Friday, February 22, 2008

 

How Will They Know Series

 

Matthew 21:21 Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done.

 

Move Mountains

 

We live in a nation where the vast majority of people no longer believe in the Christian way.  If you ask them they will name one of many reasons why they don’t worship God.  The heart of it is they don’t find Christians to be genuine.   The non-churched feel that most Christians don’t really care about them.   What is missing for the world is Christian love.  Jesus taught, “A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you so you must love one another.  All men will know, that you are my disciples if you love one another.”  We as Christians must love.   This is the truth- if you love someone you will move mountains.   I believe if Christians started to love the people of the world we could move mountains. 

 

Jesus loved His disciples and that love changed their lives.   Frankly, I am a person of faith because people invested in me and loved me.  People who have loved me have made all the difference.   They inspired me to be better than I ever could have been by myself.   Now because of them, I too will literally try to move mountains for the people I love.  This is the heart of the problem in our culture.  We don’t love the world enough to move mountains.  Many will never find real life if Christians don’t love them. 

 

People are wonderful.   Can we as Christians move past ourselves enough to love the people of the world through the power of Christ?  God created all human beings.  Can we love them?  

 

Do you know what made Christianity a state religion in Rome?  It was not Constantine’s declaration.  It really happened during the great plagues of the 2^nd century in Rome.   During that time period the doctors, the city officials, and the army fled Rome for their own protection.   Only the Christians stayed and took care of the sick.   The pagans first experienced Christ as they saw the caring concern of the Roman Christians.   They realized that Christians were different because they surrendered their lives to help others they did not know.    Many Christians died in this effort but their love for those in need changed the world. 

 

We need to move mountains in our culture so that others can experience the purpose to be found in a relationship with Christ.   The world will never see it unless we love them.  Christians must transform the world through our love for it.  

 

Prayer:

Dear God, help me to love people I do not know and to involve myself in their lives because I love Jesus. Amen.