When we work for God, we are participating in God’s work. Just like when you work for a company, you are no longer working for yourself, but for your employer, even though you gain benefits from it (like a paycheck), even so those who work for God are not doing their own work, but the work of their boss, God himself. But what is this work? In general, what is God asking us to do?
1. Working for God is not working for the world
“Whatever you do, do your work as to the Lord, not for men.” Colossians 3:23
When we are working for the world, we are working for our own purposes or for the purposes of the world. Maybe we just want to survive, or to be comfortable. Maybe we want to continue living in sin, and so we work toward that. Maybe we want to be seen as good by other people, or to do something good for the world apart from what God says is good. Any of this would be acceptable to normal employers, because they don’t care why you work, as long as you work well. The Bible tells us not to work for the world, not only because it would be futile (Psalm 127:1; John 6:27), but because to work for the purposes of the world means we gain no reward (Matthew 6:1-4; I Corinthians 3:13-15).
Just because we are not to work for the purposes of the world, we can work for men, if it serves the purposes of God. Paul worked for men, so that he would care for his own needs while working for God. In fact, many people are required to work for others in order to work for God. We must remember two principles, however: a. we must work for God as much as we can, as well as work for men, and b. In working for men, we must work as if we were working for God—obey God’s principles of work, and work dilligently for those whom we work for. (John 6:27; Colossians 3:22-25; II Peter 3:10).
2. Working for God is not working under the law
“By the works of the law no flesh will be justified in God’s sight.” Romans 3:20
Many people do not want to do work for God, because they think that it is trying to gain “salvation by works.” The works that the Bible says we cannot be saved by is the works of the law. If we are in Christ, we cannot be saved by the works of the law, or any religious body. The Bible says that even though the law is good, it has no power to save, and it can be used to oppress or do evil to others. In this way, no one can be pleasing to God by the law. Even so, no one can be saved just by trying to obey some kind of religious rule, even if it comes from God (Romans 2:12-13; 7:12-14).
3. Working for God is believing in and obeying Jesus
“The work of God is this: to be faithful to the one whom He sent.” John 6:29
The key to working for God is faith, or loving God. We work for God because we love him through his Son, Jesus. To believe in Jesus is the foundation for all of our work for God, and it is an indication of how we love God. Another indication of our love of God is obeying Jesus (which we will speak of more, later). To obey Jesus based on our faith is not just an empty action—an act of the law— but it is displaying our great love for God. Nor are we working for the world, but we are doing what God is pleased to see us do—act in response to our faith in Jesus. (John 6:29; Mark 10:17-21)
4. Working for God is building up God’s kingdom
“Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” Matthew 6:23
The main purpose God wants us to work for is to build up his kingdom. This does not mean to create buildings or to buy up land. Rather, to build up God’s kingdom is to do the work of placing God’s word in people, and helping them to live it out. To build up the kingdom of God is to build up the people of God, to help them be in Jesus, to remain in him and to work for him. (Romans 14:19-20)
5. Working for God is following the Spirit of God
“If we live by the Spirit, let us walk by the Spirit.” Galatians 5:25
Our main directive in working for God is to obey the Spirit of God— God speaking to us, within us. It is the Spirit of God who will keep us from working for our own purposes, and it is the Spirit of God that will direct us into the next work God wants us to do. The Spirit gives us our abilities to work for God and the character with which to work. Our work is not complete unless we are working under the direction of the Spirit. Our work is not just a piece of paper which tells us our objectives—it is a partnership with God, in which he does the work and we work with Him. The Spirit is essential to make this partnership work.
Working for God is devotion to Jesus, for the purpose of building God’s kingdom, in partnership with God’s Spirit.
Showing posts with label world. Show all posts
Showing posts with label world. Show all posts
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Welcoming: Transforming Culture Part 2
Jesus told the disciples another story: "God's utopia is like a mustard seed, a tiny seed compared to most other seeds. But a man took that insignificant thing and planted it in his land and he let it grow. And when it grew up fully, it became a sturdy tree so strong that the birds rested in the branches. Even so, you, my disciples, are insignificant and the least. But when the Father and the Spirit are done with you, you shall be strong enough that the nations of heaven will rest comfortably within you."
This alternative society of Jesus is not to be a separatist society, but an evangelistic one. In other words, the church doesn’t protect its purity, but opens up its purity to all the world. All are to be welcome to be a part of the church, no matter how corrupt, no matter what they have done in the past, no matter how far from the ideal they are. The great task of the church is welcoming all who desire to be transformed into God’s people, and then to help them to become part of that.
We accept people as they are, but we are not content with who they are. All of us, should we be a part of Jesus, must be transformed into the image of Jesus. This is not something that happens overnight, nor does it happen before conversion. Rather, this is the process we go through that conversion begins. We assist each other, allowing the Spirit to create diamonds out of coal.
Thus, the church does not remain completely separate from the church. Jesus places parts of the church within the world, commanding them to welcome the world into the church. Within the world, the church holds onto its unique purity, a purity based on love of God and neighbor, and opens itself up to be understood by the world. More and more people become a part of this community, embracing Jesus’ ideals.
In this way, the world becomes the church. Individual by individual, family by family, soon tribes and even nations become a part of the community of Jesus’ love. People flock to be a part of the alternative community because it works better than other communities, and it is led by Jesus, our example of patience, faithfulness and endurance.
This alternative society of Jesus is not to be a separatist society, but an evangelistic one. In other words, the church doesn’t protect its purity, but opens up its purity to all the world. All are to be welcome to be a part of the church, no matter how corrupt, no matter what they have done in the past, no matter how far from the ideal they are. The great task of the church is welcoming all who desire to be transformed into God’s people, and then to help them to become part of that.
