When I step away from America for a few days, I always notice how my faith if filtered through a capitalistic mindset. (Work Harder! Get an education! Don't be lazy! Make Money and you will find happiness!)
But when you look at a place like Sri Lanka you see other factor working behind the scene. Religious bondage, caste systems, spiritual strongholds, evil agendas that lead to child trafficking, government corruption, prostitution, indentured servitude and slavery.
We look at our faith through rose colored glasses, and we have to make sure the rose colored filter isn’t democracy or capitalism or American patriotism. (It should be JESUS)
The bible isn’t written by anyone who lived in a democracy. It's written with a "kingdom mindset.
In Romans 3:23 Paul says, "We all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
We’re all sinners, we all need God’s grace and his love and where sin abounds, his grace is so much thicker.
When we read the bible, the main principles don’t say, "work harder and you’ll make more money and have a better life."
Paul says “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." It’s him working through me that makes it possible!
This trip to Sri Lanka has reminded me that living out my faith is so much more than our American style of evangelism. It’s about being the same person in America and Sri Lanka because Jesus Christ has changed me from the inside out.
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The question is: Are you more American than you are Jesus? (Is your patriotism and your politics coloring your world view more than Jesus is?)
It’s about being the same person at home with your family as you are at work with your students or your customers. Either Christ has changed you or he hasn’t. It’s simple. So you can’t separate who you are if he has changed you.
Paul writes about the fruit of the spirit in Galations 5: Love, Joy Peace, Patience Kindness, Goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. As we grow in our relationship with God, these things will shine from us. God will use our fruit to attract people and they see our heart and how He’s changed our life!
So I challenge you to make a decision today- to live your life from a Christ centered world view from now one- wherever you are.
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Don’t leave your faith at home. Live your life with your relationship with Christ as the filter on how you interact with the world. That doesn’t mean separating yourself from the world. It means being in the world, but not of it.
Your relationship with God is the filter you use when you watch movies, when you decide where to hang out with your friends, how you set up your dating relationships or the way you manage your household and your marriage, how you see TV and interpret the news and politics. Our relationship with Christ has the be the center and it has to be the filter if you want to make a real impact on the culture you live in!
The Smurfs, Cowboys & Aliens (Harrison Ford/Daniel Craig) and Crazy Stupid Love (Steve Carell) opened this weekend. Click here and see if they are family friendly.
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