How to live the Christian Life Series
‘How to shine as a Christian – Part 4 of 12’
Acknowledgement: Dr. Henry Schorr
Good morning. Have you ever wondered what kind of testimony do you have in the community? What kind of a testimony do you have on your block? What kind of a testimony do you have at work? Those are good questions. I often think about that. I also think what kind of a testimony do we have as a church?
Wouldn’t you agree we have a long way to go? I often wonder what the waitresses would say in the Howie, the Lakeview and other places. They know who the believers are. Would they say we are rude or kind? Would they say we are the worst tippers? What would they say? Would they notice any difference between me and an unbeliever? Would they know me as a complainer or a joyful and content person?
I have been fascinated by the testimony and story of Lee Strobel. Lee was a journalist for the Chicago Tribune. By his own testimony he was ruthless. He liked his high end lifestyle of work, travel and partying. By his own admission he was an atheist. He had no time for his family – they just got the leftovers. God began to work in his wife Leslie. Through a series of events and God’s leading Leslie gave her heart to Jesus. By Lee’s own admission he was stunned when she told him she had become a Christian.
He thought great there goes our fun. She will become a sexual prude and it is all downhill from here. He watched her carefully for two years. Then, by his admission, because of her nagging, he started attending church services.
Like many men he went to church to appease her. Lee says he was aggressively looking for hypocrites in the church. Since he was a journalist he wanted to disprove Christianity.
All around you people like Lee are seeking answers. They have their hypocrisy antennas sky high. They wonder is this Christianity real or not? They are looking at your life. What are they seeing?
In the last section of Philippians the Holy Spirit clearly says that one day every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
In Matthew 25 Jesus gives the parable of the sheep and the goats. You may attend a church. You may fool people. But not one of us will fool Jesus. He will just say ‘away from me.’ I never knew you. Without faith and trust in Jesus hell is your destination. That is why you need to be in prayer about our Christmas services. That is why you need to invite people to our Christmas evening service.
But if you genuinely know Jesus you will be welcomed into his heaven forever.
Obviously were not there yet. So between now and then God has called you to his greater purpose in the Red Lake area. God is calling you to reflect his love to others around us. Paul wants to give his Philippians’ church principles on how to shine for Jesus. He knows they are not always showing the love of Jesus to others.
As we saw last week Jesus let go of his rights and served others. With that in mind let’s stand together and read Phil. 2:12-18.
Paul lays out three principles for how to shine for Jesus:
1. Obey the Lord (vs. 12)
Obeying the Lord evidences itself in following the lead of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Jesus is the example here. In his discourse to the disciples he said ‘If you love me you will obey me.’ What does obeying Jesus look like to you as you go to some Christmas party full of booze?
In order to obey we must first be listening. God had called me to lead this church. I spend a lot of time in prayer listening to his voice. That means things like the direction of the church, what to preach on, how to shepherd the church. I must pray, listen, and then obey.
It is not going through the motions of being a pastor.
Most of us can recall as a child obeying our parents while in the room with them. But remember what happened after they left?
Coming here and being religious does not cut it. What you do when nobody else is looking really shows your true character.
How about the times you look at those unsavory websites? How about the times you drink too much? How about the times you selfishly spend time on yourself instead of choosing to be with other Christians?
Christianity is not to be a checklist of do’s and don’ts. It is having a channel open to God all day. It is a mindset that ‘Jesus I am available to you today.’ You lead and I will follow. It is a wonderful and freeing way to live. That is what it means to obey the Lord.
2. Living authentically (work out your salvation)
There is firm proof that we do not have to work our way to heaven. Paul does not say to work for your salvation. He says to work out your salvation. There is a big difference here.
Let’s be clear. Salvation is a work of God (Eph. 2:8-9).
But as I said last week you’re not saved to sit and soak. You have been saved to do good works (James 2:14 NCV). So faith without good works is no faith at all.
What happens when you do a physical workout? You do not physically work out to get a physical body. You work out to develop the body that God has already given you.
Now God has given you his Holy Spirit. Your body, not this building is a temple of the Holy Spirit. But your spiritual muscles need spiritual growth.
Spiritual growth is a cooperative venture between us and God. You do not grow spiritually alone; God is also working in us.
