Interactive Series

Radiance: Interactive

All scripture marked NKJV: The New King James Version. 1996, c1982 . Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

All scripture marked NLT: Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 1997. Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House.

One of the buzz-words of our society is the word “interactive”. To be up to date in any area, you must be “interactive” in some way.

“American Idol” is interactive because the viewers can vote on the winner.

Talk Radio is interactive because you can talk to the host.

Message Boards are interactive as they encourage others to participate in the conversation.

Video games are constantly looking for new ways to be more interactive—one example being Sony’s Eye Toy.

There is even the “Interactive Refrigerator.” The world’s first interactive refrigerator is to debut in North America this month. It has a satellite uplink to provide real-time weather forecasts. It has a 15 inch LCD screen for digital photos, digital memos, displaying up to 50 preloaded recipes, or connect it to a DVD player, USB drive, TV Cable or FM radio. It will even keep your food cold or frozen—after all it is a refrigerator.(www.cybernoon.com)

Everything seams to be interactive. Human interaction is the key to success in media and marketing.

Over the past several weeks we have discussed what it means to add light to our world. Radiation. Most of what we talked about was how to live your life differently, so that others will see and you will gain credibility to share the gospel.

But we must do more than just behave ourselves. We must become interactive.

It seems tat we are interested with being interactive in the culture, but it when comes to Christianity, all of a sudden Christianity becomes a private thing. Christianity is something that we don’t bring up in conversation with others.

If we are going to Radiate the light of Christ—we must interact with the world around us.

In Colossians 4:5-6, Paul gives us some instruction on how to interact with the society around you. Colossians 4 is found on page 1047 in the Red Bibles underneath your chairs.

As Paul was concluding his letters, he often added some instructions and encouragements to the people listening. In Colossians 4, he is doing just that and he gives us an understanding of how we should be interactive.

Colossians 4:5-6;

5 Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.

6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. (Col. 4:5-6, NKJV)

As we look to become interactive with those around us Paul teaches us to first;

1. Walk in wisdom.

The first part of verse 5 says to: “Walk is wisdom toward those who are in the outside.” Paul brings attention to his focus by adding the words “to those on the outside.” We should always walk in wisdom in all that we do—whether we are with Christians or just by ourselves—but Paul teaches us to pay special attention to walking in wisdom to those who are on the outside of the faith.

We are on display when we are with non-Christians. They are watching how we react, how we make decisions, and how we speak. We must walk in wisdom. We must live our lives seeking to make good decisions.

But, I think Paul is taking this a step further. We must live our lives seeking to make good decisions in our interaction with others. We need to use wisdom in how we communicate the gospel to those around us.

President George Bush is well known for his poor choices of words:

In 2005, Bush said;

"Those who enter the country illegally violate the law."

In 2004, He said;

"I believe that, as quickly as possible, young cows ought to be allowed to go across our border."

Then back in 2000,

"One of the great things about books is sometimes there are some fantastic pictures."

(www.about.com)

We all say things that we regret later, in every situation and with anybody. Some however hurt us and others. Sometimes they are said in anger. Sometimes they are said because we meant to say something else. My biggest problem comes when I say the first thing that comes to mind. It is amazing that I even got married.

When we are talking to those around us that are not Christians we must be careful to walk in wisdom and speak in wisdom.

This is not that we do not offend with the truth of the gospel, but that we ourselves do not become offensive, lest we make the gospel offensive by our own attitude and behavior.

So where do we find wisdom? Ho can we become wise?

John Piper says that

There are four sources of wisdom.

1) Meditation on the Scriptures.