Friday, August 23, 2019

Rebellious or Misguided

As I was thinking more about yesterday’s blog (What Does God Really Want from Me?) and last Sunday’s sermon (https://soundcloud.com/lifepointe-church/81819-serving-others) a thought crossed my mind. My thought began a little like this: “I wonder if Christians are really  rebellious, or are they just misguided in how serving and the Christian life are designed to work?”
“Are people coming to church with an attitude that they want to be served, or are they coming with the attitude of serving?” Or maybe something even a little more personal: “Do some people come to church with the desire to be refreshed and restored because of the chaos in their life and think that they can get the restoration that they need and desire by being in attendance, not ever intending on being engaged with anyone or in what God is doing?”
What am I getting at? Well, I think it comes back to my first question, is it rebellion or misguidance? I don’t believe that the majority of people come to church and openly and rebelliously say that they are not going to serve and that they should be served. I just don’t believe that. I do believe that can appear to be the result, but I don’t believe that is the intention of everyone.
What I also believe is that people are coming to church in search of the restoration and refreshment that they need and desire, and have heard that God gives, but they misunderstand how it works. (This is really where my spark of thought came from.)
Does God gives refreshment and restoration for the soul of the Christian?Absolutely! But what the individual needs to understand is that there is something required of them. 
There is no doubt that the Bible clearly communicates that God works in the lives of His people. What most people seem to overlook is a truth that I communicated on Sunday. The truth is that “God works in you as He works through you.”
Here’s the deal. The refreshment and restoration of the soul comes only through the power of the Holy Spirit as He is working through you to accomplish His will. This is why Scriptures like James 1:22 are so important in the life of the believer, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” If you think that you can just hear the truth and you’ll be changed, you’re deceiving yourself. You must take action. The Spirit of God works in us as He works through us.
Another important key to understanding this is a hard reality that most don’t like. The reality is that you are not the end game. You are not the ultimate goal and destination for God’s work in this world. Are you a part of His plan? Absolutely! You are a piece in the puzzle. You are a conduit for His glory to flow through. God’s glory does not end with you, it is designed to flow through you.
Now I say all this to make the point that inactivity in the Christian life is not the Christian life. The life of the Christian is designed to be marked by God’s presence and power working through the Christian, not working for the Christian. The Christian is to be a vessel in which God fills so that it overflows into the lives and context around them. It is to be a life that is marked by service to God by serving others for His glory. The Christian life is a life that is transformed as He completes a work in you as He works through you.
Is God working in you? If not, ask yourself if He is first working through you.