Christian Living

m01350

TITLE: THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION

In recent days our community was shocked by two teenagers, one of which was on a local football team, tortured and beat a stray cat to death and then hid the evidence from their parents. The two boys were jailed on a ten thousand dollar bail.

One of our churchmen, the following Sunday, related this incident to another more common occurrence that goes, basically, unnoticed by the media and the public at large. He related that it was strange that these two young men would be jailed on $10,000 bond, while a doctor can plunge a pair of scissors into the brain of a full term baby and suck its brains out and call it a needed medical procedure.

We in America care more for the rights of animals than we do for the rights of other human beings.

I will preempt this study by saying that I am sure that I will offend some. I will also say that I probably should offend more than I will offend. I will also say that it is not I that offends, but Almighty God. He sets the standards that we are to live by, not me.

I would like to do something a little different in this study. I would like to give you two answers to a question. I will then give you the question after we have the answers in our minds.

Answer number one. We as believers have adopted the secular mind set that tells us that we MUST have our rights.

I. THE OUGHT NOTS

The Bible is supposed to be our very guide for living as believers. Baptists have as one of their Baptist Distinctives the Bible as their only authority for faith and practice. However, I think that we will see that today we reject its teachings by our life style.

We live as if "no" were a dirty word. "No" is a word of control. It was designed to limit the activity. We feel that it is a word that will warp our child's mind so we avoid it like the plague.

Might I remind you that God uses negatives? "Thou shalt not" is a negative much like the word no. God has many negatives, God has many restrictions, yet we in the church over the last few years have given ourselves permission to do all things rather than to follow the restrictions and avoid those things the Scriptures tell us to avoid.

We Christians, seldom say no to ourselves or for that matter to our children.

If you spend time in retail stores, you will find that "no" is the word children use when they talk to their parents, rather than the other way around.

No, I won't wear that dress to school.

No, I won't pay for that with my own money - you buy it for me.

No, I won't be quiet.

No, I don't want to go yet.

No, I won't -------- .

Let's consider our rights for a moment or two.

A. MY CHRISTIAN RIGHTS

We have been living in a generation that has wanted its rights for all to long.

We have groups wanting to be viewed with equal rights.

We have groups wanting to be viewed with special rights.

We have groups wanting to have the same rights as others.

We have groups wanting to limit the rights of some so that they can have special rights.

We have groups wanting to limit the rights of some so that they can have more rights than anyone else.

In America we have many rights, and we also have lost many of our rights in recent days. Indeed, if we don't watch our government we will be loosing many more of our rights.

It was recently reported that President Clinton was in a Christmas church service and that people were greeting him and that one of the preachers mentioned concerning his veto of the partial birth abortion bill, that "God will hold you to account." The secret service searched and questioned the preacher for fifteen minutes publicly accusing him of threatening the presidents life.

Some groups deserve to have rights enforced, while other groups want rights that they have no right to.

We have "CHALLENGED" people that want to be able to do everything that everyone else can do, yet they say don't treat me as if I'm special. I'm sorry but you can't have it both ways! If the society spends billions of dollars for ramps and accesses for only those few, then they are special! The ramps and accesses are not necessary for the majority nor are most of them used for the majority.

Our public schools have been teaching young people that whatever they decide to do is okay. They have the right to make any decision that they want. Now those same young people are older and demanding their rights that no one can give them.

Some of those young people are committing crime and wondering why everyone is upset with them. The young people declare their actions alright and themselves not guilty and wonder why others are upset.

1. THE RIGHTS WE HAVE GIVEN OURSELVES

I recently talked with a man that was very frustrated for his children. One of his kids and spouse came to him complaining of all their problems. They were both working, they were not making a lot of money, they had no savings, they had a home but it was only a very modest one - not what they wanted, they had a three year old car, their kids couldn't have all the clothes they wanted, they weren't getting ahead, and in general they were frustrated because they hadn't achieved the American dream - what ever that is.

