Far too often we try to separate the sacred from the secular and in doing so we have created such a chasm that, in our eyes, not even Christ can penetrate. However, when I look at the life of Jesus I see the Divine cross such chasms. "The Word become flesh and made His dwelling among us," (John 1:14). I see the Divine entering flesh to manifest love beyond reason. I see One who was absolutely sacred, yet dwelt in the midst of the secular without fear of becoming blemished. I see One who entered into the midst of darkeness and brought light...
He touched the unclean and made it clean,
He touched the broken and make it whole,
He sat with the unloved and loved them.
Too often we sit on the sidelines of our culture or world parading around with the persona of holiness, but have done nothing other than isolate ourselves from the world which God has commanded us to love. The hope, love, joy, peace and victory we have in Christ is meant to not only distinguish us from those who may not possess it in our world, but it is also meant to transform the very fabric of our culture.
The Gospel was never meant to isolate us from the world, but to transform us and the
world we live in.
By transforming us, we become agents of its transformative power in the world.
Below is an excerpt from a letter that has changed my life. I hope that it will shake you, encourage you & inspire you to live in a way you never have before. I hope that it will inspire the church to truly live in such a way that radically shapes the world that we live in...
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “Letter From a Birmingham Jail”
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| Martin Luther King Jr. Christian & Civil Rights Activist 1929 - 1968 |
“I have been so greatly disappointed with the white church and its leadership… I do not say this as one of those negative critics who can always find something wrong with the church. I say this as a minister of the gospel, who loves the church… When I was suddenly catapulted into the leadership of the bus protest in Montgomery, Alabama, a few years ago, I felt we would be supported by the white church. I felt that the ministers, priests, and rabbis of the South would be among our strongest allies. Instead, some have been outright opponents, refusing to understand the freedom movement and misrepresenting its leader; all too many others have been more cautious than courageous and have remained silent behind the anesthetizing security of stained glass windows… In the midst of blatant injustices inflicted upon the Negro, I have watched white churchmen stand on the sideline and mouth pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities. In the midst of a mighty struggle to our rid our nation of racial and economic injustice, I have heard many ministers say: ‘Those are social issues, with which the gospel has no real concern.’ And I have watched many churches commit themselves to completely otherworldly religion which makes a strange, unbiblical distinction between body and soul, between the sacred and the secular… There was a time when the church was very powerful-in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was thermostat that transformed the mores of society.”
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| William Wilberforce Christian & Slave Abolitionist 1759 – 1833 |
They believed that the sacred was meant to be lived out in the midst of the secular.
They believed that their lives, the Gospel & the redemptive power of Jesus living in them should transform the very mores of their society, culture & world.
Is your life reflecting the transformational power of the Gospel or are you living in a state of isolation from the world that you were called to help see reconciled to its
Creator, Savior & Lover?
This is a good one! Keep writing!
ReplyDeletethanks so much, glad you enjoyed it. what encouraged ya most about it?
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