I wrote this several months ago but I wanted to let it simmer for a while before I posted it...I think it burns stronger in my spirit today than it did back then...
At a meeting not too long ago, my husband and I sat in a restaurant eating our dinner. The meeting consisted of many Pentecostals and there were several other tables filled with brothers and sisters. Over my right shoulder, a group of men were seated at a table that was so close that I could not help but overhear their conversation (you know they had to be loud because I have a hard time hearing in crowded, loud situations). They began to discuss some “hot button” issues that the UPCI is facing right now. They went back and forth for a while and I had the privilege of being an outside observer. I did not know anyone in the group, nor did I even get a good look at them to see if I knew them by sight. But in listening to the things they had to say I felt something rise up in my spirit. I asked my husband if he could hear the topic of conversation. He had caught a few words and I explained what I was hearing.
As we talked, it occurred to me that if anything is wrong in our churches it is because there are too many who are making decisions about what is right and what is wrong - what it takes and what it doesn’t take – in the wrong places. We have misunderstood Paul’s words that we should, “Work out our own salvation...” The dinner table, the living room, the coffee house, etc., has never been where God intended these decisions to be made…He intended these things to be worked out at an altar and with the word of God in full view. We have become too wise in our own eyes. Our education has replaced consecration; our blessings have become our curse. We believe we are rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing; yet we do not realize that we are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked! I know who my friends are. I know what they believe. If I am looking for someone to agree with a “liberal” idea I have had, I know who to call. If I want someone to pat me on the back for my “conservative” view, I know who to talk to. However, the Word of God never changes. In the end, it is His word that will judge us. With that in mind, we should examine our lives in the light of His word to see “what it takes”. As we do this, I believe that the Holy Ghost will lead and guide us into all truth. There is no new truth revealed outside of the word of God; there is only undiscovered (and sometimes unlived) truth in the word of God.
Recently, one of my precious speech students gave a devotion that included the following quote:
The true follower of Christ will not ask, "If I embrace this truth, what will it cost me?" Rather he will say, "This is truth. God help me to walk in it, let come what may!"
--A.W. Tozer
“This is truth. God help me to walk in it, let come what may!” When we walk close to Him, no price will be too high. “What must I do to be saved” is entry-level Christianity and not at all appropriate for someone who claims to know Him. When we love Him, we will keep His commandments…regardless of the cost. And yes, it will cost. Today, however, I encourage you to stop fixating on the cost of discipleship. Instead, Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face. And the things of this world will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.
My prayers lately have turned in this direction: Lord, help me to walk in your ways and to live a life that honors you. Give me a spirit of purity and submission that I may be pleasing to you. Change my desires to reflect your desires. Fill me with the desire to live according to your commandments. Forgive me for being guilty of dinner table philosophies and help me to live according to your word.