As the man talked, I was taken with the total self-centeredness of the family. Everything centered upon them and what they wanted and what they didn't have.

SOUND FAMILIAR? I find that this is about where most Christians live their lives. Their concentration is acquiring material things, and acquiring more material things.

If you have been watching television news over the last few years, you know that many people in our nation have been denied the American dream. They resent this exclusion from what EVERYONE ELSE HAS.

Indeed, many people in the LA riots mentioned this exclusion from what was rightfully theirs as Americans. They haven't achieved what they feel in their minds they should have achieved in the material realm.

Their thinking is very similar to the farmers I used to work with in Nebraska. When I would ask them how they had done in a certain year they would tell me that they lost 25,000 dollars or some such figure. I was talking to them in their $150,000 home working on their $800 television set. I had walked by their three new cars and pickups and had admired the four new snowmobiles parked in the garage.

Now, I would try to figure all this out. Just how does the expression of always loosing money relate to the facts of all I had viewed.

It was explained to me by a farmer one day. The farmer in that area would decide how much he wanted to make the coming year. Say he decided he wanted to make $60,000 and at the end of the year he had only made $40,000, then he has lost $20,000.

Using this method of accounting, I must admit that Faith and I have been loosing about $35,000 per year for the last 30 years. Do you suppose IRS would accept this as real business losses?

Now, let us consider the rights that God has given us in this area of life.

2. THE RIGHTS GOD GAVE US

I would like to read God's estimation of our rights to the American dream.

Gen 3:17b-19 "And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18 "Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19 "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."

God says that we will live - eat and survive - by the sweat of our brow. He does not give 25 declarations, such as

THOU SHALT HAVE A GORGEOUS HOME.

THOU SHALT HAVE A BMW.

THOU SHALT HAVE A HUGE SAVINGS ACCOUNT.

THOU SHALT HAVE A BULGING BILLFOLD.

THOU SHALT HAVE A COLLEGE EDUCATION.

THOU SHALT HAVE A FIVE BEDROOM HOUSE.

THOU SHALT HAVE A ........ .

BY THE SWEAT OF YOUR BROW, YOU WILL SURVIVE THIS LIFE, NOT BY THE SIZE OF THINE BANK ACCOUNT.

Our society has given us the self-centered/materialistic mind set that many of us function under today. It is an incorrect mind set!

Before you take what I say wrong, let me be quick to say that God has supremely blessed some of his people through the years. He has chosen to give many of his people great wealth and prosperity, but this is a blessing over and above what he has promised. He has only promised us the need to work for our NEEDS.

When struggling through the first years of Bible college we had very little income. We needed car to replace the old one that was without a transmission for the second time. We looked at all the cars we could afford and they were in worse shape than our present car. We had bid the salesman goodbye and were leaving the lot. As we neared the edge of the lot we spotted a beautiful white Plymouth Sport Fury convertible. We stopped and commented on how great it would be to have such a car. The salesman walked up and said, "You wouldn't be interested in that would you?" I told him we certainly would. He left for a moment and returned to tell us that his manager wanted to move the car as winter was near and they could seldom sell convertibles in the winter. They gave us the car for what we had to spend!

STRUGGLING, POOR BIBLE COLLEGE STUDENTS driving a Sports Fury convertible with bucket seats and leather interior! God truly blesses sometimes.

Scripture bears out this line of thinking. Abraham, David, Solomon for a few from the Old Testament. These men had great wealth. While these man had great wealth, there were MANY that were barely getting by financially.

We often quote Matt. 6:33 to show that we will be given all we need. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you."

Most interpret "all these things" as everything we want. NO! The context shows clearly that God is promising, not to provide all our wants, but to supply our NEEDS!

He promises to give to us the needs of life. Those things required to keep us alive.

DON'T TAKE ME WRONG! We as believers DO HAVE A LOT OF RIGHTS! I would like to remind you of some of these GOD GIVEN RIGHTS.

WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE A WITNESS for our Lord: Matt 28:18-20

WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE HOLY: I Pet 1:15-16 "But as he which hath called you is holy , so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16 Because it is written, Be ye holy ; for I am holy ."

WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE PERSECUTED: John 15:20a "Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you;"

WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO USE OUR SPIRITUAL GIFTS: Eph. 4:8 "Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. " The following context of this verse shows that the gifts are to be used, not laid aside in disuse!

WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE PRAYERFUL: I Tim 2:8A "I will therefore that men pray every where," (James 5:16 also)

WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO SUPPORT THOSE IN NEED: Gal. 6:2 "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ."

WE HAVE A RIGHT TO ETERNAL REST: Rev. 14:12 "Here is the patience of the saints: here [are] they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. 13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed [are] the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them."

WE HAVE A RIGHT TO FREEDOM FROM SIN: Rom. 6:22 "But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life."

WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER: "For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another ."

Now that we know what our true Christian rights are, compare them to the rights that you tend to be worried about and see if your mind is running with God or the world.

B. MY CHRISTIAN LIFE STYLE

Now let us move on to answer number two. We have made the holy things common and meaningless.

One of the condemnations God delivered to the leaders of Israel via Ezekiel is the basis for this thought.

King James Version Ezek 22.26 "Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed [difference] between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them."

This passage relates to the leaders of Israel, but as I view our society today, especially our Christian society, I feel that this verse has application to us.

We have made holy things common. We don't know the difference between clean and unclean today. Let me list a few for you quickly.

1. Worship services: Today we have celebrations, we have gatherings, we have youth clubs, we have AWANA, we have cancellations, we have travel reports, we have everything under the sun but the worship of God!

We were in a Baptist church in the south a few years ago and the entire service after the songs was given over to a report of a woman that had traveled to China. There was nothing of Spiritual import to what she said, but this was termed a worship service.

When worship services were put into place, they were designed to be a time of teaching, fellowship and worship. Many churches are replacing worship with group discussions, many are replacing worship with watching tv at home, many are spending more and more time on everything but worship.

My wife was told by a Christian woman that her daughter attends a church in Salem that has dropped the Sunday evening Bible study. The church leadership determined that the family is very important (which it is) and that the family has a hard time finding time to be together, so they have canceled the service so that the families can spend time together. Yea, RIGHT, like those families are spending an hour on Sunday evening having family time! I WOULD LOVE TO SEE THE STATISTICS OF FAMILY TIME ON SUNDAY EVENING IN THE FAMILIES OF THAT CHURCH. I WOULD ALMOST BET THAT THE SUNDAY SERVICE HOUR IS NOT SPENT IN "FAMILY TIME!" I hope that I am wrong.

2. Prayer: Today we have canceled most of our prayer services, and those that still exist are so small that most meet in the back rooms of the churches. Most churches average less than 20% of their membership at the prayer meetings.

Many churches are replacing prayer meetings with AWANA and other activities.

I received a brochure for a seminar with some real side benefits. "The 'Celebration Service' and the 'Concert of Prayer' on Monday and Tuesday evenings will bless your socks off!!" I was tempted to right back and ask if Baptists were getting ready to practice foot washing, but refrained.

3. Witnessing: This used to be a person telling a lost person of the love of Christ in shedding His blood for their sin, but now it is scrawling words like "Jesus loves you, God bless you across the walls of a men's room.

4. Christian living: Today we have people teaching just about everything except HOLINESS as the proper Christian life style.

We have homosexuals declaring that they are good Christians, yet they are involved in activity that God calls abominable.

We have politicians declaring that they are good Christians, yet they are full of lies, half truths, and lack general moral character.

We have music stars declaring that they are good Christians, yet they sing the lyrics of the world.

We have church leaders declaring that they are good Christians, yet use worldly standards to conduct business.

I Cor. 6:19 "What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom ye have of God, and ye are not your own?"

We know from the Word that we are to be HOLY. Being holy is the normal need in light of our being the TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. We are to be a holy dwelling for ALMIGHTY GOD and all too often we as believers give GOD a shabby shack to live in. THAT IS REALLY MAKING SOMETHING HOLY - COMMON.

