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Morton Church of Christ |
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The
Litmus ( Luke
11:29-32 32
The men of
Who will rise up at the judgment against whom in regards
to us? Will we be like the Ninevites or the generation that Jesus
was speaking to? Each generation of people will have to deal with
the reality of this question – ‘Did we respond in a right
manner to what God was communicating to His people through those
whom He sent with His message?’
I know that this brings with it a lot of presumption: Is
the preaching from God or Man? Is there something that God truly
wants us to know or understand? Is there something not right
about us as a people that God would require change? Are we
God’s people? I am sure there are some other things but this
should get the point across. The big question for me is ‘If
my Lord Jesus is saying something am I listening and obeying?’
Jesus has said “Blessed rather are those who hear the
word of God and obey it.” (Lk.11:28) The generation that Jesus
was speaking to was of the mind that they were religiously
correct before God and man. God thought otherwise. Like every
generation the danger of accepting who and what and how we are as
just ok is always looming over our heads. Hear might be a good
litmus test of our position in the contemporary: Is there a
visible difference between your life and the heathen you work or
live next to?
Can those of the community around you look at your life
and see the marks of your Christianity or do you just blend in
with everyone else? Does the close you wear reflect the fact of
your being a modest Christian or does it reflect that you have
bought into the latest trend or fad. You might at that evaluation
say – ‘ I’m just trying to fit in and be accepted.’
Isn’t that the point? Does
being a Christian mean that we should be different than those
around us who are not? Yes. (Jn.15:18-19, (for
a fuller view see 1Peter 2:9-12)
What are the distinguishing marks of who we are and what
we have become in Christ Jesus our Lord? The point for each of us
to wrestle with in our own hearts is what is the evidence in my
life that speaks plain to the world that you are no longer of the
world but are now of God. If there is no visible difference in
manner of life either word or deed, dress or custom, only a
continuation of your life’s practice and habit such as it is,
then what effect is Christ and His word having upon your life?
The queen of the South left the presence of Solomon a
changed person or she would not qualify to judge Jesus’
generation. (Lk.11:31) When it is all said and done, will you be
one who is qualified by your life’s choices to judge or will
you be one who will be condemned by others whose lives reflected
the evidence of what they believed because the Word preached.
It
is not always that what we are doing or not doing is sinful,
often times it just not helpful. Jesus says: "He
who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with
me, scatters.” (Lk.11:23) You may argue that what you
are doing and how you are living is not wrong and it may not be,
but is it contributing to the “gathering” with Jesus? As
Christians we are called to live our lives by a different set of
values that will, if practiced, cause us to look different than
those of the world around us. As a body of believers, like a
city, we will also come under evaluation collectively, will we
rise up in the judgment as one who has qualified to judge? May
we labor to be what God is calling us to be – uniquely His.
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