Coming out as a Christian!
I have said it before here and will undoubtedly be led to say it again. The day of playing at being a Christian is over folks.
You either follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ to do what He did in the power of the Spirit and to say what He said to those needing to hear it or you join the ranks of religious hypocrites who claim to believe in Christ but who live for this life and for themselves.
Choose one or the other but don’t delude yourself into thinking you are a Christian just because you go to a church building on Sunday’s, volunteer at a soup kitchen for a couple of hours a week, or give a whee bit of your money to missions.
God requires that you and I surrender to Him by faith in Jesus and orient ourselves to live that out in practice. That is His requirement. I didn’t make that up.
We are rebels in our natural self and in rebellion to a holy God. You are either walking in submission to God as God or you are walking in continued rebellion maintaining yourself on the throne (outward religiosity notwithstanding).
If you chose to follow in the footsteps of Jesus you will suffer some of what He did. Make no bones about it. Following Jesus will cost you. Big time!
You may and likely will lose jobs, friendships, and otherwise for taking a stand for Jesus Christ and for righteousness. The world hates God! They love their sin. And anyone who points that out to them will be hated just as Jesus was!
It’s time for Christians to stop being closet Christians!
It’s time for closet Christians to come out as Christians in the workplace, in school, before your friends and acquaintances, at the gym, and wherever else you happen to be. Outside church buildings!
Whether you like it or not you will be forced to either live as a Christian publicly before all or you will shrink back and be of those who end up in hell by your lack of genuine faith in God through Jesus.
Me and a Christian friend went around downtown San Diego yesterday. Praying for anyone that was willing to let us pray for them and sharing as much of the Gospel as anyone was willing to hear. And we will try our hand at public, outdoor preaching at Balboa park this coming Saturday.
It may be that the Lord will move us to start public preaching on the street corners of San Diego and will use us to encourage other Christians to start doing the same thing. Wouldn’t it be something if the Lord filled San Diego with Christians standing up on street corners everywhere preaching the Gospel message?
Talk about persecution! Do you think San Diego, the hardened sin city that it has become, will allow that to go unopposed? I don’t mean just the city government but also the people whose hearts are hardened against righteousness. Who want to be left alone to pursue their own pleasures without having some “fool” Christians reminding them out loud at every street corner that they are sinful rebels in need of repentence.
I say it’s time for Christians to occupy San Diego!
I am a nobody in my natural self. So you are you. But as a Christian I have the holy Spirit of the living God living in me. To empower me to do and be what Jesus was.
As the Father sent Him so He sends us.
It is no longer we who live but Christ who lives in us.
In the Spirit, we are as alive before God our Father as Jesus was.
We are loved as much as the Father loved Jesus.
Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of God and intercedes for us.
We have been given the Spirit.
We are forgiven and in right standing with God.
God is for us.
We are justified, redeemed, have been declared righteous before God’s Justice, and have become new creatures in Christ.
We are to count all that as being true of us as Christians and to walk that out as though…well…it is indeed true!
We are to step out by faith to be all that God has made us to be in Christ! Never mind that you feel inadequate! Never mind that besetting sin gets the best of you sometimes! Never mind that you see less godliness in yourself than you might long for! Never mind that you do not see the power of God at work in your life.
See, see, see…never mind what you SEE!
It is not what you see that makes any difference at all. It is what God says that counts!
Our God is a God who calls things that are not as though they were!
Look to what God says about you in Christ and step into the river of His truth with your toe, by faith. God will part the Red Sea as we take steps of faith to go where He wants us to go and to do what He has empowered us to do!
Earlier I read of Churches being kicked out of NYC public schools. From being able to pay the city to meet in public schools. Sad but true. But also an opportunity for those churches to become what God wants. For Christians to get out of their isolation inside buildings and to get out into the world. To be Christians in the world where all the people are.
Just as Jesus and the disciples were.
The power of God is not meant to be confined inside Church buildings. Hidden away from the masses. We are to let the glorious light of Jesus shine forth from us like a beacon in a dark place. We need to stop putting Jesus and mention of His name under the bushel basket of our fear and timidity. We must cooperate with God in us to allow the fragrance of His Presence to manifest through us into every nook and cranny of every place.
To His greater honor and glory!
Carlos
PS. If the Lord used this post in your life won’t you share in what God may want to do through us by sharing a link to this post with others? Especially with other Christians in San Diego who may want to join in praying for us or in practice as we seek the Lord on what to do next?
