Kingdom Power

Here's a verse to consider: "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power." 1 Cor. 4:20.

 

Which kingdom do you seek? Which one do you live in? Are you striving to live in the right one?

 

How do we transfer our membership from one to the other? Less talk - more power. Less me - more Him. Less self promotion - more self denial. Less receiving - more giving. Less TV - more prayer. Less compromise - more obedience. Less consumption - more sacrifice. Less choices - more discipline. Less fitting in - more standing out. Less judging - more forgiving.  Less indulging - more holiness. Less temporal - more eternal. Less cheap grace - more costly grace. Less discussion - more fruit. Less explaining away the gospel - more living it. Less my kingdom - more His kingdom.

 

Talk or power? Every one of us makes the choice on an hour by hour, minute by minute basis. You can have whichever one you want. One is very cheap. One costs everything you have. One brings death. One brings life. One keeps you in bondage to this world. One sets you free to live like you were meant to live. It's your choice. And mine. Choose wisely.

 

I am extremely frustrated with life & ministry in general and not real sure what to do about it. I feel more and more a sense of I'm missing the boat when it comes to this Christianity thing.  When I read what Jesus said, I get the feeling that I, and the Church, are in serious trouble.  It is so easy to go with the flow of this American culture and feel like we are doing good, but then we look (I look) at our lives (my life) compared to Jesus' teachings, and I have to believe that this modern church is WAY off base. Could we be the ones He's talking about when He said, "I never knew you"? Why is it that crowds mean success and church transfers and children's baptisms mean God is blessing us? Prosperity and recreation have replaced service and sacrifice as the foundations of the faith. Surely He expects more than our attendance at church and a tip in the offering plate.

 

Where is the sacrifice? Where is the real self denial for the kingdom's sake? Where is the crying out to God for His Spirit to manifest itself in our churches and in our lives? What difference does my life really make, especially if I look like every other American male in church with no real works of service or sacrifice for the poor and needy? I doubt that God will be real impressed that I taught Sunday School. I doubt that committee service even rates in His eyes. What difference does that make to the 30,000 people a day dying of starvation and what am I trying to do about it? We think we're sacrificing if the church forgoes a new building or if we put up with poor service at the restaurant after church on Sunday. How can He not have very strong words for this kind of Christian? Christianity has become nothing more, at least in our culture, than a religion of do's and don'ts and we mostly ignore the do's. We baptize our own prosperity and call it Christian and point the finger at those who openly seek riches, we just do it under the guise of "the Lord's blessing".

 

That verse I quoted, "The kingdom of God is not a matter of talk, but of power," - Let's be honest, most churches and believers don't have enough power to pray away a sniffle and yet we pat ourselves on the back because if the church doors are open - we're there. When was the last time I visited a prisoner, or took clothes to a homeless person, or gave up going out to eat for the upteenth time so I could give that money to the mission field? We equate busyness with service and praying before dinner with righteousness. Most so called Christians are satisfied to be a good American and tip their hat to God - they just don't want Him getting too involved in their lives. That costs something, and God forbid that our Christianity should cost us anything. No, the truth is that we want what Bonhoeffer called "cheap grace”, the grace without the cost, or without the cross.

 

I don't believe this watered down version of Christianity is what Jesus intended when He said, "If anyone wants to follow me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." Either Jesus was just fooling with us or we're in trouble. Either we're kidding Him or we're kidding ourselves.