An Intentional Faith by Allen JacksonSample

Our traditional approach to faith relegates God to a sixty-minute time slot on Sunday mornings, and reserves the rest of the time for ourselves. And the awkward truth of the modern age is that we have been reluctant to open our lives more fully to God, while we have willingly opened our lives to 24/7 connectivity for entertainment and diversion.

Who we are in private matters, and it will always come to light. In fact, Jesus taught, “There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known” (Luke 12:2). So the goal of our spiritual lives should be to let our public expressions of faith emerge out of the incubator of our private lives, because when it does, we’re living the kind of life Christ rewards. How do I know? Because Jesus taught as much in the gospel of Matthew, saying that if we do what’s right behind closed doors, “your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (6:4). It is a wonderful promise. Private discipline will be rewarded in the open. Each time we choose a God-response behind closed doors, we are making an investment in a better future.

The great men and women of faith in the Bible knew as much. Take Joshua, for example. Knowing Moses was nearing the end of his ministry, Joshua, Moses’ successor, gathered the people of Israel and recounted the history of God’s deliverance when the people served him wholeheartedly. He then issued this charge: “If serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. . . . But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15). The people responded, saying they wanted to honor God in their households too. So Joshua doubled down: “Then . . . throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel” (v. 23). 

Joshua was clear: If we want the blessings of God, we have to honor him in our homes. And if want to honor God in our homes, we cannot hide our foreign gods in our closets. We cannot love the things the world loves. Honoring God in our homes requires turning from the things of the world, like consumerism, pornography, ungodly attitudes, and secular ideologies—and turning toward God.