Hi Pastor John,
I was thinking about a man I know, he is serving Jesus under many burdens, such as not being free to acknowledge his own birthday, or the birthday wishes of others. He cannot accept a card at any time, wishing him well during a holiday, or enjoy a pumpkin in the fall or a sparkling decorated tree in December. While I was considering this, and the contrasting liberty that the saints of God that I know have, Jesus interrupted my thoughts, with something different. Here it is:
There is a reaction, generally, when we as individuals tell people that we are not a part of the religion of Christianity. Folk immediately seem to put their guard up. Their first apparent thought, based on accusations I have heard them make, is that WE (the individual) have “lifted ourselves” above the accepted standard of life in Christ…. There are many ways that those feelings are vocalized, such as: “You have exalted yourself” or “You think you are better…” or “You think you know better…”, and “You think you are the only one…”, and so on.
But the truth is just the opposite.
None of us that are serving Jesus outside the walls of Christianity chose to do so. We didn’t know how to make that choice. We didn’t know there WAS a choice. None of us lifted ourselves above religion as men know it – because WE didn’t know it! Actually, we would have, and we once did, choose one of the many variations of Christian religion, just like just about every person does who gets hungry for God. There is no other choice in this world … as far as men know.
We can’t choose something that we cannot see, nor can we choose something that we did not know existed.
We are where we are because Jesus lifted us out of what is seen, and placed us into what is not seen…. out of the known and into the unknown. All we did was not jump ship when the ship was lifted completely out of the water! We had nothing to do with that miracle; that was the Lord’s work. And we remain as ignorant of what lies ahead as we were when this journey of holiness began.
What we do know is, when we obey Jesus, he moves us further away from where we started, and closer to where our hearts long to be. We can feel it! But only He knows the way there.
How do we make sincere people understand that, so they aren’t put off by the idea of rejecting the religious system of Christianity as a whole? I don’t know. A lot of love I guess.
Jerry