Since the big split about 80 to 90 years ago that caused fundamentalism and liberalism to be at each other’s throats, there has been a controversy about how much if any Christians should engage the culture. This early twentieth century time period was certainly not the beginning of the debate, simply the exacerbation of it. In the time of Nero, simply being a Christian meant you engaged the culture, and Christians were seen as a threat because of the gospel they believed. No active voice was even required – the belief itself caused the culture to react violently to them. Such was the case to a greater or lesser extent up until the time of Constantine, when it became acceptable to be a Christian. Nonetheless, Christianity had been largely compromised by that time, and either genuine or feigned acceptance (depending on whose account of history you believe) by Constantine made the church the culture. Unfortunately for many hundreds of years, the culture and the organized church were indistinguishable, and the organized church lost its spiritual power and became very corrupt. A faithful remnant has always existed from the time of Christ until now, but it was far out of the mainstream.

A corrupt church bodes disaster for the culture. Frankly, I believe that is why our culture is so debased. If the salt has lost its savor, how can the world be salted? We have in America today a debased and corrupt church. Too hard an assessment you say? I earnestly wish it were. We have an organized church which by and large does not believe much of the Bible, views sin as inevitable, and requires little beyond attendance and money from the majority of its members. A few are serious about the Lord, but it is pretty well accepted that the majority will be more interested in the things of this world than in serving Christ. In actuality, if the Holy Spirit had his way in many churches, so many people would be doing the work of the ministry that these churches would implode financially. There is a financial disincentive in the churches for people to actually obey the Lord. Actually, the personal life choices of Christians do not vary to the extent one would expect. Divorce in the Southern Baptist Church, for example, is actually HIGHER than the overall society according to one statistic I saw. I really hope that was skewed somehow, but regardless, divorce should be practically unknown in the church. Foul language, sexual, sports, and entertainment preoccupations, and material gods are not as rare in the organized church as one would hope. The church has not acted like a city set on a hill for some time. It loses its ability to be a prophetic institution as long as its leaders REGULARLY are caught in sexual and financial sins and as long as the ideas of men and women are layered on the gospel, compromising if not snuffing out its power in many venues.

You may say to me, “See, I told you so – look what happens when the church engages the culture – we become just like it!” I object! I am NOT in favor of the church and the American culture (or any other culture for that matter) becoming indistinguishable. I am not looking for a return to the 1950’s or other times in American history when Christian values were more accepted in principle if not actually followed. I see the “Good Old Days” as not so good – particularly if you were a minority, a woman, a poor person, or a member of a politically weak branch of Christianity. I don’t want revival, because we were NEVER where we were supposed to be. I want something infinitely better than ever existed before! Barely 20% of our country were committed church folks by the time of the American Revolution DESPITE the first great awakening. The religion of our country stressed strong personal morality, but only in some areas. Slavery, partiality, and religious intolerance (with unbelievable cruelty) were the order of the day. Our constitution did not even guarantee freedom of religion – that came later in the Bill of Rights. At least two of our first five presidents did not believe Jesus was the Son of God (John Adams and Thomas Jefferson). The effects of the enlightenment in France had a profound affect in early America. Harvard was officially Unitarian early in the 1800’s. I have seen the revisionist history written by Christians which is not honest with the realities of that time. No wonder the world ignores it. I am also not looking to a return to the second great Awakening in the early nineteenth century when the pietists cried out before God on their knees but still largely tolerated slavery and a host of other social ills. Frederick Douglass’ accounts of prayer on Sunday and whippings on Monday make one wonder how much of Jesus these folks actually knew. After all, a changed life is THE evidence of salvation, and the fruits of the Holy Spirit are THE evidence of his residency in one’s life. I am not looking to return to the days when Christians ignored the world and went to camp meetings singing about heaven and isolating themselves from hurting people. I am not looking for a return to the days (which unfortunately still exist in many quarters) when churches were segregated and the racial attitudes differed not one whit from Satan’s. I would certainly like to reclaim the good, but a lot of filters are for real in order. While those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it, the spiritual renewals that occurred in the past is not sufficient for today. We need EVERYTHING God has for us and we must not compromise by rejecting ANYTHING he is doing to change and bless his people.