When Paul says work it out with fear and trembling he is not saying for you to be fearful about whether you’re going to make it to heaven or not?
He is saying to Calvary church ‘don’t neglect the incredible opportunity to live out our faith in a God honoring way.’
Not one of us will live out our Christian life in a perfect way this side of heaven – so relax; we are the best church on the block.
Remember this – God is not as concerned about the perfection in our lives as he is with the direction of our lives.
The direction He wants from us is a broken and a contrite heart; really a humble heart.
Last week we looked at the example of Jesus for how to get along, how to serve in the church.
He did not demand his rights. He gave them up to set us free.
So work out your salvation like Jesus, with a humble heart.
Let your prayer be ‘Lord I want to be all that you want me to be.’
So how do we live the authentic Christian life?
In Matthew chapter five Jesus says ‘you are the salt of the earth.’
He also says you are the light of the earth.
Jesus is calling us to be the salt and light of the Red Lake area.
You are the vehicle through which Jesus kingdom will come to this area.
My life, your life, will either point others toward Jesus or away from them. My life, your life will either draw people to this church or away from it.
Concept of salt in Jesus day meant purity, sincerity, and preservation.
In Jesus day the Hebrews would get salt from the unlimited supply on the South West corner of the Dead Sea. The outer layer of this salt was full of impurities. As a result it was tasteless and valued as worthless.
This useless salt was used in warfare. There was an ancient custom that that attacking army would spread this salt over the vegetation making the land useless for crops.
Jesus and Paul want our lives to be useful for his kingdom purposes. When the impurities of this world infiltrate our lives and faith community the world stops watching.
People can argue with your ideas, your strategy for the church, your theology, but not with a godly life.
If everyone was just like you what would our world look like? If every church was like ours, what would our churches look like?
If there is impurity, envy, greed and idolatry in our lives – the Bible calls us to repent.
When I became a Christian an amazing thing happened in my life. I met three people. One I knew for a long time. He was a former drug dealer, womanizer, and party animal. He was always unhappy with a chip on his shoulder. The Bible verses they shared with me were like water off a duck’s back. What spoke to me was the dramatic change in their lifestyle. They spent an entire afternoon with me waterskiing. There was no alcohol, not even one bottle of beer. There were no cigarettes or other vices. I was literally stunned. They could have fun without all of our destructive habits.
This is a true story of a man who became a Christian. He asked his boss of he could have a meeting with him. The boss had heard about this fellow having a religious experience. He was apprehensive because he thought the guy was going to try to convert him.
So here he was sitting in the boss’s office. The young man sat there quietly hanging his head. Then he looked up.
The first thing he said was I want to ask for your forgiveness.
He said ‘I have not been a person of integrity.’ I have cheated on the clock and left early.’ I took pens home. I made personal copies on the copier. I was wrong. If you decide to fire me I understand. If you want me to work extra to pay you back I will.
The owners jaw dropped. The interesting thing is he wasn’t really preached at – or was he?
Never underestimate the power of a sincere apology; a godly and changed life.
Salt creates thirst. Try eating just one ripples potato chip. You cannot eat just one chip. They are salty which creates a thirst for more.
When people look at our lives here do they thirst more for the living Jesus?
Chuck Swindoll says an appropriate grave marker for many might be died at thirty and buried at eighty? Are we living for Jesus or just putting in time?
Is your life somber and joyless?
If our lives are joyless we have bought wholesale into the values of our culture. You fight this war and so do I.
There is no greater joy than living your life in obedience to Jesus.
When you do others will be naturally attracted to the savior. If we have lives like that we will not have to be concerned one bit about the vision of the church. This place will be packed.
People will think ‘everyone else is worried about their rights, money and time? Why are you not like that?
When someone asks you that question be honest and transparent.
You begin to do that and this church and community will never be the same.
3. We shine for Jesus when we guard against negative attitudes.
Were not referring to people who have our best interests at heart here; in other words someone can argue with you about something and have your best interests at heart.
When the focus is for our benefit or the good of our church then the discussion, if done in a godly way, is a good thing.
On the other hand complaining is a kill joy. There was a time in my life when I went to bed negative and woke up negative. Instead of rise and shine it was rise and whine.
