

With us, things are often different. We can hear so many sermons preached on such a parable that we tend to forget what it is all about. Let's look again at the introduction Jesus gives: Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey (Matthew 25:14-15). The man calls his servants. That same calling goes out to all of us. Each person who gives heed to the call of God to put his or her life in His hands automatically receives the call to build the Kingdom.

To build the Kingdom means to tell other people about Jesus, using whatever means you have been given. It is written about Paul that boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 28:31). Jesus came to earth to announce the coming of His Kingdom. He talked about it all the time, even for forty days in a row after His resurrection (Acts 1:3)! Can you image your pastor teaching about the Kingdom for forty (Sun)days :) There is definitely a lot to learn about this subject!

Maybe you do not see how God's invisible Kingdom and our visible work come together. Maybe you're just waiting for good things to happen, or maybe not? The Bible clearly teaches that we are co-laborers with Him and that there is work to do (which we have so beautifully called 'the great commission). Paul writes in his letter to the Colossians (4:11) about this kind of co-laborers: These are my only fellow workers for the kingdom of God who are of the circumcision; they have proved to be a comfort to me. People who work for the Kingdom of God are a comfort for their spiritual leaders, not a danger.

Just try to imagine that Jesus calls you and some of your friends, as in this parable. He entrusts you with something, he gives you something you can work with... let's call it tools. Money, talents, opportunities... it doesn't really matter what we call it. The question is... are we willing to use it?

3) Building God's Kingdom is not an option!

Pure religion

If I were to ask you to define the word religion, what would you come up with?

I have to be honest with you; religion has gotten such a bad name that I have caught myself saying "no, no, I am not religious, I am a Christian..." Needless to say that doesn't mean a thing to the sceptic I am having the conversation with. I decided to look it up in my Penguin English dictionary:

[Rilijon] n belief in and worship of God or gods; specified system of theology, ritual and morality based on this; outlook and way of life based on this...

Way of life... that caught my attention. Religion is not a system, a theory or even a set of rituals, it is a way of life.  It is not a bad word if we allow it to jump off the page and become alive, if we choose it as a way of life. This week I was reading James 1:27 and was surprised at the simplicity of his description, Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

James shares two principles that define the content of true and pure religion (genuine devotion to God):

1. benevolent love for the people in need, and
2. a holy life

I wonder how difficult we have made 'our' religion sometimes...