THE INTEGRITY OF DECISION-MAKING

Titus 1:15-16 (NLT) Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure. But nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, because their minds and consciences are corrupted.  Such people claim they know God, but they deny him by the way they live. They are detestable and disobedient, worthless for doing anything good.

Those with pure hearts will honor God in their decisions and actions.  The heart gets more consideration than the action because the heart influences the action.  “The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7.  When your mind and conscience are right and pure toward the Lord, the right action will follow.  Paul says in Romans 14:22-23 Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves…and everything that does not come from faith is sin.  Another way to say it is if your mind and conscience under the leadership of God’s Word and God’s Spirit don’t condemn you regarding a particular action, and it doesn’t weaken someone else’s faith in God, then it’s okay to do it.

The responsibility we each have is to keep our minds and consciences pure before God.  One surefire way to do this is to consistently read and apply God’s truths to our minds and confess our sins to one another.  The Bible says that God’s Word refines us like fire refines precious metals.  “Is not my word like fire,” declares the Lord, Jeremiah 23:29.  James says in James 5:16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.  A mind true to God’s Word.  A conscience true to one another.  This is the way to gain the right and true perspective to make those decisions that seem to be in the gray area of right and wrong.

TRUTH AND THE HOTTEST SOCIAL TOPIC TODAY

The Apostle Paul said, “Hold on to the pattern of wholesome teaching you learned from me—a pattern shaped by the faith and love that you have in Christ Jesus. Through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us, carefully guard the precious truth that has been entrusted to you”. 2 Timothy 1:13-14 (NLT)

God wants us to keep the pattern of teaching the wholesome truth of His Word that Paul exemplified for us through faith and love in Christ.  We are to guard the treasure of God’s truth through the power of the Holy Spirit.

For example in light of the hottest social topic in politics right now – same sex marriage – believers in Christ are to keep teaching and exemplifying the truth in God’s Word with faith and love.  God’s truth is a precious treasure entrusted to you.  Don’t let it be taken from you.  Don’t believe the lies that are aimed at God’s truth.  Know the truth and guard it and keep it.  It’s a great treasure that brings fullness of life to you.  Instead of blinding and binding us, God’s truth gives us eyes to see the truth which sets us free.  Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings.  And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32 (NLT)

Jesus also said, “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste (its strength, its quality), how can its saltness be restored?” Matthew 5:13 (Amp).  It’s the responsibility of believers in Christ to be salt and light in a fallen world, and this includes politics.  We should use our freedom to vote in any way possible to bring the Kingdom of God to greater reality.  And yes, the Kingdom of God  includes the Biblical teachings of marriage and family.

It’s not about attempting to impose things through power, but through influence.  There is a difference.  In Jesus' day, salt was one of the most useful and important elements you could possess, but not for the purpose of adding flavor to food.  The main use of salt was as a preservative to keep food from rotting.  Without refrigerators or freezers, canned goods or packaging, salt was used to keep food from spoiling.  If you had a piece of meat that you couldn’t eat right away, you would take some salt and rub it into the meat, which would prevent the meat from going bad. 

John Stott wrote, “The notion is not that the world is tasteless and that Christians can make it less insipid...but that it is putrefying.  It cannot stop itself from going bad.  Only salt introduced from outside can do this.  The church...is set in the world...as salt to arrest – or at least to hinder – the process of social decay...God intends the most powerful of all restraints within sinful society to be his own redeemed, regenerate and righteous people.” 

Stott also added this influence is conditional.  For salt to be effective, it must retain its ‘saltness.’  “For effectiveness the Christian must retain his Christ-likeness, as salt must retain its saltiness.  The influence of Christians in and on society depends on their being distinct, not identical.”  Unless the salt penetrates the culture, the decay cannot be arrested.

Refraining to speak out on a particular issue for Christ in the love of Christ because you fear alienating someone is the same as being untruthful.  The gospel is offensive.  Jesus offended the Pharisees (Mt. 15:12), He offended those in His hometown (Mt. 13:55-57), He offended His family members (Mk. 3:21, 31-35).  He offended His closest followers (John 6:60-61, 66) and closest friends (John 11:6).   As Peter wrote, Jesus as the living Stone is precious to those who believe, but to those who do not believe, He is the “stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall” (1 Peter 2:8, NIV).  You can’t escape that word: offense.

Jesus ended up on a cross to jeers, not a stage to cheers.  It is one thing for people to leave the church for an unloving attitude toward those who are gay; it is another for them to leave because they consider the church’s moral stance regarding homosexuality culturally unpopular.

