Ok, so this was a long read and as I'm searching for comments I'm drawn back to the beginning of the chapter and Kelly's visit with Shelly. It would be interesting if we could sit in a circle and play out this scenerio, how to talk "gospel" to the unsaved in a language they could grasp.
I'm thinking here, if I were to begin to explain to you some horse training terms, would you know what I meant when I said "wait for the yield, you're in the wrong lead, ask him to join up, release the pressure, use your seat?" Those phrases make perfect sense to me and my students would soon learn them, but it would all be "greek" in the beginning. So it is with the unsaved, unchurched people we come in contact with.
I remember Lisha, as a young person, told someone that she had "conviction" about something and their response, "What you mean conviction, you been in jail?" So you see, we become comfortable with "theology" and we need to come back to a simple gospel for a people who possibly have never been inside a church. Our world is full of those who have never heard "Jesus" outside of a swearing comment.
"On being Holy"
I'm taking question #1 ( page 194) .
I grew up with little church experience but that "little" left me believing,
"You don't drink, you don't chew and you don't run with those who do"
Christians don't go to movies and girls should dress modestly.
Holiness is not necessarily an outward appearance but an inward working of the Holy Spirit in us bearing witness of "whose" we are. Our witness should not have to be the "Jesus" bumper stickers, religious t-shirts or the big cross we wear, but the "Jesus" in us, flowing out that whosoever we come in contact with might say "There's something different about you".
5 comments:
I'll go out on a limb here and answer question 3. Is there something that you can share with the group that consistently keeps you from feeling holy in God's sight?
I'd have to say my shortcomings often make me feel this way. When I lose patience with one of my girls or with a student at school, I feel like a heal. My weight is also an issue that makes me feel unworthy. I'm very good at beating myself up over my failures, and for most of my life I've been driven to do things right.
I know this concept of justification by faith. I can extend grace to others, but I struggle to extend it to myself. It's one thing to know this stuff in my head, but a far different thing to let it sink into my heart and soul to where I live it out, putting on the virtues because the garments of Christ have been freely given to me. God doesn't ask us to reach perfection first. He says, "Your mine. You have the right to bear my name."
I can really relate to what Kelly said at the bottom of page 45. "I think many of us live in this place of believing the verses about justification that hang on the classroom walls of our minds, but we have trouble believing them in our actual lives." That describes me to a T.
I agree with you Lisha, I can extend grace to others but when it comes to myself its a different story. I know it in my mind but I need to get it into the innermost part of me.
The short comings I feel within myself is when I dont talk to my husband about things that he should know. I keep them to myself and stay anoyed at him. It's unfair to him. Or talking to someone else about something first instead of praying to God about it sometimes.
I'm going to answer #3 also.
My attitude toward my autistic stepson and his mother's absence in his life, my insecurities...not feeling "good enough", my tendencies to be competitive outside of "normal" competitions...all of that consistently keeps me from feeling holy in God's sight.
Justification: we are okay, fully accepted with all of our shortcomings and sins because Jesus died for us and took it upon himself to pay for our sins and issues so we are FOREVER accepted and justified by God. We don't have to feel shame or guilt. We are free!
When I make myself aware of my issues, and then REMEMBER what Jesus has done for me...I feel unworthy for one thing, and then I feel gratitude to God, and more gracious toward myself and others. Then I feel more love toward my self and others.
I need to "remember" more.
Question #4:
Being set apart is something I try to remember at all times. Just like I want to remember to think of God first, this one goes right there at the top of my list (so to speak).
It's easy to say the words (reciting without rehearsing), but sometimes it's a challenge to do. With that said, however, I strive to do it...not on my own. Not by any power I have. I can ONLY do it with the help of the Holy Spirit.
Kim
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