I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. -II Corinthians 10:2-5

     An electronic debate took place recently, among Christian writers, over whether Christians should use profanity. Similar debates occur regularly over the use of alcohol, smoking, working on Sundays, and other personal choices. Great sorrow must surely rock heaven's citadels each time these debates cause people to break fellowship, adding heartbreaking collateral damage to the brokenness rendered by the fighting itself.

     What's more troubling than the individual issues, however, is a growing shift away from Christ-centered sacrificial living. Where once the Church taught "we are bought with a price", and we learned to sing "I Surrender All", now we push back against teaching or authority we think threatens our personal rights or freedoms.

     As a result, the debates begin to sound a lot like teenagers who want to know "how far" they can go before physical activity becomes sex. Anyone asking how close to a fire they can dance will almost always get singed by that fire.  Some will be consumed by it.

     Such me-centered thinking marks us as unwilling to yield our "rights" to God's authority, and projects an ingratitude most Christians probably don't consciously intend. The apostle Paul stirringly argues against this by calling for us to "take captive every thought" and why he "begs us" to "present our bodies a living sacrifice."

     But submission and obedience borne out of gratitude aren't the only arguments for pressing hard for holiness. Often, the very act of denying ourselves our "rights" becomes the banner that proclaims Christ to a dying world. More faith conversations are borne out of choosing not to work on Sunday, or choosing not to swear, or choosing not to drink, than are ever created by exercising our freedoms and "rights" in those areas and others. It's why Paul asks us "to be careful that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak." Who cannot understand the majesty of that plea?  

     Let us resolve today to set aside our thoughts of self by resting our eyes on the Cross-that terribly majestic symbol of the cost of our salvation-pledging anew to leave no stone unturned in our effort to preach Christ, and please Him, by how we live our life.  

--Randy Kilgore

Randy@madetomatter.org

www.madetomatter.org