We have taken so many things of our Christian faith and allowed them to become common and everyday.

I've mentioned some of these in other studies, but they relate to what I am saying in this study.

5. Games: Bible Trivia, Bible Pictionary. There is nothing wrong on the surface, but aren't we teaching our children that these serious spiritual things are just games to be enjoyed?

6. Bible Action figures

7. Bible novels - THE BIBLE IS TRUTH YET WE NOW HAVE BIG PUBLISHERS PUTTING OUT FICTION ABOUT BIBLICAL PERSONALITIES!

8. Christian music - most Christian radio stations you have to listen to for quite awhile to find out that they are Christian.

I saw a Christian music INFOMERCIAL that was declaring that this music would change your life - that it would do great things for you as if it were an exercise machine!

9. Christian radio - every sort of false teaching available and GOOD CHRISTIANS keep sending in their money.

10. Giving: Paul calls it a sacrifice in Phil. 4:18, yet some use it in every conceivable way to gain more money for ministries. I recently saw an article in a group of churches newsletter that was entitled "HOW DO WE MAKE A MINISTRY GO FORWARD?" (Dwane Shockley; CBNW Newsletter Oct. 96

I was excited to see if there was some new information to assist me in the interim pastor work I was doing in a little church that was struggling to get moving.

Point one was prayer. Good point. Second point was giving. Another good point - nothing new yet but good points. Point three was SPECIAL GIVING, point four was ONE TIME GIVING, point five was ESTATE GIVING, and point six was ENDOWMENT GIVING. I assumed from the article that giving is five times more important that prayer in getting a work moving.

11. The ministry: The ministry used to be something special and uplifting for the man that decided to follow God into ministering to people. Not so any longer for many of the pastors of our country.

(From Pulpit Helps Jan 96/"MINISTRY FRUSTRATION") "All of the latest survey data indicates that the clergy is a dissatisfied and unhappy lot. From burn-out to disputes with elders, from counsel unheeded to people on the take, from budgets to boards, from unhappy saints to the mega church with mega programs down the street, pastors seem to constantly be fighting an uphill battle. Is ministry to be so difficult? Why do we find ministry so frustrating?

"Our society is star-struck and it has infected the church and the ministry. We are enamored with Christian leaders who have national and international notoriety. Everyone wants to pastor the largest, fastest-growing, church in the city, county, or state."

Enough said. I think that if you consider how we view Christian things, that you will agree that we tend to make them common rather than treat them as special parts of our lives.

II. THE OUGHTS

If we are self centered, we will naturally live for ourselves, thus

we should not be surprised to see worship services on the decline,

we should not be surprised to see prayer services on the decline,

we should not be surprised to see Christian living on the decline.

Now that I have given you the answers to the question we want to ask, can you figure out what the question is?

Let me repeat the answers for you:

Answer number one. We as believers have adopted the secular mind set that we MUST have our rights.

Answer number two. We have made the holy things common and meaningless.

The question is this: What has happened to Christians in America?

Let me repeat that and then insert the answer.

What has happened to Christians in America? We as believers have adopted the secular mind set that we MUST have our rights.

What has happened to Christians in America? We have made the holy things common and meaningless.

The Christians of our era have taken upon themselves the standard of the world - materialism, and they have cheapened the holy things to make them everyday and meaningless.

Need I add anything else?

I don't think so.

CONCLUSION:

I have declared the question, and I have answered the question.

It is now your turn to do something.

NOW is the time for you to adjust your lives to fit into the MIND SET OF ALMIGHTY GOD and not the mind set of the ALMIGHTY DOLLAR.

NOW it is time for you to take the worship service of this church seriously.

NOW it is time for you to take the prayer service of this church seriously.

NOW it is time for you to take your personal Christian life seriously.

If you concentrate on these - worship prayer and holiness - I really believe that your rights will have little meaning to you!