Last weekend senior pastor Jim White jumped right into the Gospel of John to address who, what and where the Word was and why the Word exists.
John 1:14 (HCSB) says “The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
As Pastor White detailed, in this book the disciple John introduces a new concept: the Word not only as God the Father, but also as God the Son. This verse shows us that Jesus was not only sent to walk the Earth in human form, but He took up residence among us. He did not sit on a throne and look down on us. He lived with us. He did life with us.
When you see a destitute person who appears to be in need of money standing at the corner of a frequently traveled road do you speed past, grateful the traffic light is green? Do you awkwardly sit at the intersection desperately trying not to make eye contact? Do you roll down your window and hand the individual what few dollars you have?
Not all of these actions are necessarily wrong – but none of them are necessarily right. As Christians we are called not only to spread the message of Christ to all, but we are to live among the least and the lost. It is a sobering thought to realize that Jesus may not have automatically offered that person money, even though that is the initial reaction of humans who desire to help. Instead, Jesus would probably sit and talk with that person. He may even enjoy a meal or two with them. We can be certain, though, that He wouldn’t just drive by (well, chances are slim that Jesus would be driving at all).
Shane Claiborne speaks to this in a book he co-authored titled Follow Me to Freedom. Claiborne enlightens us that as Christ-followers we should be able to say to others “If you want to know what I [believe], watch how I live.” Instead of just professing our faith, we should live it out in such a way that questions about Christianity can be answered by observing our actions, not listening to our words.
What aspects of your faith are you living out?
What aspects should you live out?
No comments:
Post a Comment