Now I surely KNOW that Christianity and ANY secular culture are incompatible. The Bible was not simply referring to the Romans. Anything not based upon the Kingdom of God and his righteousness will be an enmity with the true church, even if run by religious folks with high moral values! Look at the Jewish culture of Jesus’ time – it was actually more hostile to the gospel than the Roman culture was. Time after time Paul was listened to and embraced in the Roman world until the Jewish leaders stirred up the crowds against him. Do not be deceived. The Pharisees of our day would be no kinder to the Jesus’ brand of Christianity than the Pharisees of Jesus’ day. I am not looking to elect people to office simply because they say they have a Christian testimony. I am not looking to gain political power and make sinners act like Christians. The fact is, they can’t! That is why Christ abolished the law! Man is unable to live righteously under the law! Even the chosen people of God in a theocratic form of government. No, our message is the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. We seek to promote the righteousness of God in the world through the indwelling Christ.

I am simply advocating that we engage the culture by bringing the claims of Jesus Christ to the world in any way we can. Through the media; through drama; through music; through debate; through writing letters to the editor; through joining curriculum committees and required reading committees in the schools; through supporting the cause of preborn infants; yhrough supporting those are oppressed worldwide; through serving as ward leaders and serving the local communities; through joining the fire departments and the rescue squads to bring the compassion and selfless love of Jesus to those who need it; through making posts on bulletin boards presenting the gospel to technically oriented young people who often express extreme hostility to the gospel – some of these kids are attached to their computer hours per day – the only way you will reach them is to reach into their world and present Christ where they live.

Jesus engaged people on every level. He also engaged their culture – their ideas, their values, their preferences, their total lives. He did not follow the agenda of the world or let what he did be determined by the world. We must also not be like those Christians whose causes are determined by those in world, regardless of motive and regardless of the apparent morality of what the world is doing. Everything we do must be according to the agenda of the father for each of our lives.

A new life in Christ changes everything. Jesus knows that it is essential to change every-thing in a person's life. He calls men and women to follow him – to leave what is important to them, and to embrace what is important to God. Jesus used parables to teach the people. He used examples from their culture and from their lives to show them the ways of God. Jesus engaged people everywhere while never conforming to them. We need to also engage the people today without being conformed to their ways of thinking or behavior. How do we do that? How DO we avoid compromise?

believing the Bible and doing what it says. Jesus did this perfectly. He believed everything his Father said. He never compromised with evil. He was tempted in all points as we are, yet he NEVER sinned. He did EVERYTHING the Father wanted him to do. Nothing more, nothing less. Jesus is the Pattern Son. As the adopted sons and daughters of God, we are called to do the same. Nothing less will accomplish what God wants to do during our time on this earth.

It often appears to us that the people we have to deal with are an impediment to our growth. They seem to be obstinate, oppositional, and determined that we don’t win at anything we try. The bosses God gives us appear to be unsympathetic, unreasonable, and unappreciative. The friends God gives us decline to attend our pity parties and when we are truly in deep trouble they seem to be oblivious to the trials we are facing – saying they will pray but remaining as distant as possible. Even our spouses can be our harshest critics and at times we wonder if they really understand us at all.

Is God a masochist or do we simply not understand his plans and purposes? The first is unthinkable so we have to go with the latter! God’s ways, after all, are not our ways and our thoughts are not his thoughts. We like to fantasize about being God and how we would do it. We think we would solve problems more quickly, have discipline be less painful, and in general have a happier crew in the good ship Lollipop.

It is a good thing we are not in charge! Just look at the mess each person makes of their own life when they try to control it themselves. Look at the world at how leaders time after time after time make poor decisions and do not do things God’s way. God has other ideas, and he has various tools in his arsenal to use in accomplishing his ends. These tools include humbling us, breaking us, sharpening us, motivating us, encouraging us, refining us, and polishing us. Some of the work is done by God himself, but most of the time he uses people. God PUTS people in our lives to do his work, and we had better let the work be done or we will have to march around the same mountain or mountains time and time again.

I remember my old pastor saying God kept some difficult people in the church that he could never really help. They were there to keep him humble. God wants us to have a sane opinion of ourselves, and people are very good at reducing any insane opinions we may have about ourselves.

