Undefiled and Infectious

I have been thinking a lot about the kind of ministry I would like to have. I have seen so much divisiveness in the church and the people it ministers to. There seems to be the group that wants to barricade themselves in their sanctuary and let only those in who make it past the front doors. Then they are wary of those people because of the backgrounds they come from. Some of them forget that they too at one point in their lives had a background that wouldn’t let them into their church. They talk about saving the sinners and once they introduce them to Christ they never let them forget the fact that they were sinners. Then there is the group that wants so much to reach the world and show it that Christians can be like them to. They want them to see that becoming a Christian doesn’t mean changing your style and likes. Some in this group go too far in trying to do this and you can’t see where they stop and the world begins. They offer a watered down version of salvation in that the title on the badge changes but the lifestyle doesn’t. They just become worldly Christians. Is there a happy medium that is happy without being compromising? Is there a less formal more outreaching Christianity that we can look to as an example in our modern times?

As modern as we would like to think that we have become, the bible remains true in that it says “there is nothing new under the sun.” We only have to look in it to find examples of men who have remained true to their convictions and callings in the world without being defiled. We can look at Daniel who in chapter 2 of his book saved the lives of all the wise men in the King’s Court. They were all in the order of execution issued by the king for being frauds and not being able to fulfill his request of detailing his dream. When Daniel says that he can do as the king wishes and comes through, he does not say that the other wise men were frauds. He does not tell the king that he and his friends are the only ones who should be spared since the magicians, sorcerers and other religious men could not perform what the king ordered. Instead he steps in on all their behalf and saves their lives because he can. Does he push his beliefs on others in the group after this saying that his is the only way to believe? No. In doing what he did simply it is how he believed, I am sure he opened the door to conversations about his beliefs with the others who were in the court. He was in the world, not affected by it and not changed by it.

Jesus was in the world. He was not affected by in it other than to have compassion on those around Him. He was not changed by it and it did not defile him. He walked with sinners; He ate and drank with them. Where the religious leaders of that time would say that He was defiled by allowing some of them to touch Him or be with Him, He was just showing them that they mattered in the eyes of God and to Him. He had compassion on them. As members of the church we need to not be abrasive and “in your face” with our beliefs. We need to move as the Spirit guides us and let our lives be our key to open the doors of lives that haven’t been touched yet. I can love a person who is living in sin but not love the sin they are living in. When you turn away a soul because of their sin you turn away the soul who needs to be reached. You confirm the stereotypes of Christians being the hateful, un-accepting hypocrites that many have made us out to be. When you reach out to someone who is living in sin and love them for being a person, but never confusing that compassion with acceptance of their lifestyle, and the person can see it is genuine, the opportunities to introduce them to the saving grace we know will come.

This is a long way to say that the fact that Daniel saved all of the wise men with his faithfulness to god and to his beliefs impressed me. He did not seek the credit with the king but was quick to ascribe all the glory to God. He worked as a whole with the other people of different faiths but never allowed them to defile his beliefs, but I am sure he infected theirs.

Father let me open to those who need you regardless of what they look like, like Daniel let my love for you be infectious. Amen.