What are We Modeling?

Saints,                                                                                                                                9 Dec 10

The Apostle Paul, said to live like him as He modeled His life after Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 11:1 (NIV)
¹ Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.

We must seek to be able to say the same thing through the power of the Holy Spirit!

Have you ever wondered why it seems that so few of us are “compelled” to regularly share our faith, or be actively engaged in making disciples one-on-one or in a group?

I submit to you that new believers are imitating the kind of Christianity which we live. Not the kind of Christianity we think we live, but how we actually live. For Paul, there was no difference between how he thought he lived and how he actually lived. This is why he could say imitate me as I imitate Christ. Let’s look at a couple of modern examples of new believers who came to know Jesus in a culture which was hostile to the gospel.

The first example is a young woman who converted to Christianity from Islam. The International Mission Board of the Southern Baptists shared about this true story in the publication Commission Stories Volume 2, no 2, “Fatima Al-Mutairi knew the consequences could be harsh. The 26-year-old woman told her family that she had forsaken Islam to follow Christ—brazenly asserting that the way of Jesus was more righteous than that of Muhammad.  Her brother, a member of Saudi Arabia’s religious police, accused her of blasphemy and demanded she recant her belief. When she refused, he brutally murdered her.”

Our second example is a Christ follower in Iran who received the death sentence by hanging because he shared the gospel of Jesus Christ. This Christ follower embraced the full gospel. He knew he was saved not just so that he would enjoy eternity with the Father, but so that he must share the gospel with others.

What about you? Are you dissatisfied with the passion level you see around you for the lost? For prayer? For serving people? For actively witnessing? To help increase our passion for these things, I suggest that we start by looking in the mirror, with some help from the Holy Spirit. Let’s ask God, “How am I modeling faith in Christ?” Ask God to show you if your church family were to model your life in every way to include: finances, prayer life, relationships, work habits, speech, hobbies, leisure time, and school then what would your church look like? Would it be more or less passionate for Jesus, His word, prayer, and people?

The Muslim convert above came to Christ in a cultural context which made her conversion costly—she knew that, she embraced that. This persecution was a very real part of her faith. The Iranian evangelist knew the risk for sharing the gospel in his country—he embraced that. Again, this persecution was a part of his faith. What happens in cultural contexts where the gospel of Jesus Christ is not persecuted is that the gospel as a free gift is clearly communicated, but the element of faith that Jesus Himself demonstrated which included costly risk taking and sacrifice (not to earn salvation—but as a compelling outgrowth of salvation) is somehow not communicated. This lack of communication happens primarily because Christ followers do not live it. So here is our question…Is it possible that my life is demonstrating or modeling a partial or watered-down gospel? How about yours?

Let’s pray!

May we cry out to the Father to make us like David, Daniel, Paul, Peter, Stephen, Barnabas, and Abraham. May our lives clearly communicate the real gospel to a deceived world. May we be willing to DO whatever it takes to share Christ with a lost world.  May we be willing to BE in the Father, so that His name is glorified as He uses each of us to reach a lost world. Oh God, make us consumed with You.

Foot note…I do not claim to be what I am writing about. However, I do want this in my life and for every believer.

1) May we not limit God in any way. Yes, dear friend we can limit God. Somehow in His sovereignty He chooses to allow us to limit His work on earth as Jesus allowed when He went to His home town. He did fewer miracles there because of their unbelief.

 2) May God empower us to be all we must be to maximally impact this world for His kingdom.

May we be able to say along with Paul, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”

May God daily teach us to pray. May God compell us to pray for the church.

Compelled to pray and desperate for God, Steve