Our goal is not to be offensive just to be offensive.  But we are not trying to make the gospel politically correct or socially agreeable to the populace.  If my stance on homosexuality offends a practicing homosexual – despite the fact that my stance was forged on biblical conviction and expressed with love and compassion – then I cannot help that offense.  The fact is I cannot escape it, nor should I try.

Our goal is to remove every barrier that exists between people and their acceptance of the scandal of the cross, except the scandal of the cross.  And that of course, calls for repentance.

CONNECTING WITH GOD

Life is complicated.  It’s complex.  It’s difficult and challenging at times.  It can be confusing.  That’s why Albert Einstein’s words about complexity speak so timely to us today.  He said, “Out of the complexity, find simplicity.” 

God has not called us to live lives that are complicated or confused or too busy that we live unfulfilled, defeated, and overly stressed lives.  Colossians 2:6 (Ph) says, Just as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so go on living in him—in simple faith.  In light of living in Christ with a “simple faith”, we have reformed our church’s purpose statement this year around three simple yet profound actions: 

CONNECTING WITH GOD

GROWING SPIRITUALLY

SERVING PEOPLE

This is who we are and what we are to be about.  These three dynamics are at the heart of what a church does.  And it is the church’s responsibility to follow through with them. 

Jesus said,“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40.  The first and greatest thing I can do is to love God.  The second greatest thing I can do is to love others to God.

When we think about “connecting with God” there are two kinds of people we connect with God:  Ourselves, and Others who don’t have God in their lives yet.  Jesus said in Mathew 28:19 “Therefore go and make disciples…”  The way it works here at Clay Community to “connect people with God” is like this:  We invite them to church so they can have the opportunity to experience God.  The Sunday morning worship is the primary “entry point.”

Our theme this year is: “Purpose that is processed produces excellence.”  We can have purpose, but unless we work it, we’ll not excel.  Another way of saying it is that “nothing becomes dynamic until it becomes specific.”  There is “no energy” in it until we specifically do something about it.

Therefore we need a specific activity for “Connecting People with God.”  I’ve asked our church to covenant together to do this:  To work at connecting people with God by bringing them to church.  We know we need to be doing this.  So let’s motivate one another forward on this.  And I don’t mean that we compete.  What I mean is that we “help” one another to do this.

Call it “ONE-2-ONE”.  The objective is that we each bring one person to church to become a regular attender by the end of the year.

It’s each of us reaching out to one other person and bringing them to church such that they become regular attenders, and hopefully in time commit to Christ and join the church.  Here’s the latest statistic from Lifeway in Christianity Today:  The percentage of Americans who never attend worship services is 67%.

What we’ll experience is that some will respond, others will not.  Some will come a Sunday or two and then stop.  You will feel disappointment and frustration sometimes.  Therefore, in your search for ONE, you must invite SEVERAL.  We must develop a “pool” of people.  We need to have several relationships from which we can invite and encourage them to come to church.

Think about it this way:

BUILD A POOL

Build a pool of friends.

GET IN THE POOL

Associate with your friends.  Spend time with them.  Get to know them and let them get to know you.

BRING THEM TO THE LIFE GUARD

Bring them to Christ.  How?  Either bring them to church or share with them Who Jesus really is and the difference He makes in your life.

Visualize what can happen.  If by the end of the year we really did this, we would have a significant increase in our attendance,  And don’t you think there would be a fresh excitement with the new faces and new friends?  ONE-2-ONE.  Let’s do this.

UNVEILED FAITH

The old way, with laws etched in stone, led to death, though it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses’ face. For his face shone with the glory of God, even though the brightness was already fading away.  Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life?  If the old way, which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new way, which makes us right with God! … which remains forever!  Since this new way gives us such confidence, we can be very bold. We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so the people of Israel would not see the glory, even though it was destined to fade away.  2 Corinthians 3:7-13 (NLT)

As a believer in Christ, you have a new life, generated and empowered by the Holy Spirit in you.  The old way of living, the old life, lived according to the Law of Moses, which included the Ten Commandments, only led to death for us.  We found ourselves condemned for breaking the Law.  It’s glory has faded. 

Now that we have Christ living in us in the Person of His Spirit, we have a new way to live, a new life.  Look at the advantages of this new life: 

-        It doesn’t fade away. 

-        It’s forever. 

-        The Holy Spirit keeps on giving us “liveliness”.  He keeps giving us a continual flow of energy, encouragement, and refreshment. 

-        The new life has made us right with God. 

-        We are growing more and more righteous in our everyday living, so that our way of life becomes more right with God.

With these advantages Paul says we have great confidence and courage.  We’re not like Moses who veiled his face and God’s glory because he didn’t want the people to see that it was fading from his face.  Instead we have the glory of God in us – the Spirit and the life - and we should therefore live confidently and courageously the new Christ-like life we have. 

