The fundamental nature of sharing the Gospel is such that there can only be three possible responses after hearing it: complete humble obedience, complete abandonment, or a lukewarm attraction accompanied by too much pride to embrace Christ fully. Of the three responses, the latter is by far the most dangerous, yet it is also the most common. Lukewarm attraction is the bane of American Christianity. It is only humble obedience that is acceptable to God.
This is part of why love is so important in the humble Christian's faith walk. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13:13 that three things will last forever, "faith, hope, and love...but the greatest of these is love." That is to say, individual humans will always hope for something. In the same way, we will always have faith in something. This is evident in the world around us. It is a part of our human nature. Even the self-proclaimed atheist lives with hope and faith. It is usually rooted in them self and their own abilities. This is why love is so important. Like the others, love will also always remain. It is the greatest of the three because it is the only one that can affect lasting change over the other two.
If we hope to see this world change for the better, for God's will to be done on Earth as it is in Heaven, we must come closer to loving others in the same full, deep and selfless manner which God shows to us day after day. This is different then the shallow love we feel toward most acquaintances. This is a love typically rooted in self-sacrifice, usually outside of our natural comfort zone. When we can more naturally do this, then through the power of the Spirit, our love for others can affect change in the substance of the faith and hope of the people around us. In this way, we will not only be following God's universal, evangelical calling for each Christian, we will also likely have the opportunity to see the Holy Spirit bring a greater number of hearts into alignment with the will of God.
No comments:
Post a Comment