Decades ago in order to encourage believers and non-believers to “live right” according to both Biblical and or cultural standards, a message that focused on Eternal Damnation and Christ’s Eminent Return seemed to the best tactic of Pastors and Evangelists. Right and wrong were made to appear so black and white. As the church has evolvedthere has been a gradual but definite shift in this message. Overall, instead of scaring people into Heaven, we focus on loving them into Heaven. While there are still “absolutes” when it comes to the foundations of Christianity, standards of Christian behavior have become more “gray” especially with the focus on Christ’s unconditional love for us. Some requirements of Christian behavior are listed plainly in His Word, and we can’t ignore them. But many areas that could be considered “compromise” are not as clear cut as some would like them to be and as they were once taught in our churches.
I personally have a great appreciation for the change in the message of the Church. Following Christ’s ministry, it is clear that He brought a message of hope rather than despair. I love to have conversations about the Word of God. I love to study the background behind the scriptures and discuss it with people who I respect and those who have a genuine desire to grow and learn as I do. Therefore, I don’t believe we should go back to creating our belief system and standards based on fear or condemnation, but I believe the message of Christ’s Return shouldn’t be neglected.
Consider this…
Jesus knew it was coming, and he spent the last week of his life sharing all of the most important truths that He could with the disciples. But by far the larger part of Christ’s discourse is devoted to the subject of His Coming Again. The disciples had been in the presence of their Master, and now they would be without Him. Think about it. With His death only 3 days away and knowing that His disciples would be stunned almost out of their faith, Jesus pointedly and allegorically teaches the disciples that they will ONE DAY realize their hopes in a greater way than they could have ever dreamed. In summary, He told them to keep their “eye on the prize.” The prize was not their earthly life. It was their heavenly one.
In the parable of the Ten Virgins found in Matthew 25:1-13 Jesus tells his disciples to “stay awake” spiritually even though they do not know when He will come again. All the women in this story wanted to meet the bridegroom. It was only the ones that were awake and prepared, though, who were able to be with Him when He came in the night time. The others relaxed and fell asleep.
It reminds me of how we, as Christians, become apathetic toward our daily devotions, convictions, and passion to help people. As we focus on our flesh, our spirit becomes weak. I believe based on scripture, that God wants us to enjoy each other and have an abundant life. But when we prioritize what this World has to offer by how we use our time, talent, and money, we will find ourselves stagnant and asleep spiritually. “Whatever we feed grows, and whatever we starve dies.” In this place, we position ourselves to miss out on God’s presence and we miss out on being able to “know His voice” when He is speaking to us. Now, I’m not suggesting we all go live as martyrs and walk around holding signs up that say “The End is Near.” But we mustn’t forget that HE IS COMING. He is hoping that we will not be so preoccupied with this life that we miss out on the next.
Now that I am a big girl, with kids of my own, I have done a lot of reevaluating of my standards and beliefs. As a “grown-up”, it is easy to let go of the zeal or reckless abandonment associated with reaching the lost and spending daily time with God as I had in my younger years. It’s easy to justify laughing at adult jokes, seeing adult movies, engaging in adult activity, because after all, I’m an adult. Also as an adult, I have noticed that I care much less about what people think about my choices. However, the scriptures plainly show that I represent God by how I live. Titus 2:7-8, teaches us all to share Christ with others through our actions. It says that we should show ourselves to be an example of “good deeds”… sound in speech… and beyond reproach so that our opponent will have nothing bad to say about us. In Titus 2:14 and 3:8, it speaks of Christ’s zealousness for our “good deeds” and that as Christians we should be “careful to engage in good deeds because these things are profitable for men.” Colossians 3:17 says “that whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus.”
It is verses like these that remind me to steer clear of certain indulgences- not only for my own sake, but for the sake of others. My husband and I do our best to keep each other in line with the boundaries that we have agreed upon through prayer and scripture study. But what helps me the most is thinking about the joy and fulfillment that is to come when I am united with my heavenly Father. This life is so short in comparison to eternity. I miss conversations and messages in churches that discuss heaven. Keeping our eyes on others and His second coming will help us as we navigate what is acceptable and what is BEST for us to do in this life.
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