December 31, 2014

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Bible Reference

2nd Corinthians 10:3-4: For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but have divine power to destroy strongholds.

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Enter the battle

I was recently reading an article that popped up on my Facebook newsfeed entitled “Marriage on the Edge of Eternity” by Francis Chan. Mawwiage, It’s what bwings us togevah today. Wait, this is on marriage? Nope, it isn’t.

To summarize the article, Francis Chan talked about how married couples can get focused on how the Bible can improve their marriage and end up missing the big picture of what the Bible, and what LIFE is about. The same can be said for any of us when we look at the Bible and Christianity as a way to simply improve our lives. When we do this we are missing the bigger picture of the Bible and the mission that God has given us.

One paragraph towards the end of his article really jumped out at me. In it Francis says, “The Bible teaches that we are in a real war with a real enemy, God has given us a mission, so we cannot allow ourselves to get entangled in Civilian pursuits. Picture a nice house with a white picket fence and your happy family lounging inside. Now imagine a full-scale war unfolding just a few blocks away. Your friends and neighbors are fighting for their lives while you are remodeling your kitchen and hanging your new big screen TV. You have contractors installing better windows so you can tune out the noise. It is a pretty pathetic picture, but it’s an appropriate comparison for the lives that are offered to so many Christians. They are ignoring Jesus’s mission in hopes of enjoying this life. But don’t fall for it. Real life is found in the battle.”

Before Jesus ascended into heaven after his death and resurrection, He gave his disciples something called the great commission. To paraphrase, He told them to go make disciples of all the nations. Starting with the people around you and going on to the ends of the earth. So before we are to be snowboarders, skiers, college students, or whatever else, we are to be on mission for God to spread His Gospel. Jesus has committed His words of life to us, so that we can give them to the people surrounding us trying to battle through this life with no hope. Unfortunately, when we’re shredding, we are often times more focused on the tricks we are trying to land then the mission that God has given us.

I think another reason that we often don’t talk to people about Jesus is that it can be uncomfortable and scary. What will this person say or do or think about me? After Jesus gave his disciples His commission, they started telling people about Jesus’s resurrection and they also started doing the same miracles that Jesus was doing. Because of this they faced a scary and life threatening situation.

Let’s read about it in Acts 4: 1-31.

Shortly after this the Jewish religious leaders started having Christians thrown in jail, and killed. There efforts only caused the gospel to be spread more. Acts details this spread of the Gospel and the boldness displayed by these early Christians. These Christians understood that life is found in the battle.

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Application

Odds are you know people who need to hear the life giving message of Jesus. Odds are one or more of them are people you shred with and have a relationship with. This week try and introduce Jesus into a conversation with them. We have been gifted with one of the best ways to talk to someone about Jesus, it’s called the chairlift. I’ve found one of the easiest ways to get the ball rolling is to simply ask “what do you think about Jesus?” Everyone has an opinion and they usually don’t mind sharing it.

What are some of the things that prevent you from sharing with others about Jesus?

What would your Acts 4 prayer for boldness look like? Let’s pray it and ask for boldness to tell others in the shred culture about Jesus.