Retreat Or Risk
Do You Believe The Gospel
How should followers of Christ today live in an American or any culture that seems to be intentionally increasingly anti-Christian?
Has life really changed that much over the years? Wasn't Christianity born into a culture of opposition two thousand years ago?
Across the centuries, Christians in countless cultures have lived out their faith in settings where belief in the Bible has been viewed as offensive and the commitment to Christ has proven to be costly.
So, how should followers of Christ live today?
Our answer to this question determines how we live in today's world.
Our answer to this question determines how we live in today's world.
Either we retreat from Christ, or we risk following Christ by countering the culture.
Most of us will not reject God outright instead we hold to a belief of the Bible but choose to live in the comfortable confines of a silent faith.
If we don't retreat, only one option remains: We risk.
Neutrality is not a possibility.
Webster defines retreat: 1. An act or process, or withdrawing,
Withdrawing from conflict seems logical, keeping quiet at your workplace when a touchy religious topic is being discussed.
Keeping to ourselves has its place for sure, but when we know we should speak the truth we know, but we remain silent.
Do we just want to keep our blinders on and not get involved in others' lives, or will we risk.
Our Holy Scriptures give us a clear answer to this question, through a question a lawyer asked Jesus. "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?"
Jesus answered, "What is written in the Law?" The lawyer answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." And Jesus replies, "You have answered correctly, do this and you will live."
But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
Jesus tells us a parable of a man going from Jerusalem to Jericho. He is attacked by robbers who strip him and beat him.
A priest and a Levite pass by without helping.
But a Samaritan (a group of people despised by the Jews) came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.
He took him to an inn and asked the innkeeper to care for him.
Which of these men took a risk?
The one that showed mercy and care. Can we go and do likewise?
Getting involved, taking a risk may just be a pleasant hello, or a kind act of any. We cannot serve two masters.
Let us be risk takers for Jesus Christ.
Until next time, Pam
