Skip to main content

What Is In It


  Bobby Jones was one of the most important men in the history of golf.  His skill, his accomplishments, his course design, his attitude, and sportsmanship are legendary. In its eulogy for Bobby Jones, the New York Times wrote, “He is the idol for those who love the game for what there is in it, not for what they can get out of it.

  I wonder if the same can be said for us in relation to the church.  Do we love what there is in it or what we can get out of it?

  Sometimes, it easy to see that attitude. Those that only show up for potlucks or have their hand out at every service.  The church is only a place to provide for my physical needs.

  Other times it is more subtle.  Those that come for the ‘entertainment’ factor. Give my kids something to do. Provide emotional support. Make me feel good.

  Do we love Christ’s Church or what we get out of it?

  Don’t get me wrong there are great benefits for being part of the kingdom of Christ. However is that all it is to us? What will happen then when it becomes difficult to be a Christian? When persecution comes, when trials occur, when it becomes a struggle. Do we then abandon our faith since we are no longer getting out of it what we once were?

  Or do we realize what there is in it? How salvation is found nowhere other than in Christ and his body? How in him are all spiritual blessings (Ephesian 1:3). The peace that passes all understanding. The hope of our calling.  The joy of our salvation.


  Do we love Christ for what is in Him or what we can get out of it?
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why Does A Lion Tamer Use a Chair?

  Ok, I know you have seen the image. A lion tamer enters in the cage of the beast and forces it to obey his commands using a whip, a gun and a chair. Now you can see how the whip and gun could come in handy but you might be wondering why a chair would intimidate an animal as powerful as a lion? Clyde Beatty taming a lion with a chair   It's not that the lion is afraid of the chair -- it's that the lion is confused by the chair. Cats are single-minded, and the points of the chair's four legs bobbing around confuse the lion enough that it loses its train of thought. Casually put, the chair distracts the lion from wanting to claw the lion tamer's face off. The powerful creature could destroy the chair in moment’s notice but instead it is distracted into submission.  It’s not too much different than how Satan controls us today. By the power of God we could overcome anything that he would use to subdue us. We can overcome the evil one (1 st John 2:13-14). ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Right to Arm Bears

  In the book of 2 nd Kings 2, we have one of the most unusual, violent and curious passages in scripture. It involves the prophet Elisha siccing a couple of bears on some kids that were mocking his bald head.    As a guy that is a little light on top that has been around some surly kids, I can feel for the guy. But seriously a bear attack? On kids? What is going on? ….young lads came out from the city and mocked him and said to him, "Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead!"  When he looked behind him and saw them, he cursed them in the name of the LORD. Then two female bears came out of the woods and tore up forty-two lads of their number. 2 nd Kings 2:23-25  It might help to explore the passage a bit more. The baldhead statement: This was an identifying mark of the prophet as opposed to Elijah who was hairy (1st Kings 1:8) a jab to say you are not him. The taunt to go up: Elijah has just been taken into heaven by the Lord a sight seen by ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Mighty Gulf

  It is hard to get people on two sides of an issue to come together. Each has their own viewpoint, their perceptive, their own foibles, their own understanding.  To gain any common ground there must be something in common. Something or someone that can bridge the gulf between the two.   Could there be a greater gulf than there was between God and man? How could a holy perfect God find a way to connect to the fallen, imperfect mankind? How can one without temptation connect to those who are beset by it? How could limited mortal beings understand an omnipotent eternal God?   In 1 Timothy 2:5, we read, “ For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus .” The phrase mediator here describes a person that bridges the gap, a go-between. Jesus was one who could stand in both worlds. A perfect holy one who can understand our temptations, a man who would die yet live eternally, One who was God yet became flesh and dwelt among us. ...
Post a Comment
Read more