The same pastor also said that we cannot choose whom God will use. God often seems to have Machiavellian ideas about the people he chooses to break us. God is efficient, and he can often break us AND humble us in one fell swoop. Our stubborn pride has to be broken, and it is best broken by God’s choice of person because we would NEVER choose the person to do it that God chooses.

It has been well said that iron sharpens iron, and God wants us sharp. Scissors or knives that are dull are really useless. When we see the edge they have is not sharp, we disrespect the implement and know it is not up to the job. God wants us to be up to the jobs he has for us. He knows that we are dull and need to be sharpened to make us effective and useful in the kingdom of God.

We also need motivation. Many preachers act as motivational speakers. They seek to cause us to look at the positives and they berate us if we do not put out the energy necessary to have success. As Christians, we are oft discouraged. We need people to tell us to “keep on keeping on” and not to give up. We need a cheerleader in our corner, we need to hear someone say we CAN do it, we need constant motivation to keep going. This is akin to encouragement. We simply need to have someone hold up our hands and our head. We need to be buttresses of support to those who need that to continue and not to fall.

Lest we view ourselves on a constantly upward spiral, we must open ourselves to refinement. Some picture refinement as making an almost perfect thing perfect. Just a few tweaks and I will be there. Sorry to burst your balloon, but gold and silver usually are mixed with dross. The Bible also uses the term “Wood, hay, and stubble”. The refiner sees the gold and silver, but has no use for what is mixed with them, so everything is put in the refiner’s fire. All the stuff or little or no value is burned up and is no more. God may use a real fire, but he is more likely to use people. If people just burn you up, they may be simply doing what God has sent them for – to refine you and burn up the worthless attitudes, worthless activities, and worthless attachments in your life.

When significant works of God have been completed in our lives, it is time for polishing. The polishing takes what is sound and whole and brings the best out of it. People can help you improve your speaking abilities, brighten your people skills, and put a smile on your face. When you polish a car or polish your silver, you seek to get all the dirt off and protect the metal in a way that adds beauty and luster. A polished person should be attractive to deal with, and they should be protected against the storms. Water rolls off a polished car. Adversity should likewise not remain on a servant of God whom his people have polished by enhancing everything about the person and letting the genuine Christ-like character that God has placed there shine through. When Moses had his encounter with God, his face shone. We often note the countenances of Christians today – there is such a stark difference from the world. That does not just happen. It takes elbow grease, a lot of pressure, and thoroughness making sure no spot is missed.

We must rejoice when we consider how wonderful it is for God to go to all that trouble to place people in our lives to change us - humbling us, breaking us, sharpening us, motivating us, encouraging us, refining us, and polishing us. We need to be faithful to receive those God puts in our lives but we also must be open to returning the favor by blessing those whom God send us to in order that his sanctifying process may be complete in both our lives and theirs. We are built together as living stones in accordance with I Peter, so we had better get used to our neighbor in that dwelling place of God and realize that God has placed us in accordance with his perfect wisdom and his perfect will. God does all things well!

I don’t want you to hold your breath waiting for the answer. The answer is (drum roll) – YES! If everyone were always to get their way, hey, wait! That’s impossible! Because employer and employee often have opposite goals, compromise is needed. The employer’s goal is to get the most work done for the least amount of money. The employee’s goal is to get the most money for doing the least acceptable amount of work. Compromise gives the employee enough money to keep him or her on the job while requiring that the employer get enough work product for those dollars to enable the company to stay in business and make a profit. A car dealer wants to sell the car for the highest price. The buyer wants to pay the least possible. A compromise will get the car into the buyer’s hands while keeping the dealer in business and food on the salesperson’s table. A husband and his wife learn quickly that compromise is needed. There are days when no one wants to clean the dishes, no one wants to vacuum the car, no one wants to scrub the toilets, and no one wants to go to a soccer game if eight year olds in the rain. Compromise allows work to get done by distributing the less pleasant tasks equitably. In a church, there may be three persons equally qualified to direct the music program. Three-headed monsters rarely get the job done, so compromise is needed. One person may be better administratively, so he or she is put in charge. The two others may be given two different choirs or groups to enable musical diversity to occur to keep a congregation with diverse musical tastes happy.

