Mixed #3

Mixed Modes

This is the last entry on the Mixed Series. I am perplexed by mixes modes. That is, I am perplexed when people who claim Christ are one way in one situation and another way elsewhere. Speaking one way at work and speaking another way at church. Living a life filled with tension and anger at home and perfect peace with church friends. Treating your spouse with respect and kindness in public and treating them as worthless in private at home.

First, I think it is essential to take the log out of your own eye before you can see clearly to remove the speck from your own in this area. It is easy to read this blog entry and look at others rather than apply it to yourself or myself (Matthew 7:3).

Second, we have been raised, trained, and enculturated to live split lives. There are cultural forces that press Christians to be completely secular at work and in public driving them to suppress their values and faith to the purely private sectors of life. We need to think and examine our lives to break out of this cultural bondage with wisdom.

So, how do we fix the mix?
First, become a student of the Word of God. My daughter is a student of Mrs. Willis. That is, she is daily learning from Mrs. Willis. Are you a student of the Word? Are you daily learning from the Word? You will never be able to examine yourself without having the ruler of the Word to guide you toward a true standard of what is correct.
Second, to fix the mix we have to start with ourselves. You can't change your home, church, city or culture if you don't let God start with you first.
Third, make prayer a priority of your day. Stop having a prayer time that is marked by a list of needs. Start having a prayer time that is marked by listening to God and allowing him to search your heart. Is prayer about God serving you? God protect me, provide, heal, give me wisdom and so forth. Or, is prayer about you serving God? God search me, make me, mold me, change me to what you want me to be.
Fourth, get in a Small Group and talk about what God is wanting to do in your life with a few close Friends. Ministry happens in relationships. If you want to really be accountable to God, make yourself accountable to some friends. Simply stating what God wants to do in you will be the start of accountability.
Fifth, as you grow in God, get some personal security! Most Christians are making really bad decisions about their schedule, their finances, their marriage, their family activities and these bad choices are driven by INSECURITY and FEAR. Let's stop making choices based on fear.
Lastly, let's get really serious about where we are allowing ourselves and our family to learn about how to serve Jesus and understand the word. Do you believe in the rapture? Then why send your kids to a place that teaches them otherwise? Do you believe in sprinkling and infant baptism? Then why let others teach your kids to treat the Scriptures to trust in it? Even in the way we choose to pick devotional blogs, television ministries, and other Christian media forms, lets get choosy! I am not saying that I want you to be judgemental, but make spiritual judgements. But, get serious about what you believe. Your actions are telling your family what you value. Your sources of influence will eventually change you and yours. Last week I literally threw a very nice hard back Christian book in my garbage can. I was not even going to finish it. It don't even want it on my shelf. I don't want anyone in my church to read it or see it in my office.

On a trip last week some ladies from our church visited a powerfully strong church. They asked, how does a church become like that? My wife and I attended that church for its first 18 months of existence. It grew from 55 to 1200 in that time. At 1200 there were three full time pastors. how did they serve 1200 people? Because the church served one another! So, since we were there and a part of it, my wife wheeled around and told them how. "You have about 55 people who are so committed to their church that nothing gets in the way of that church. Your wife and family are first and church is absolutely second in your list of priorities."

She is right. If you want your kids in a great church, it is up to you to make your church great. If you want a great Pastor, realize that it will not always come from the top down, but often from the bottom up. I am not perfect, but I am also only as good as my Elders and Small Group leaders and staff that I am leading. A Pastor may be a great leader, but if no one is following, he is just taking a great walk.

Let's put away our mixed lives and live carefully, and crazy in love with Jesus Christ! I am convicted myself! Let's move on this together.