Don't make the mistake of thinking that Jesus is honored, simply because Buddha is mocked...
Honoring Jesus is more than words, it is deep work, requiring alterations in our very character...
Truly honoring God requires the Spirit of the resurrected Christ at work in us. Not simply saying 'He is great' and 'everything else is junk.'
There are no short cuts to holiness. We do not get a pass on being good, by simply spouting the party line. God is not interested in people who want the outer trappings of godliness, but lack the desire to become godly.
I must confess, it is easier for me to see myself in good standing with God simply because I do 'Christian' things... this however, does not fool God. I cannot confuse God with political spin. I may be able to fool others into thinking my lack of drinking and swearing makes me a pious person, but God sees the way my heart responds to the customers that I deal with at work. He is not fooled by my knowledge of the Bible into thinking that I actually live out the message the Bible contains.
2 comments:
"Some sneer at ‘implicit religion’ and the inarticulate faith which (for instance) turns up at an Advent Carol Service but can’t say why. I don’t sneer at it; I want to work with it and nurture it, to take every spark of faith and help it, in its own time, to become a flame."
- N. T. Wright
This quote made me tear up; I desparately want to be the person who would 'work with' and 'nurture' the flickering faith that someone does have, instead of desparaging the lack of light and heat that they produce.
We have the much-vaunted model of Paul in Athens. When confronted with the obvious spiritual confusion of the Athenians, Paul did not mock them or blaspheme their idols; "I see that you are a religious people..." and so began Paul's proclamation of God's love in and through His Son.
May we be so gracious...
a-stinkin-men
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