If you are not willing to compromise in these areas, you will be viewed as inflexible, an ogre, or worse. No one wants to be assigned to work with someone who can’t compromise, who can’t listen to other ideas, and who can’t learn from another person. The Bible prizes a teachable spirit, and it is imperative to hear the wisdom that comes through others. Those who believe that their pipeline to God is the only one can cause severe problems, because none of us is infallible, and we need each other to please God. In I Corinthians 14:26, God gives the formula for body ministry in the church – each person “hath a” song, hymn, prophecy, encouragement, etc. If the preacher insists on having all “his time” and shuts out others, he is not being obedient to the word, and his lack of compromise to allow the worthwhile (though perhaps unexpected) activity to occur results in the Body of Christ being robbed of what God has ordained to be accomplished. There is also a lot of inflexibility in the church that results in some very hurt people. When determining a statement of faith, some insist on extreme detail, even on issues that are not readily determinable in the scriptures. There are countless fragments in the Body of Christ today because of an unwillingness to compromise on leaving some issues alone that are not basic to our faith. We do not have to adopt positions we do not believe are valid, as that would be dishonest, but we can agree to work together as Christians if the basic essentials are agreed upon. It is possible to not compromise your convictions while being flexible enough to work with Christians who see some issues differently.

So why then does the word “compromise” have such a bad name? For good reason. Compromise of principles and of truth never has a good result. Compromising the unique godhead of Jesus Christ never leads to more faith. Compromising the integrity and infallibility of the Bible never causes people to be more godly. The fact is that a single compromise can be catastrophic. A young woman who compromises her morals just once can become pregnant and have her life change overnight. A single compromise with drugs can lead to addiction. A single compromise by a pastor with pornography or a vulnerable young woman can bring down a large ministry.

That is why we need to know when compromise is acceptable or even desirable, and when it is absolutely against the will of God. When OUR will is the subject of compromise, it depends on the issue at hand. We may find ourselves wrestling with God – we have our will and the Father has his will. We must compromise our will to fit into his will. “Not my will, but Thine be done, that the fullness of the Son…” Even Jesus Christ himself had to submit his will to the Father’s. The apostles had to submit their lives and everything about them to God so he could run their lives the way he desired.

Despite the generally positive values associated with being reasonable, flexible, and a team player, there are also situations where compromise is never right and never works. These involve spiritual principles and our relationship with Jesus Christ. We cannot compromise the truth by believing a lie, we cannot worship God in a pagan way, and we cannot compromise the truths of the Bible. We cannot give away the veracity of the account of Jonah if someone would then agree to accept the account of the three Hebrew boys in the fiery furnace. We cannot compromise with feminists if they agree to hold the line on homosexuality. We cannot let one jot or tittle of the Word of God pass away on our watch. We cannot fail to believe each and every word that has proceeded out of the mouth of God.

No matter how much you may compromise on the non-essentials, if you compromise on the essentials, you have invited spiritual death. Compromise is progressive, and those who begin to compromise the word of God usually keep right on going until any faith they still possess is a poor shadow of what they once were. There can be no compromise with Satan. Jesus did not figure that passing two out of three big temptations would be passing. The best saints do not excuse ANY sin in their lives. All sin is to be strenuously avoided. There can be no compromise with sin – it just accelerates out of control.

So my friends, be able to compromise your wishes, your preferences, your ambitions for the good of the Body of Christ and for peace. However, NEVER compromise the truths of the gospel and never compromise the words God has written on your hearts. We live by EVERY word that has proceeded out of the mouth of God, and we never compromise life. We never yield to death, we never yield to sin, we never yield to unrighteousness. While you DO have to compromise YOUR agenda, you must never compromise the agenda of God.

When the word “abuse” is mentioned these days, some stifle a yawn and say silently to themselves “Oh Brother!” It is used so much that the import of what it means is lost. People say their boss is abusive if he actually makes them work forty hours per week. Teachers are abusive if they give homework that actually takes some time and research to accomplish. A husband is said to be abusive if he insists that his wife obey him. People even accuse GOD of being abusive when he holds us to obeying his word and fleeing from sin and selfishness. The religious leaders of Jesus’ time even accused him of insulting them when he spoke the truth about their hypocrisy. Truth presented toughly is not abuse. Truth that hits the nail on the head is not insulting. So what exactly is abuse?