We accept people as they are, but we are not content with who they are. All of us, should we be a part of Jesus, must be transformed into the image of Jesus. This is not something that happens overnight, nor does it happen before conversion. Rather, this is the process we go through that conversion begins. We assist each other, allowing the Spirit to create diamonds out of coal.
Thus, the church does not remain completely separate from the church. Jesus places parts of the church within the world, commanding them to welcome the world into the church. Within the world, the church holds onto its unique purity, a purity based on love of God and neighbor, and opens itself up to be understood by the world. More and more people become a part of this community, embracing Jesus’ ideals.
In this way, the world becomes the church. Individual by individual, family by family, soon tribes and even nations become a part of the community of Jesus’ love. People flock to be a part of the alternative community because it works better than other communities, and it is led by Jesus, our example of patience, faithfulness and endurance.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Transforming Culture, Part 1
In his book, Christ and Culture, H. Richard Niebuhr wrote about how the church influences the world. He was right, that Jesus asks us—even demands—that we transform the world. However, he set up a false dichotomy between passivism and activism. As if those who do not act in the political manner in which he was used to, then they were not acting at all.
Jesus, on the other hand, presented a kind of transformationalism that is not necessarily politically active, but is powerfully active, nevertheless. He established the following principles:
a. Creating alternative communities
b. Being welcoming to all who desire transformation
c. Gently, patiently influencing without force
d. Attacking the forces behind the evil
1. The church as salt
You are salt—essential for the world. But if you lose the basic qualities that make you important, you cannot regain them. You will be useless, cast out of God’s kingdom and trampled.
You are light—God’s glory and truth in the world. You are the kingdom of God to come, and you cannot be hidden. Nor should you be hidden—God’s glory should be displayed, not hidden. So display the true righteousness of God before everyone, so that people will see your acts of God and so glorify the Father. Matthew 5:13-15
The church is not a building, an organization or a political force. Rather, the church is, according to Jesus, an alternative society, a unique people, a separate nation which lives by God’s law of love. The church, in the form Jesus established it, is a group of people who are living according to Jesus’ principles of love. The church is made up of the outcast of society, engaged in community not to just improve ourselves, but to love all of those in need. And we strive to live out the principles of love found in Jesus’ law—we do not insult, we do good to those who persecute us, we do not look with lust, we keep our promises, we do our religious deeds before God, not for people’s being impressed, we do not judge others, but we are constantly repenting of our sin and forgiving those who repent. And we will strive not to be put in a situation—like the military or addiction to drugs—that will cause us to act in opposition to this way of life.
We will look and act different for all this. The world will see us as strange, as ignorant, as naïve or even as hateful because we will stand with Jesus, no matter what anyone else says or does to try to promote us or to try to oppose us. At times, we will act different from that which the world calls “the church” or “Christianity.” “And this is because a majority of the church is caught up in the ways of the world, and has become a part of the world—focusing on education, on politics, on judging, on intellectualism, on power and the manipulation of it. And so they, the façade church, looks at the church of Jesus, and thinks that they’ve missed the point.
The church of Jesus is a community, not a political party. It doesn’t seek to compromise its ideals so it can fit better into the world. It doesn’t seek to give a message less than the love of Jesus, ever. If it changes it’s ideal of love and mercy and hope in God’s future, then it is no longer the community of Jesus, but a part of the very empire it seeks so hopelessly to transform. The compromised church is in a place to be transformed, not to create transformation.
Jesus, on the other hand, presented a kind of transformationalism that is not necessarily politically active, but is powerfully active, nevertheless. He established the following principles:
a. Creating alternative communities
b. Being welcoming to all who desire transformation
c. Gently, patiently influencing without force
d. Attacking the forces behind the evil
1. The church as salt
You are salt—essential for the world. But if you lose the basic qualities that make you important, you cannot regain them. You will be useless, cast out of God’s kingdom and trampled.
You are light—God’s glory and truth in the world. You are the kingdom of God to come, and you cannot be hidden. Nor should you be hidden—God’s glory should be displayed, not hidden. So display the true righteousness of God before everyone, so that people will see your acts of God and so glorify the Father. Matthew 5:13-15
The church is not a building, an organization or a political force. Rather, the church is, according to Jesus, an alternative society, a unique people, a separate nation which lives by God’s law of love. The church, in the form Jesus established it, is a group of people who are living according to Jesus’ principles of love. The church is made up of the outcast of society, engaged in community not to just improve ourselves, but to love all of those in need. And we strive to live out the principles of love found in Jesus’ law—we do not insult, we do good to those who persecute us, we do not look with lust, we keep our promises, we do our religious deeds before God, not for people’s being impressed, we do not judge others, but we are constantly repenting of our sin and forgiving those who repent. And we will strive not to be put in a situation—like the military or addiction to drugs—that will cause us to act in opposition to this way of life.
We will look and act different for all this. The world will see us as strange, as ignorant, as naïve or even as hateful because we will stand with Jesus, no matter what anyone else says or does to try to promote us or to try to oppose us. At times, we will act different from that which the world calls “the church” or “Christianity.” “And this is because a majority of the church is caught up in the ways of the world, and has become a part of the world—focusing on education, on politics, on judging, on intellectualism, on power and the manipulation of it. And so they, the façade church, looks at the church of Jesus, and thinks that they’ve missed the point.
The church of Jesus is a community, not a political party. It doesn’t seek to compromise its ideals so it can fit better into the world. It doesn’t seek to give a message less than the love of Jesus, ever. If it changes it’s ideal of love and mercy and hope in God’s future, then it is no longer the community of Jesus, but a part of the very empire it seeks so hopelessly to transform. The compromised church is in a place to be transformed, not to create transformation.
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