My thoughts on the responsabilities of a Christian in the world.
The Bible says in James 2:26 "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.". This is not to say that salvation can be earned for it is given by God to anyone who excepts the sactrafice of Jesus. It means that we are to be known by our actions. "Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do." James 2:18b
There are three areas I strongly believe that every person should be involved with, two that are lacking in the church in general.
Tith. Every believer in Christ is commanded to give 10% of thier income, the first 10% and God promises to watch over us and reward us. If every one tithed properly, not just pay a sitting fee of $5 or $10 as a pastor once said, the church would never be in need of material things. Every program would be supported, more missionaries could be supported and sent. The needs of the body would be met as is comanded that the church takes care of orphans and widows and less people would have to depend on the welfare system in addtions to the personal blessings you will receive.
Volunteering, both in the church and in the community. "to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up" Eph 4:12. Just as with tith, if every congragent gave of just one day a month to the church and one day to local community programs not only would every program in the church be saterated but we would be practising good citizenship and sharing Christ's love by supporting our local communities and teaching our children to do the same. The time does not have to be spent in any large project, it doesn't even have to be formal, nor do you have to be skilled in any particular area. We are all commanded to a life of servitude. Jesus lived a life of example of this truth. He says of Himself in Luke 22:27 "Yet I am among you as the One who serves." You could be an usher or greeter for a service, pick up trash at the local park or around your neighborhood with your kids, help in sunday school, painting over graphity, visiting the elderly or the sick or a thousand other ways. At the very least give back to an organisation which may have helped you in the past or even curently. We shouldn't do these things to get recognition for ourselves but to glorify God and if anyone asks why we are doing such things we should say as much and pray that the Lord helps us to use those oppertunities to share our witness of His love.
Family. The more electronic gagits and technological baubles that we aquire to better our lives the less time we spend with each other. This part I feel is the most difficult to practice on a regular basis. Children are blessings from God and we should take pleasure in our time with our wives, and husbands. When we are old all we have is our memories and all that others have when we are gone is thier memories of us. If you have the opption to work or stay home on a weekend think about what a day at the park with your kids or a walk along the water front is worth verses the extra time on a job that will probably be there on Monday anyway if you don't go in. When its a rerun turn off the television and bring out a board game or teach the family a new game. Turn off the computer once in a while (after you've gone through my site though). When you read the Bible read it out loud with the family and talk about what you just read. If you don't read the Bible, start with the whole family. After you watch a movie ask eachother what God says about issues that were in the movie. I believe that the two biggest changes we can make to change society for the better is to openly and puplicly acknowledge God and Jesus Christ and second to spend time with our children and be examples to them of how to live and love. Eph 6:4 says "Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord." |