Whenever a word is misused, we stand the danger of losing the meaning of the original. Some people feel that way about the word “racism”. The “R-bomb” is dropped so frequently that few people understand the real problems of racism. The fact is that a whole lot of people who use all the politically correct language in the lexicon are afflicted with racism. They do not regard others as equal to them and they like to view themselves as the protectors of the weak or else inferior in some ways to people with different packaging. Both can hold you back in God’s eyes. Whether you have dismissive attitudes in your hearts toward others, having an inflated view of your worth in God’s cosmos, or if you fail to achieve in life because you view others as being intrinsically superior to you in the fields of musical, athletic, or intellectual pursuits, you have been afflicted with the sour fruits of racism. Such is the case with the word “abuse”. The word has been used so often that many people do not recognize if they have truly been abused or in fact are an abuser themselves.

Abuse means to misuse, to mistreat, to exploit, to insult, to treat badly. Abuse toward individuals is the end result of abusing things or abusing principles. There are, of course, differences of degree, Wikipedia, the on-line encyclopedia, says some interesting things about people abusers. It says that while they are abusive to their victims, they are very friendly and polite to others that they meet. They are not hostile to those whom they do not wish to control. It is important to note that they may initially be friendly to their victim, only to become increasingly aggressive and abusive as time progresses. This occurs between man and women, boss and employee, pastor and parishioner. It is incumbent not only on an abuser to cease and desist, it is incumbent on the one being abused to remove himself or herself from that relationship. Much abuse continued because it is enabled by weak or conflicted individuals who are not free to love God , themselves, and their neighbor. We are called by God to set prisoners free, and those who are slaves to abusers are prisoners every bit as much as those in the state pen. Now, despite all that I have said thus far, I believe true abuse is far more widespread than most people imagine. The thing is, we need to see abuse from GOD’s eyes, not our own.

LEADERS OFTEN ABUSE THEIR CONSTITUENTS

Solomon levied high taxes to build the glorious temple to God – there was none like it in the whole world. God never complained about that. God’s favor doubtless receded some when the high taxes continued to fund Solomon’s fancy palace and his high-flying lifestyle, but his favor totally departed when his son Rehoboam not only refused to cut taxes when the work was accomplished, but sought to further INCREASE them to show the people who was in control. None of us like taxes, having to work several months a year to pay the government before we can pay ourselves. In fact, I believe that if there were no payroll deductions, and everyone had to write out a check to the various branches of government for their taxes like the self-employed do, there would be a huge tax revolt. This would particularly be true if you knew that the entire year’s taxes for everyone in your neighborhood were earmarked for a wasteful “pork-barrel” project whose sole purpose was to reward a campaign contributor. However, when the life of our nation is at stake, when there is a natural disaster, when there are acute needs that cannot otherwise be met, we understand the need to sacrifice for the greater good. But when we see massive waste and our tax dollars used for corporate welfare, or giving to people regardless of need, we sense we are being abused, and God sees it the same way.

Unfortunately, churches can also be abusive. You don’t have to do what one pastor did – requiring 1040 tax forms of all new members so a tithe could be assessed (and if you really want to know, tithing in the CHURCH began hundreds of years after Pentecost as a TAX to build cathedrals). You could require people to sacrifice time with their family, to turn down overtime sorely needed to get out of debt, or to practice self-abasement through legalistic requirements that are of NO value against fleshly indulgence. You could preach condemnation instead of simply preaching the word and letting the Holy Spirit do his job of convicting.

PEOPLE OFTEN ABUSE MONEY AND OTHERS

The opening verses of James chapter five teaches us that amusements and worldly pleasures are an abuse of riches, and we are told how God views exploiting workers by not paying them. James was writing to CHRISTIANS, not pagans!
Some who would never strike or verbally abuse their spouse routinely abuse their employees or vendors. James knew that many Christians, despite what they gave to God, have been spending most of their money to please themselves and have been proud about how little they need to pay to get work done or how long they can hold the worker’s wages. Many Christian organizations have a greater disparity between what the people at the top earn and what the regular people earn than their worldly counterparts. Penthouses for those at the top and SEPTA tokens for the rank-and-file. A new Mercedes for the Pastor and a palatial home in the most desirable neighborhood but flowers for the volunteer or barely paid church secretary and a meager check for the custodian of God’s house. The abuses in many TV ministries are even more extreme and defy explanation. The Bible is clear that those who love God and who are properly related to him CARE for the poor and put people before riches. Anything else is abusive.

