James 4:17 says, "If we know what is right to do and don't do it; we sin." Matthew 6:33 says, "Therefore, be perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect." With these two verses alone I am drawn into that place where I know I am doomed to failure. What about little white lies? There are none. The Bible says that there is the truth and there are lies. The truth comes from the Father and the lies come from the father of lies, the devil. Maybe for the better good we can fudge a bit? No, that's not what the Bible says. The Word of God brought by Jesus was for us to live upright lives exemplary models of Christian living. In this way we reflect Jesus to the world around us. Feeling that sense of failure and not good enough yet? I am.
There is a reason why the Bible states the black and white of life, death and eternal life. That reason is to hold up the witness of Christ to the world around us. Where we fail to stand in one area we will fail to stand in another area of our lives. Missing the point are those who think they are being a good Christian when in fact we act like the kind of gray area Christian defined by the world we live in. God has no shade of gray. Satan is all about shades of gray. They are excuses, rationalizations, and justifications. We don't want to offend anyone so we go against what Jesus said regarding the Gospel message being offensive to those who are perishing. We think (our first mistake) that God may have not really meant what he said he meant for us to live out in our lives. We act (second mistake) on what others think of us rather than what Jesus thinks of us. We are to be in the world but not of the world. Then we repeat (third mistake) and teach others (fourth mistake) to be and do what we are and are doing.
Some cold hard truth is found in the quote, "If we stand for nothing we will fall for anything." The Bible tells us to stand firm and to fight the good fight and finally to achieve that goal which Christ Jesus has for us. The truth is that the truth will set you free. Not to do what you think is right but what God has stated over and over to be right. When, for instance, addressing the area of loving others Jesus tells us that we need to die to self and let the love of God through the Holy Spirit flow from us. We aren't told to love only those we choose to love. We are told to love others as we love ourselves. Do I love the homeless as much as I have loved being in my home? Do I love the hungry as much as I love those who have no food? Do I love the unlovable as Jesus did when he loved me still deep in my sin? Where does our faith and beliefs come into compliance with Scripture? Not in a legalistic way, but rather in a graceful way? Just what is right to do?
God has given us each a conscious that has been constructed to hear and do what God wants us to do. That miracle of thinking and reasoning was given to us not that we consume it upon ourselves (James 2) but rather that we can then love (unselfishly) others who God wants to love through us. When I focus on what others may think, am cautious in sharing the Gospel either verbally or physically, and take into consideration what man may think rather than what God may think, I have already fallen short of the glory of God. There is no gray area here. Either we love or we don't. Either we give or we don't. Either we pray or we don't. Either we surrender to God or we don't. Either we give ourselves first and foremost to God or we don't. You and I know where we are, the choices we have made and the ramifications of our thoughts, deeds and inactions reveal the true self. The question is begged why we are more concerned about the praise of men than the praise of God. Why?
We are not able to live a life free from our "gray areas" unless we first give our lives to God for rehabilitation. That sanctification process translates into less of me and more of Thee. What would you like to hear said at your funeral? If you could write your own obituary (you can); what would you like it to say? If you were able to see into the future and see what your children and grand children lives are like; would they first reflect Jesus? There is coming a day when we will be given a choice to either deny Jesus and save our children's lives or to stand fast in the faith and watch the enemy kill them there in our presence. What stand will you take? Will you be able to take a stand or will you cave to that which is "gray area" found in the preaching of a lot of pastors in a lot of denominations? How about more personally; would you, given the choice, choose to die instead of renouncing your faith? Every time I make a choice in the "gray area" our society keeps increasing, I sin. If I sin, I fall short of the glory of God. If I fall short of the glory of God, my witness falls short as well. If my witness falls short, then the unselfish grace of the love of God so richly offered to me (and I took it) means nothing. Do I want to live my life meaning nothing? Do I want to live in the gray area or in the black and white of the love of God? That, after all, is the question.
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