31 Days of Unity预览

(Re)deem: “We have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God.” (1 Corinthians 4:2)

For a Corinthian church trying to understand how to live out their faith, the Apostle Paul sets a very clear boundary. Followers of Jesus do not carry out the work of God using the methods of the world. The ends don't justify the means. What sets Christians apart in a world of darkness is that our lives shine forth the light of God’s love. This clear boundary cannot be overemphasized, because it calls us to examine all of the ways in which we live and conduct our ministry. Wherever we have drifted from the ways of God’s kingdom (remember the ethics Jesus discussed in the Sermon on the Mount) we have ceased doing Jesus’s work and we are now doing the work of the “god of this age.”

This self-examination is desperately needed in an age where deception, manipulation, self-promotion, and coercion are inescapable. What we think, what we want, who we want to be, who we vote for, who we associate with, who we hate, what we consume…. all of it is being manipulated by the world we live in. It is so prevalent and so powerful that we often don’t recognize it. This is the default way of living and thinking in our world. All of which is a massive issue for the church.

Unity will never be the product of the world’s methods. It is ever only the fruit of the Spirit at work among a people of light. If unity is truly our goal, now is the moment for us to examine the ways in which we are living and to see if they align more with the life of Jesus or the life the world is trying to sell us. Many people disparaged Paul and his ministry, but he was always able to point to the ways in which he conducted himself as a testimony that his ministry was rooted in Jesus. He worked to live among those he ministered to as if Jesus himself were living his life. If our lives and ministries are questioned, could we make the same claim? Would we have evidence that the self-giving love of God flows out of our lives and churches?

Let’s listen for the voice of the Spirit as we ask ourselves some difficult questions.

• Am I seeking a life of peacemaking or a life of division?
• Am I quick to forgive or quick to curse?
• Am I interested in worldly power that dominates or Godly power that brings new life and healing?
• Am I committed to listening for God’s truth or to a more convenient truth that justifies how I live?
• Am I seeking ways to bless the world around me or am I focused on my own security and blessing?
• Am I a shining light of God’s love to those around me or do they see darkness at work within me?

Our Prayer for (Re)demption

Jesus, you did not come into the world to condemn the world, but to bring salvation. May your light shine brightly through your children, that in our love of one another, the unity of the Church, and our service to the world, all may see your glory and be drawn into life with you. Amen