PEOPLE OFTEN ABUSE GOD HIMSELF

Nehemiah, in chapter 13 of his book, notes how displeased God is when his house is neglected – so many churches are in poor physical condition; how displeased God is when his people marry those who do not know the language of God – those who are unequally yoked to unbelievers; how displeased God is when his people become one with a prostitute or other person when they are supposed to be one only with Christ and the spouse God presents to them. God is abused when people practice idolatry, when they ignore the voice of God and go another way, when they refuse to obey his holy word. When they quench the Holy Spirit – in other words when they misuse, mistreat, exploit, insult, or treat badly. How many times have you been someplace where God is moving and the leader shuts it down? How many times has the work of the Holy Spirit been ignored or dismissed out-of-hand? And how many times has the Holy Spirit been falsely credited with a “word” that contradicts the Bible or events that are clones of the occult, of the New Age, or of fleshly manipulation?

It is also abusive to “worship” the Lord inappropriately. It is a horrific abuse to worship the one true God in the same fleshly and self-pleasing ways the pagans worship their Gods. Worship is to offer respect, adoration and devotion to God. Many who display their own talents call that worship. Perhaps it is – self-worship! It is also a sin to abuse the ordinances – baptism more as a tool of initiation into a local church after a waiting period than being buried with Christ and having a pledge of a good conscience toward God. And in communion, you don’t have to be a glutton as some of the Corinthians were at the love feast. It is also an abuse to partake unworthily or in a ritualistic way that ignores the spiritual intercourse with the Lord of Glory that is to take place in these most intimate moments. Taking five minutes for communion as almost an afterthought in a service when people are restless to go to dinner or turn on the football game is like sex without tenderness, preparation, and adoration. Marriage illustrates what Christ’s relationship with us is as his bride. That is why Jesus softly and tenderly calls, us, woos us, caresses us, and fills us. We must not abuse his complete love for us or take it for granted.

God is not mocked, what we sow, we reap. We are called to sow in righteousness. We are called to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength. And since we love OURSELVES in that manner, we are to love PEOPLE the same way – that great SECOND commandment given to us in the gospels by Jesus.
There should be no abuse in our lives. We must first love God in order for anything else to work. We prove our love for him by keeping his commandments, and those are not burdensome. We also must love others as we love ourselves. Just as we cannot love God while ignoring his commands, we cannot love people without obeying God’s commands as well. If we try on our own, we will either love not wisely or not well. We will substitute pity for mercy and humility. We will substitute control for yielding to the Holy Spirit, we will abuse instead of build up. I for one want to build people and do it God’s way. I do not want to ever use people to get ahead – it is God who promotes and it is God who demotes. I do not want to express frustration with progress in certain areas of my life by criticizing a lack of progress in the lives of others.

So why are some people abusive? Either because they don’t know God in the first place, and have the devil as their true father, or because they never have let the process of redemption from sin and wickedness be completed in their lives. You see, when we allow God to work in us, and we allow God to share with others what we have learned from him, we will grow together in a glorious body without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. Abuse is not only a spot, abuse is not only a wrinkle. Abuse is a spiritual killer and it violates the very nature of God, which is Agapé love. If you truly love, you will not abuse. If you love the way Jesus loved, you will be totally truthful and let the chips fall where they may, but you will not mistreat anyone. You will not insult or exploit anyone. After all, the Lord has made our bodies Temples of his Holy Spirit and we are to be living displays of his righteousness and his character. We will be praised by God if we follow that calling and we will have to give account if we abuse the people and things he has given to us. Let’s treasure God and treasure people, complimenting and protecting rather than ,mistreating, exploiting, or otherwise abusing. We, others, and the Lord will all be glad we did!

