What shall a Christian's life be like? What qualities should be present in such a one? In a culture that shows Christians as prosperity obsessed, politically charged social club members, the real characteristics of what Christ wants in his followers gets lost in the hustle and rush. Christians need to read the Gospels carefully, without pride, receiving Christ's message into themselves, examining their souls and lives, and repenting and changing as needed.
If your Christianity is known by your politics, your economic status or zip code, then repent. If you believe Christ calls you to be more concerned about tax codes, gun rights, animal rights, what restaurants to eat at (or not), or who to boycott (or not) than about spreading the Gospel, feeding the poor, sheltering the vulnerable, reaching the broken, living in peace and seeking justice in an unbalanced world, then you've not paid much attention to what Christ teaches us, and you need to repent.
It is fine, as a Christian, to be concerned with matters of this world (politics, media, worldly rights, etc) as long as those issues take a far distant second place to how you feel about issues of your faith. Christ MUST come first; all else after. God is a jealous God, He will not share your affections with your causes, hobbies, passions and interests. All else in your life must be subjugated to Him, or else you are setting up false idols for yourself.
Martin Luther, to paraphrase, said that whatever our hearts focus on the most becomes our god. If you spend the majority of your time focusing on politics, then politics is your god. If you spend the majority of your time focusing on fashion/celebrity/social gossip and news, then that is your god. If you focus the majority of time on causes, good or not, then those causes are your god.
When we give our hearts to God fully (and so many refuse to give Him complete entry!), He orders our lives. He weeds out the chaff, and puts everything else in proper priority. Everything is to be for His glory, and His kingdom. Your interests, causes and passions, if good, become deeper and better because they are based on the foundation of His Word.
Read the below, slowly, and examine them to see if you attempt to live by these words in your current life.
The Beatitudes (Matthew 5: 2-12)
2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons[a] of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
Christ, in the verses above, tells us what He desires us to be. Humble, merciful, peacemakers, pure of heart. Sorrowful over the lost and conditions of the world. And if we are persecuted for living for Christ we are to rejoice, for it means we've stood up for Him. (If you can't think of at least one instance in your life where you have lost something for Christ- whether it be a friendship, a job, a business, strained ties with family or worse- such as jail- then chances are your faith has not been very evident to the outside world. Perhaps you've stayed within a stable social church setting, one that doesn't call you go to the outside world and live the principles that Christ taught, or perhaps you've just hidden your faith, or lived a watered down faith. Perhaps your concept of faith is to have such a weak one that it is useless, and thus is not a saving faith at all.)
The time is coming when the faith of all true Christians will be tested and tried. And only if our characters have been shaped by the Holy Spirit, producing the traits that Christ teaches we will have, will we be able to withstand the testing. We must cultivate lives of love, peace, mercy and humbleness. We must seek to keep our hearts pure by focusing on the Word of God and seeking out only wholesome material for our minds, souls and entertainment.
When you read Christ's words above, did they apply to your life as it is right now? If not, will you seek to shape your life to His words?
God's grace be with you,
Fr. Charles Butler
If your Christianity is known by your politics, your economic status or zip code, then repent. If you believe Christ calls you to be more concerned about tax codes, gun rights, animal rights, what restaurants to eat at (or not), or who to boycott (or not) than about spreading the Gospel, feeding the poor, sheltering the vulnerable, reaching the broken, living in peace and seeking justice in an unbalanced world, then you've not paid much attention to what Christ teaches us, and you need to repent.
It is fine, as a Christian, to be concerned with matters of this world (politics, media, worldly rights, etc) as long as those issues take a far distant second place to how you feel about issues of your faith. Christ MUST come first; all else after. God is a jealous God, He will not share your affections with your causes, hobbies, passions and interests. All else in your life must be subjugated to Him, or else you are setting up false idols for yourself.
Martin Luther, to paraphrase, said that whatever our hearts focus on the most becomes our god. If you spend the majority of your time focusing on politics, then politics is your god. If you spend the majority of your time focusing on fashion/celebrity/social gossip and news, then that is your god. If you focus the majority of time on causes, good or not, then those causes are your god.
When we give our hearts to God fully (and so many refuse to give Him complete entry!), He orders our lives. He weeds out the chaff, and puts everything else in proper priority. Everything is to be for His glory, and His kingdom. Your interests, causes and passions, if good, become deeper and better because they are based on the foundation of His Word.
Read the below, slowly, and examine them to see if you attempt to live by these words in your current life.
The Beatitudes (Matthew 5: 2-12)
2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons[a] of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
Christ, in the verses above, tells us what He desires us to be. Humble, merciful, peacemakers, pure of heart. Sorrowful over the lost and conditions of the world. And if we are persecuted for living for Christ we are to rejoice, for it means we've stood up for Him. (If you can't think of at least one instance in your life where you have lost something for Christ- whether it be a friendship, a job, a business, strained ties with family or worse- such as jail- then chances are your faith has not been very evident to the outside world. Perhaps you've stayed within a stable social church setting, one that doesn't call you go to the outside world and live the principles that Christ taught, or perhaps you've just hidden your faith, or lived a watered down faith. Perhaps your concept of faith is to have such a weak one that it is useless, and thus is not a saving faith at all.)
The time is coming when the faith of all true Christians will be tested and tried. And only if our characters have been shaped by the Holy Spirit, producing the traits that Christ teaches we will have, will we be able to withstand the testing. We must cultivate lives of love, peace, mercy and humbleness. We must seek to keep our hearts pure by focusing on the Word of God and seeking out only wholesome material for our minds, souls and entertainment.
When you read Christ's words above, did they apply to your life as it is right now? If not, will you seek to shape your life to His words?
God's grace be with you,
Fr. Charles Butler
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