Where will your testimony be when all this is over?
“Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer each person” – Colossians 4:6 (ESV)
Every day I scroll through social media and get another crack in my heart when I see the language God’s children use to get their point across. Those who are prominent in the Christian community use words like “get bent” toward those they disagree with politically. They yell and degrade those who are just as outspoken about their beliefs. And for what? Freedom?
I get it. The freedom we have enjoyed for centuries starts to slip between our fingers and we panic. Instinctively, the fear makes our grip tighten and our teeth clench. We appreciate our freedom. We love it. However, we were never promised this freedom. It was a gift. We were, however, commanded to love our God and neighbor first. Above all things. Sometimes it’s as though our freedom is our religion. As if it is an idol.
While topics like abortion, rape, etc. are within our wheelhouse of concern and definitely deserve our attention and outspoken opposition, they should not be approached with deficient love. Just like any conversation with our fellow man should not be approached in the absence of love.
The thing is, this world is only going to get worse. When it does, will the lost people feel safe coming to a Christian for help and guidance to the cross? Or will we have completely demolished our testimony out of anger?
Will a homosexual person feel comfortable to come to you with questions about the Lord?
Will a mother who has had an abortion feel safe to ask you if there is grace enough for her?
Will a man who came as a refugee as a child feel welcome in your church?
These are the things that should concern the church. Because regardless of where we live, how much freedom of speech or religion we have, love will always be our mission. It’s so easy to lose sight of that when we are wrapped up in emotionalism and when the life we have always known is slipping beneath our fingers.
But Jesus is close. He sees. He is still good and he is still in control. The ease we have known as Christians in this country is likely coming to an end, but these things are all still temporal. We have an eternal focus and an eternal mission. Getting caught up in current circumstances is tempting, and fighting for our freedom is admirable and vastly appreciated.
But not at the expense of degradation to another human being that the Lord died to redeem.
We can do it. We can make it. We can stay on mission and do the Lord’s work in spite of the nation crumbling around us. Our foundation is secure in Him. He is our peace, our strength, and our motivation.
One of my favorite quotes is by Leonard Ravenhill, and I’ll end this post with it.
“Paul never glamorized the gospel. It is not success, but sacrifice! It’s not a glamorous gospel, but a bloody gospel, a gory gospel, and a sacrificial gospel. 5 minutes inside eternity and we will wish that we had sacrificed more. Wept more, bled more, grieved more, loved more, prayed more, given more.”
Keep yourself eternity focused.
Caitlyn Coker 