(to listen to a podcast of this sermon, please visit www.pacificviewbaptist.com and click on "sermons" from the menu on the left.)
Frequently avoided questions of the Christian faith: “Do I have to hate the world?”
Matthew 5:13-16 Intro… NOTW (John 15:19)
• On one hand, we are not of this world and our thoughts should be towards God, heaven, living godly etc.
• Yet on the other hand most of us will have 70-80 years on this world and we’ve got a call from God to make a difference while we’re here.
Big Pic: When it comes to engaging with culture outside of church, you gotta know your strengths and weaknesses.
Text: Matthew 5:13-16
v. 13 Salt adds flavor and makes things taste better.
• Unsalted tortilla chips or sunflower seeds…just not the same.
• Salt is also a preservative…
• When any seasoning loses flavor, it has no value. If we don’t make any effort to reach the world around us, then we are of little value to God.
• Are we willing to be friends with people even if they don’t come to Christ on our time frame?
• Are we friends with non-Christians just to be friends or do we have an agenda? I think it needs to start out on the friendship level and from there we look for opportunities to share our faith.
• Yet, if we are too much like the world, we are worthless.
• Just like good seasoning brings out the best flavor in food, we should affect others positively.
• As Christians we can add a flavor of Jesus and his love to this world.
v. 14-16 Light in the darkness is an obvious analogy.
• Picture a city set on a hill at night. Its light can be seen for miles.
• Just think about how welcome a good light is in a dark, scary situation. (Micah and Lily being scared to go to the bathroom…)
• The hope that Jesus offers to a dark and scary world is just as bright.
• The typical lamp in a Jewish home was fairly small and placed on a stand to give it maximum illumination.
• When you think of yourself as a light for Jesus, what is the stand you can be on for maximum illumination?
Where can you be most effective in reaching others for Christ?
• How do we shine the light of Jesus? Through good works.
• Article from World Magazine..
• Example….Teacher appreciation etc. 3 churches, gives glory to God…
• We have the light of Jesus and just as it makes no sense to hide a light under a basket when it’s needed, we don’t need to hide our faith.
How do we hide our faith?
• Being quite when we should speak
• Going along with the crowd.
• Denying the light
• Letting our sin dim the light.
• Not explaining our light to others.
• Ignoring the needs of others.
We need to be a beacon of truth, “let your light shine before others.”
• Choose wisely when you go into the dark places and shine that light. • Make sure it’s something you can handle…
John 17:13-19
• Most Christians know that we’re not supposed to hate the world outside the church, yet many Christians are at the very least ambivalent about the world around them, and some definitely harbor a hostility that comes close to hatred.
• If we all run from popular culture, what will happen to those places we vacate? If Christians withdraw completely from popular culture, that can prevent non-Christians from ever seeing a real Christian. Then they are stuck with only images of Christians from the media. Do we want that?
"Roaring Lambs" written by Bob Briner in 1995
• This book focuses on our calling to fulfill the Lord's commission; specifically by being salt and light in our culture. Briner firmly but lovingly condemns the "ghetto" that many Christians have created for themselves by withdrawing into their own subculture.
• He states: "We feel we are making a difference because we are so important to ourselves. We have created a phenomenal subculture with our own media, entertainment, educational system, and political hierarchy so that we have a sense that we're doing a lot. But what we've really done is create a ghetto that is easily dismissed by the rest of society."
• "Culturally, we are lambs. Meek, lowly, easily dismissed cuddly creatures that are fun to watch but never a threat to the status quo."
• We must engage in the discourse of our culture. Christians must involve themselves in the culture shaping arenas of art, entertainment, the media and education. In short: "It is time for the lambs to roar."
Now that is true, but we have to use discernment.
• We can’t stroll through popular culture embracing everything and criticizing nothing and we don’t need to defend all art and entertainment, but the image of God in human creativity and imagination was not completely defaced by the fall.
• We need to have critical engagement with the culture, studying art, music or movies to see the work of God.
• We need to ask a lot of questions, interrogate popular culture, discern what God is doing and determine where and how participation will be most effective.
• We need to be committed to love and mercy as well as holiness and righteousness. It is important in the text to define “world.”
• 1 John 2:15 “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.”
• It helps if you think about the hesitancy to say “I love you” in a relationship until you are both really ready for that.
• I “love” TV, sometimes, I “love” certain movies, music etc.
• The “world” translates several different Greek words, which range in meaning from universe to planet Earth to inhabitants of the Earth to a time period or age.
• So we can’t just indentify “world” with culture or pop culture. That can be misleading and harmful.
• Most likely, John was talking about specific pitfalls within every culture.
Examples: • Money is neither evil or good, but the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. 1 Tim. 6:10
• Dancing, drinking, TV, movies, music, clothing, tattoos etc.
• These all can either be good or bad depending on the situation.
• We always want to consider the company we are in.
• We don’t want to cause a weaker brother or sister to stumble.
• Romans 14:13-21
• Problem is, people that are strong in one area, really like to condemn those in other areas...
If we assume that popular culture is inherently evil and must be avoided, we will miss whatever good God is doing in culture and likely fail to see the evil that is going on within the church. (judgmentalism) Conclusion: Galatians 6:1-5 In our quest to remain pure before God and not be too influenced by the world, we need to know our limitations and be careful not to amputate wounded limbs of the body of Christ (the church) and develop more skill in gently restoring the dislocated members.
No comments:
Post a Comment