“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing, and perfect will.” (Romans 12, v.2)
Every once in a while, you get asked a question that will take you a bit off guard. I should qualify that: the longer you’ve been around, the more prone you become to questions that can seemingly come out of no where, and occasionally, take you aback. Once such question came my way, yesterday, about 15 minutes after our corporate worship ended.
As I was greeting people, interacting, and after handing off a precious 3-month old baby, it came soon after. Here is how it was presented to me, after delivering a Message on “Being a Holy Church” and sharing in The Lord’s Table, together: “Do you think it is possible that some who call themsevles believers go through all the motions, do and say all the right things, but haven’t made Jesus the Lord of their life?”
My direct response: “As heartbreaking as that is to even think about, yes – it is possible and it does happen.” Then I offered this, “We must pray that we do everything we can, with God’s help, to eliminate its possibility.”
I pondered that on the way home from worship on Sunday, through the afternoon and evening at different points, and here I am writing about it on a Monday afternoon. I must say: it is one of the things that will keep you up and weigh heavily on your heart. Not that we, any of us really, are responsible for the actions or inactions of others. We can’t decide for anyone else, although at times we would very much like to do so. Yet, we have a desperate, urgent responsibility to magnify Jesus Christ and be His hands and feet to a lost and fallen world, at every instant. We are His Church, His representatives, His brothers and sisters charged with taking His mission outwardly and giving it away. We are delivery and logistics. We are to be “broken bread and poured out wine in His Name,” as Oswald Chambers states.
How do we do this? How can it possibly be accomplished in an effective way?
Read that passage again, at the top: Romans 12, v.2. We have to be renewed, we have to be transformed. We have to be reborn by and into the Spirit of the living God, by way of the saving grace of Jesus Christ. We are renewed in His image; that is how! Because it is at this point where we can fulfill our God-given purposes, according to His will (not ours).
Together, we are the Church: His body, His bride, His children, and His people.
Together, we honor Him, love Him, serve Him, and worship Him.
Together, we are available to each other, build one another up, pray for the needs of others, and serve alongside our brothers and sisters to further His Kingdom. Sure – we do much more than this, but this is a beginning. It is to be continued moment by moment, day by day, week in and week out.
It begins with being renewed, allowing the transforming power of God to make us into who He truly desires us to be. Our God is faithful and His invitation has been extended to you and to me. Let me encourage you: It will change your life, forever (in the best way possible). I’ll leave you with this passage, and I invite you to reach out at any time if you would like to learn more: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, so that whosoever would believe in Him would not perish, but would have everlasting life” (John 3, v.16). Now, insert your name where “whosoever” appears. It is that personal, and it is that fulfilling.
Be blessed in the renewal only He can deliver and give!
Porter
PastorPG's Blog 