ARE WE HAVING FUN YET? Part 2

Part 2 of 2: Take Five

Yesterday, I shared some of my early experiences with church and God. I communicated that I was attending church but was not “The Church.” I even mentioned that my life is so much better than the life I was trying to carve out without God at the helm. I encouraged anyone questioning their belief in God or struggling with the concept of church or church people to start developing a personal relationship with God. I suggested setting a date to read your Bible each day and keeping it. 

Today’s message is about sustaining a Jesus-focused lifestyle. With the high stakes, I wanted to remind us of some habits we can create to avoid pitfalls and promote a Jesus Culture in a wayward world. Not everyone wants us to be blessed. Our biggest enemy comes to kill, steal, and destroy. 

One of the ways the enemy works against you and me is by attacking our character. He doesn’t want us to have good behavior or a good relationship with God, so he baits us into situations that lead to failures and blemish our character. He did it with the first woman, Eve, in the Garden of Eden. That old devil cozied up to her and convinced her she’d be a fool not to eat the fruit and become as wise as God. He pitted her against her Creator by suggesting that God was holding out on her. Have you ever felt that way?

The enemy of Eve, and all of us, is still playing that same head game. “God is not being fair to you,” “You better take matters into your own hands,” “God doesn’t want me to have any fun,” and “Being a Christian is boring.” Like my pastor, I can tell you that if you feel that way, you are doing it wrong. But you are not alone.

Jesus’ followers in the Bible were dealing with that same tension in 1 Peter. The general population was doing what I used to do in my early adulthood—whatever felt good. They were following their fleshly desires. 

On the other hand, the church had responded to the world, “No, thank you. I am going to live according to God’s standards.” Consequentially, they were persecuted for their faith–like many of us today. The general population wanted the church to turn their backs on God and be their own gods. 

Peter tells the church, “They are surprised that you don’t join them in the same flood of wild living — and they slander you.” (1 Peter4:4)  

They slandered them. It should not shock anyone that we will be maligned for not indulging in all the ways of the world. People think we are strange. Old-fashioned. They call us haters and evil and say we are being self-righteous.

In situations like this, it can be tempting to deny our faith in God, to go with the flow, and avoid criticism. There is a saying, “If you can’t beat them, join them.”  

But Peter tells the church not to worry. He says of the slanderers, “They will give an account to the One who stands ready to judge the living and the dead.” (1 Peter 4:5)

Peter is explaining that the right to defend ourselves is unnecessary. We don’t have to scream, “You’re going to hell,” even if it appears that way. The church should stand up for righteousness, but we do not have to respond to every silly statement said about us. We would be too tired to pray if we did that. 

Instead, Peter gives the church a better way of handling the conflict with culture and the attack on our character. His lesson to them is a lesson for us now. Peter, the former rabble-rouser himself, gives them (and us) “Five” actions  to take when at an impasse:

Be Alert. Stay wide awake in prayer. 

Most of all, always love one another. Let love cover a multitude of sins. 

Be hospitable to each other without complaining. 

Serve each other with the gifts God has graced us, and be generous to others. 

Speak sparingly, and when you do, speak God’s words so that God is glorified through Jesus Christ in everything. 

The church pulled a counter-cultural move amid the chaos. Can you imagine how those outside the church looked at the church when it remained kind, loving to one another, prayerful, and at peace?

Peter understood. He had retaliated before. He knew “the end times are near” and that it was better to be an ambassador of God than to be an embarrassment. 

When we keep Five in focus, we show the world what a transformed life looks like. We offer them a Christ-filled community that keeps its cool in turbulent times. We show them the love of God when we maintain a Christ-like character.

We must be on our best behavior to represent this new life in Christ Jesus. In the end, we really want people to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior, just as we did. 

If you are easily distracted by all the facets of this busy world or get like me and want to scream when you see the horrible things happening, please take FIVE. Show off your transformative lifestyle. We do well to follow the Bible’s instructions and leave an opening for God to change the world. 

Thank you for reading and sharing. Yours for the Kingdom. Really,

Leah