We are not changing our world. Sometimes we aren’t even change agents for our families.
Jesus left us with a mission and every resource we need to accomplish it. He came to save us from our self-centered spiral, but not just so we make it to Heaven with Him. He wants us to take people with us.
I fear we’ve lost our gumption to be witnesses. We fear put-downs. We don’t want to trouble cultural waters. We don’t want rejection.
Jesus is our model here. He used stories and questions, but he never waved His finger in the face of his accusers or raised His voice in anger at them. He was so filled with His Father’s mission and love that He led with an attitude of compassion for what people were missing.
We quickly remember Jesus’ words about rest, no worry, no fear. They soothe us. But what about His reminder that we are to become His empowered people to pass on what we have learned.
Power is something our world thinks they know about. However, the power that raised Jesus from the dead can’t even be measured by any system our advanced technology has. It was power that moved the stone without making a mess or maybe not even a sound since the Roman soldiers slept through it. Human power is usually noisy and demands attention. God’s power doesn’t need the noise to make a difference. God’s power can do more in a nano-second than any man-made device can accomplish.
Paul met that power on the Damascus Road and never turned away from allowing Christ to live in him in a powerful way. Paul described that power as incomparably great . . . for those who believe. (Ephesians 1: 19) He said that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to us. However, we must use it for the purpose God gave it: to empower us to live in an unchristian world with compassion for people without watering down His Truth.
This is not grin and bear it power. This is transformational power. We surrender our natural responses that separate, accuse, or argue to allow Jesus Himself to be our attitude adjuster, our action dictator, and our word choice. We ask for help that our words and actions represent Christ in every relationship. Christ’s power let loose in our imaginations, our hearts, and our hopes—well, that kind of power makes us stand out in all the right ways. That kind of power prompts questions. And questions become our open doors.
This world is not going to get better. But we can still be a part of something better as we commit everything we think and feel to Christ so completely that what comes out of us looks and sounds new, intriguing, and hopeful. We are to be winsome witnesses not just muddled misfits.
This empowered life doesn’t describe me as I wish it did. I live cautiously. I live quiet and too inward. But God is working on me, and I am trying to respond in obedience where He points.
Isn’t that all He asks of any of us? Be listening. Be observant. Be ready. Be empowered.
Can we live that way? Only in the power of our resurrected Lord. He still wants to move on this earth with Truth, compassion, and an invitation to join His family. But we must be His empowered hearts, eyes, mouths, feet and hands to do it.
In Him and for Him. There is no other way.
Summer Series Starting
Bible Bystanders:
Stories from the Sidelines
Each week I'll share information about a background character from the Bible. We'll bring him or her front and center and learn why the person is a silent hero.
This will be a fun way to share stories of people we don't hear much about but should. I think you'll enjoy it..
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