Tag Archives: Salvation

Living in and Loving the World

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What Do You Think? Wednesdays

Be in the world but not of the world, we Christians are told, but to tell you the truth, I don’t always know what that looks like. I struggle with Paul’s statement that he became all things to all people to win some to Christ. What does that really mean? How did he do that? Even as I try to navigate the world system and not look like the world system, to win nonbelievers to Jesus Christ, I find myself waiting to hear step by step instructions from God. That’s the only way I’ve been able to attend secular gatherings and let my light shine, to speak of the Divine without compromise or condemnation. I believe the book One Thousand Gifts, by far my most favorite recent read, does just that. The book by Ann Voskamp is honest about her Christian struggles, questioning God’s goodness but eventually accepting all as grace from God. One Thousand Gifts goes into the world (including being on the New York Times Bestseller List), putting forth raw emotions and poetic language that many—Christians and non-Christians—can relate to, but it never embraces the world’s conclusions of creating a comfortable God who is easy to consume. Voskamp’s work is definitely a great example of being in the world and not of the world, maybe even becoming all things to all people to win some to Christ.

How have you come to understand Paul’s declaration in 1 Corinthians 9:2? What are some ways that your life demonstrates being in the world, not of the world, and winning folks to Christ?

Copyright 2011 by Rhonda J. Smith

Care-less Christians-The 1st Day of Christmas

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On the 1st day of Christmas my true love gave to me a man to usher Him in (Malachi 3:1).

A sister told me she heard financial guru Dave Ramsey say this: “Don’t try to keep up with the Joneses. They’re actually broke.” In this season a lot of us needed to hear that, like months ago. We skipped paying bills, maybe worked some overtime, borrowed some cash or charged our cards to the limit to buy our children Christmas toys so they wouldn’t feel left out, so we wouldn’t feel left out, so we could keep up with the Joneses. We forget that as Christians, we were never meant to fit in, to be like everyone else, and that includes how we operate during the Christmas season.

Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.—Malachi 3:1

Here in Malachi God the Father tells of the role of John the Baptist as the herald of the Lord Jesus. In Matthew we see John in action and as a man who wasn’t trying to fit in and didn’t care a bit what people thought about him.

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,” Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.'” Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.—Matthew 3:1-8

  • John preached in an unconventional place.

    • He was in the wilderness, but those dry in spirit and wet with curiosity came to him.

  • John preached to unconvinced people.

    • He didn’t try to be like the religious leaders but challenged the Pharisees and Sadducees not to be hypocrites.

  • John wore unusual clothes.

    • Camel’s hair was different than the common clothes of linen, flax and wool.

  • John ate strange food.

    • I suppose that when you are in the wilderness, follow a Nazarite diet, and your main mission is to tell people about the coming of Jesus, insects and sweetener are prime food choices.

    John was a minimalist so he could focus on the maximum message of the coming of Christ. This is our message: to minimize things that gratify our flesh so we give fully to ministering the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. He came. He died. He rose again. He did it for all and will be with and in all who accept His sacrifice and receive Him as Savior and Lord. This is what we are to give at Christmas, caring less about what’s under the Joneses’ tree and more about who may not be in their hearts.

    Copyright 2010 by Rhonda J. Smith

    Right Now Salvation-The 5th Day of Christmas

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    On the 5th day of Christmas my true love gave to me feet like hinds’ feet (Habakkuk 3:19).

    One of the problems I had with Christianity before I became a Christian was when the saints only looked for hope in the “by and by” and not the here and now. They talked so much about heaven and only longed to be there that some of their prayer meetings could have easily been pity party suicide watches. While they talked about their rough lives that Jesus would save them from in the by and by, I wondered when the day might be that they would check out of the here and now to hurry the by and by. Perhaps some of the saints never read Habakkuk 3:18-19:
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    The Stench of Salvation-The 8th Day of Christmas

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    On the 8th day of Christmas my true love gave to me an offer to repent after day three (Jonah 1:17 & 3).

    Imagine the stench of acid-drenched, four-day old garbage. This is likely the scent Jonah wore after traveling a day’s journey to Nineveh to tell the people to repent of their sins. It seems like his smell would have repelled the people, caused them to reject Jonah’s message. But it was the miracle of his survival, his staying deep in the belly of the fish (with his scent as evidence of his being vomited out after a three-day, three-night stay) that probably caused their swift turn. Perhaps this mess, brought about through this type of death, this going down in the fish, this dying to himself so God could shine through him, is what made Nineveh change so quickly. And we, like Nineveh, had a chance at forgiveness, because of the death of Jesus Christ, who was buried deep in the earth and rose again on the third day so sinners could repent of their sin.

    But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.—Matthew 12:39-41.

    Nineveh repented after Jonah’s survival of what would otherwise have been a sure death without God’s hand upon his life. We repented because Jesus conquered death, arising from the grave by the power of God’s Spirit (Romans 8:11). This three-day, three-night sign of the supernatural made us believers and challenges us to die so others might be believers too. Like Jonah and Jesus, we must die so others can live. We must die to our agendas and pride, die to self-serving principles and tell others of Jesus’ healing through salvation and our continuing sanctification yet with the stench of our deaths still upon us. These are the stories, with their smells, that cause others to stop and listen to the message that Jesus saves and changes even the most rebellious among us. And his saving and changing give Him great pleasure (Jonah 3:10 and 1 Corinthians 1:21).

    Copyright 2010 by Rhonda J. Smith