The sign of a whiner is ‘it’s just not fair.’ No one appreciates me anymore.
Then there is the cynic – nothing will ever change in the Red Lake area. Reaching hundreds for Jesus forget it. Revival – forget it.
Then there are the perfectionists – nothing is ever quite good enough. There is always a problem, with everything. Nothing destroys a family, friendship, or church faster than these negative attitudes.
How do we guard against these attitudes?
First we admit we have a problem.
Second we confess it to a friend.
Third we ask a person to hold us accountable.
That is what it means to repent.
That is what it means to begin to change our attitudes.
It means when your accountability partner says ‘attitude check’ you stop. Then don’t beat them up for telling you to stop complaining.
Lets me honest we can spot those kinds of attitudes in others just like that. But we are blind to see it within our own lives.
If someone was to record my conversation for the last year and analyze it what would it look like?
That is the beginning of change – admitting there is a problem here.
Then we accept responsibility for our own lives (Prov. 19). We stop pinning the blame on God or others.
Are you responsible with your time, money, and how you serve God and others?
Do you appreciate others?
We reap what we sow. If were not thankful with one another here then were being ungrateful. Let’s sow an attitude of gratitude.
How do we sow an attitude of gratitude?
The key is being thankful for what we do have. That is my greatest struggle; too often thinking about what we do not have or what we have lost.
Do not destroy today by not letting go of yesterday. Did you know that grumbling and complaining is a habit that will kill the church?
Replace it with a thankful attitude
Focus on building others up
Imagine if at Goldcorp 100% of all complaining stopped and good attitudes prevailed.
Ditto families
Ditto churches
4. Paul says we must not only obey the Lord, live authentically, guard against negative attitudes, but must hold out the word of life
I am really concerned that we have too many God opened doors and are not sharing the hope of Jesus with others.
How many times are we just a light for Jesus and walk away without sharing that light?
There is an incredible problem with that.
Supposing you stop and help someone who is stuck in the snow. They will hopefully say thank you. If you say your welcome and just drive away you have missed a God opened opportunity.
If you drive away then they will tell someone a nice man stopped to help me. They will be bringing glory to you.
If you, however, take the time to say something like ‘well I never used to be like that. But one day Jesus came into my life and he is changing my attitudes. It is only because Jesus has given me so much that I want to give back to others. God loves you today and that is why I stopped.
While that person may not become a Christian right there both your attitudes and words have brought glory to Jesus.
You bring honor to Jesus when you tell someone what he has done in your life (in a tactful way). Remember a Christian who is abrasive is never persuasive.
Conclusion
You are not alone in this. God plus you equals a majority. Paul wrote that God is at work in you (vs. 13). God gives you the desire to work and obey him. The question is, will you listen and follow?
When Jesus is living in you he compels you to want to do what is right and pleasing to God. The Holy Spirit will give you the power to act and live for him.
The word of God is at work in you through the power of the Holy Spirit. That same power is released in and through us. We have a responsibility to read and meditate on God’s word.
The life changing power of God is found in the words of God and not in the words of man.
That is why I preach; because it changes people forever.
You might think I wish I had more faith like you. Well the Bible says ‘Faith comes by hearing the word of God.’ If you have little faith then you need to spend more time reading the word of God.
As we give God permission the Spirit will help us (Eph 5:18)
In the same way an alcoholic is controlled by booze we are to be controlled by the Holy Spirit.
Ask God in faith do His work through you.
If Calvary is dependent on God to do what we cannot do for ourselves then were in a good place.
If you want to know if you’re dependent on God then check your prayer life.
Whatever you’re not praying about your not depending on God for.
Whatever you are praying about you are depending on God for.
You see depending on God means that you’re in a spirit or prayer continuously.
Invite Jesus to do your day with you.
Then you will see God’s power living out through you.
You will be letting your light shine out through you
There are many people God is working in already, and they are shining like the stars, right here in Calvary.
That is what I wish for all of us. That is what I wish for Calvary
Then our faith will grow by leaps and bounds
I believe in all my heart that Jesus is doing a work in me
When I preach I pray Lord this is not about me; it is about you.
Prayer
Obey the Lord
Live authentically
Guard against negative thinking
Hold out the word of life