Take courage and live confidently in front of others with an unveiled faith, reflecting the glory of Christ.

KEEP GOING

When Jesus arrived on the other side of the lake, in the region of the Gadarenes, two men who were possessed by demons met him. They lived in a cemetery and were so violent that no one could go through that area.  They began screaming at him, “Why are you interfering with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torture us before God’s appointed time?”  There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding in the distance.  So the demons begged, “If you cast us out, send us into that herd of pigs.”  “All right, go!” Jesus commanded them. So the demons came out of the men and entered the pigs, and the whole herd plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned in the water.  The herdsmen fled to the nearby town, telling everyone what happened to the demon-possessed men. Then the entire town came out to meet Jesus, but they begged him to go away and leave them alone.  Matthew 8:28-34 (NLT)

The town’s people and the herdsmen were more concerned about their own things, such as their pigs, than about the lives of others being changed for the better.  And though the herd of pigs may have been the livelihood of the herdsmen, if they had let Jesus replace the pigs with something better for their provision, they would have had a better life.  Instead they begged Jesus to go away and leave them alone.

Some people are so self-absorbed and concerned about their own interests that they will actually resist the good Jesus would do in their lives.  When you try to help others move toward Jesus, to welcome Him into their lives and discover the change He can make in their lives and the good He would do, they sometimes resist.  And that can be discouraging to you.  But don’t let their resistance stop you from going to others to give them the good news of what Christ can do.  Instead direct your attention toward someone else who may be receptive to the good God wants to do in his or her life.

Sometimes God directs us to those who are willing to hear by directing us away from those who aren’t willing.  The point is that we keep going to people so that God can steer us to the ones who are ready to hear the good news of Christ.

THE GIFT OF MANAGING

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength to do his work. He considered me trustworthy and appointed me to serve him, even though I used to blaspheme the name of Christ. In my insolence, I persecuted his people. But God had mercy on me because I did it in ignorance and unbelief. Oh, how generous and gracious our Lord was! He filled me with the faith and love that come from Christ Jesus. 1 Timothy 1:12-14 (NLT)

Paul gives a very brief testimony of His conversion experience.  He was considered faithful to be put into service for the Lord.  God was wiling to entrust a ministry to him.  Paul had formerly acted wrongly toward God and people because he didn’t believe God.  He didn’t have spiritual sight before his salvation.

God strengthened him to believe, called him to serve Him, and showed him mercy.  Through Christ he experienced the generosity and grace of God.  And God gave him faith to trust God and love with which to love Him. 

According to the Parable of the Talents (Matt. 25:14-30) God expects us to manage well what He has entrusted to us.  Jesus concludes the lesson of the parable by saying in verse 29: “To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.”  

God has entrusted a “ministry” to you.  He’s given you natural and spiritual abilities to be used in service for Him.  He gives you the strength to do what He’s given you to do.  You’ve been appointed to serve.  He’s given you grace and He continually give you the grace for each day to serve Him.  He even gives us the faith we need to trust Him and the love we need to love Him.  He is generous beyond all comparison. 

The response on our part to God’s generosity is faith.  Now we must be faithful to Him because He was willing to entrust something of His to our management. 

Use the abilities and opportunities He’s given you for the cause of Christ.  And He will strengthen you and be merciful to you all along the way.

WHEN DOES GOD SHOW UP?

I will sing of your love and justice, LORD. I will praise you with songs. I will be careful to live a blameless life—when will you come to help me? I will lead a life of integrity in my own home. I will refuse to look at anything vile and vulgar. I hate all who deal crookedly; I will have nothing to do with them. I will reject perverse ideas and stay away from every evil. Psalm 101:1-4 (NLT)

Have you ever asked the question – “Where are you God?” Particularly in difficult times we start looking around for God. We need Him. We need His help. We need His wisdom. We need His love. We need His grace. God gives us some parameters that when followed tell God that we believe in Him. And it’s when we believe in Him that He expresses His power and provision for what we need. So sing to the Lord about His love and justice. Sing songs of praise to Him. Lead a blameless life in public. Lead a life of integrity in private in your own home. Refuse to view anything that is empty, vulgar, obscene, dishonorable, or false. Detach yourself from anyone or anything that goes against God. The New American Standard translation says that anything that would pull me away from loving God “shall not fasten its grip on me.” Reject the perverse and reroute your life away from every sin. When we follow these parameters we are saying to God that we respect Him and revere Him. We’re saying that we really trust Him with our lives. It’s then that He expresses His grace, His power in our lives. Jesus said, “Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are blessed, for they will be filled.” Matthew 5:6 (HCSB)