Many times, I have said that I built a career out of asking one question, “What is missing?” All through my ministry career, I have asked that question … “What is missing?” Here are a few … power over temptation, demonstration of signs and wonders, genuine love and care for each other, unity of believers, mercy and kindness to outsiders, confession of sin and repentance, humility of mind and heart, and the sacrifices required by Scripture.
Now, it is easy to identify what is missing … it is another thing to correct it. How about starting with civility on Social Media between Christians? No need to be snippy because others disagree with you. Remember, Jesus said they will know you by your love … let’s show it on Social Media, and add it to the list above.
This was a Facebook post I shared just after the inauguration of the 47th President. The vitriol that was shown between Christians was amazing because of the new President. I believe in some ways, his candidacy was testing all of us, in the same way the Presidency of the last President tested us. The test is this, “In the face of adversity, or in the face of disagreement, how should I act?” It is like the Scripture says, “Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God:
Romans 12:19 I will take revenge; I will pay them back, says the Lord.
It is not up to us to right the wrongs of opinions and practices, done by the past or present administration. Some Christians feel so strongly about their political view, that they are willing to take a stand against anyone, in a spirit of vengeance, who disagrees with them. Franklin Graham came out with an opinion on the Bishop that scolded the President to be merciful on policies concerning immigrants and the gay and transgender people. His opinion was that should have been left out of her sermon because it was not necessary. Jesus never scolded the Caesar in Rome on his policies in the Roman Empire. He was concerned about God’s Commandments being upheld in the hearts of people. His objective was to get to the heart of mankind’s problem which was sin … not opinions on political policy.
However, considering people using their position to further an agenda, our role is to teach truth, and to teach it with love. I noticed many Christians responding to this Bishop with a hammer not an olive branch. What is missing? Focus is missing. Our emphasis is on the wrong theme. Our emphasis is not on what others want done, or on what others think. Our focus is on what God wants done and what He thinks.
Throughout the Bible, especially the Old Testament, God was always trying to get the focus of the leaders to change their emphasis from themselves to Him. If you do a read of the Book of Hosea Chapter 4, you will find God’s frustration throughout that Chapter on the failure of leaders to stay with His program. The main issue is that there was no knowledge of God in the land. It’s not about who is the president and what their policies may or may not do to a select group of people … the emphasis is how do we get people to know God. Isn’t that the emphasis of the Scripture? Yet, on Social Media that argument was about this Bishop’s remarks to the 47th President of the United States. God’s emphasis is always on a changed heart, for without a changed heart nothing ever changes. Change the heart, you change the person, and the person changes the world. There, I said it and I’m sticking to it.
What is missing today? It is quite simple … God’s emphasis of a changed heart. That change can only come about as a result of knowing Jesus, and having God’s instruction placed within your heart. Going to church doesn’t make the change … it may help, but the only way a person is changed is by submitting their will to God. The arguments of this world are meant to divide and conquer the minds of the people. It is the oldest ploy from the book of evil used to tempt and destroy God’s love for His creation.
I have always advocated to stand up for truth, but it is how we do it is the emphasis of this article. So, what is missing? How do we do truth in the spirit of love?
Challenging the Culture with Truth … Larry Kutzler