I don’t believe that many of you would argue with me that it is a good thing to love the Lord. We are to love the Lord our God with all our heart. With allour soul, and with all our mind. Did I hear a chorus of amen’s out there? (I sure hope so!) I believe a whole lot of people love the Lord. After all, how could you NOT love one who came from heaven to earth to die for our sins and give us eternal life? Don’t know, but it happens. Not only do MOST people reject the sacrifice that Jesus made, but those who are allegedly in the Company of God do not often please the Lord either. Paul writes in I Corinthians 10 about how God was so displeased with the children of Israel. They set evil things before them and they made an art form out of grumbling and complaining.

I believe that when most people learn of Christ, they come to him and desire citizenship in the Kingdom of God. They want eternal life, they want the blessing of sins forgiven, they long for the safety and nurturing of Christian saints and they love being able to pour their souls out to God. Yet it is rare in an altar call these days for the sinner to renounce his or her citizenship in the Kingdom of Darkness. So often, we are taught to add Christ to our resume and to fill that God-shaped vacuum in our hearts.

How would you like it if you met the man or woman of your dreams and went out with them. You decided to get married. Then, your intended kept seeing old friends of the opposite sex – hanging out with them, laughing with them, showing affection to them – the whole nine yards. You would have every right to call off the marriage and weep. Marriage requires one to FORSAKE ALL OTHERS. No wife wants to be compared to or reminded of old girlfriends. No one wants to commit and not have it be reciprocal.

My friends, this happened REPEATEDLY in Israel – to the point God had Hosea marry a prostitute who continued in her line of work to demonstrate the unfaithfulness of God’s chosen people. We are a people of God’s own possession – we were sought by Christ. When we gave our hearts to him, it is axiomatic that we had to give up our other loves. But did we? Many people who have taken on the name of Jesus as CHRISTIANS still cling to old flames. Their love is NOT reserved for Christ alone. Rather it is shared with many. God HATES adultery, and he hates unfaithfulness. He hated it in Israel’s time, and I believe he hates it even MORE now. Why? Because the Son came and suffered, was crucified and was buried out of love for mankind. He demonstrated the eternal nature of his victory by being raised from the dead, and he has raised millions to spiritual life since. Yet the siren songs of the Kingdom of Darkness have seduced so many who claim to have committed their lives to Jesus Christ. The love of the world, and the things in the world cannot coexist with God. The Word clearly tells us that if we love the world and the things of the world, the love of the Father is not in us. Scary thought. It is not a game. Sanctification is not an option. It is not for the few, the proud, the marines. Rather, it is for every soldier of Jesus Christ. Civilian life is no longer an option – every move we make, every step we take, is in the hands of our Commander in Chief. Or is it? If we still love the world and are entangled in the things of the world, our love for Christ is suffocated and insincere. Only when our love for the Lord is without division and without limitation will be really be secure in him.

A whole lot of people are not secure in the Lord. There run back and forth to the altar as often as they do to the dinner table it seems. They feel their prayers bounce off the ceiling. They think God went on a vacation. There is a saying if you don’t sense God with you, someone moved, and it wasn’t him. Now for sure God never leaves us or forsakes us, but I believe the opposite. God MOVES. He is not a static God but a dynamic one. If you don’t follow him, you will be left behind. You cannot rest on your laurels, you cannot be satisfied with yesterday’s manna. Manna came every day and you could not store it up. The cloud and the pillar of fire kept moving in the times of Moses. While God changes not, he moves us along, and if we resist and will not go farther, we end up in a spiritual wasteland.

My advice today is to first of all take inventory. Shed all other loves. Specifically renounce your citizenship in the kingdoms of this world. Submit to the Lordship of Jesus. Do what he tells you. Leave no room for loving this world or other suitors. When you do, Jesus will get intimate with you. He will hug you, he will woo you, he will tell you that you are his own. You will get to know his voice very well, for he will be your Shepherd and you will no longer want. You see. Our God is infinite and he is fully able to have a one-of-a-kind relationship with every Christian. Your relationship with him will be unique and wonderful. Don’t copy others – know him and let him know you. Keep an open line of communication with him. That is praying without ceasing. You don’t need to talk all the time and neither does he. But whenever either of you speak as you walk together, you will hear each other and respond to each other. The joys you share, as you tarry there, none other has EVER known.