Communicating With Aliens 103.5

Communicating With Aliens


103.5

“All things to All men”



The world is full of snags and hang ups for those who choose to walk the narrow path. There are a hundred things a day that scream for our attention. Work, family, sports, and T.V all take up time in our lives. On top of that, we all have some sort of hobby that we enjoy. I’m not saying that these things are evil. Just that they seem to always take precedence to our time with God. It is easy to be distracted from your devotions when your phone rings. There are many Christians who steer clear of these distractions altogether. They have some how alienated themselves completely from the world. I argue that, if you have a destination it is not wise to leave the road that takes you there. Sometimes steering clear from temptation merely puts you on the wrong path. Here’s and analogy to describe what I’m talking about.

So your told that you are to take a trip. Along this trip you are going to cross paths with many others. The catch is, the trip is at night, and you’re going to be the only one with headlights. You gladly except the charge, knowing that your destination is worthwhile. The one you love is waiting there for you. As you drive, you notice hazards along the way. Potholes, oil spots, and debris that will surly slow you down (and may prove to be detrimental to your safety). So you decide that you will be much safer, if you left the highway and took the scenic rout. So you find a route, where there are no distractions. It seems to be a straight shot to your destination. As you embark on this road, you soon realize that there is no one on this road. Your headlights stretch into the abyss for no one to see but you.

The irony in it all, is that the one you were going to see was always able to come to you. The purpose of the whole trip was so you could help the others, without the headlights, along the way. Chances are, you will still reach that destination, but with nothing to show for it. When it all comes down to it, you wasted the trip, and opportunity to do any good. The saddest part is all those who are stranded because of your decision. It was all mapped out for you. You failed to trust the one who drew the map. The person behind you, who chose to continue is now responsible for your task to. He now must carry twice the load. You chose the path of least resistance. It looked good. It looked safe. But it wasn’t the road, full of the people who were lost in the dark, looking for their way.

What I am initially trying to say is, sin is in the world. Although, that fact should make us cautious, it should by no means make us hermits. The Christian walk will never be easy, it wasn’t meant to be. Temptation is and should be around every corner. Its what grows us, and makes us stronger. The strength that God give is efficient. To completely remove yourself from life, for fear of temptation, is a mistake. Instead, it would be wiser to draw closer to God and rely on him for your security. Stay out in the fight, and bring home the P.O.Ws. Now as for understanding. It is essential, for our effectiveness, to be understanding. People are drawn to people who understand them. We are all looking for people to connect with. It’s how we are made. It is our souls way of searching for the God it so longs to be a part of. Let me share my own story about understanding.

When I was seventeen, my father thought it best for me to get a job. I owed him plenty of money, and had no way to pay it back. He gave me a job at his company, doing concrete. Now I was never what you’d call a mans man. I was always more into reading, and the arts. Where as my Father and brother was more into the whole sports scene and everything. I quickly found that most of the men working for my dad shared those interests. I was different. I would spend day after day watching them be buddy, buddy. Laughing and carrying on, about sports and their man stuff. I yearned to be part of the conversation, but I had nothing to offer. I didn’t speak their language.

I continued to have no interest in sports. There was no way that I could possibly sit through an hour or to, of a bunch of guys who proved their worth by wailing one another, and wearing tight clothes. But in by desperation for human contact, I concocted a plan. Every morning I would flip on the tube and watch the highlights of the games. Id listen to that over zealous spots broadcaster for everything he had to offer. I learnt the lingo, and within days, began to insert myself into the conversation. My plan had worked. Through all of it, I never conformed into a sports guy (I still cant watch a game). But what I did do was make some friends. Some of which went nowhere. They just wound up being work buddies. But a few grew into deep friendships. One in particular resulted in a man twice my age being led to the Lord. John is still today one of my best friends, and most promising pupils.

You see, I never surrendered my convictions to sports. I held to them tightly. But yet did not feel the need to broadcast them to the guys. How do you think it would have ended up if I broadcasted on my first day, “I’m not a sports guy, I like reading and the arts.”? I suspect that I would have continued to be the guy on the bench, unable to participate in the game. But this is what we do, when we get defensive about our convictions. “I” don’t drink, “I” don’t smoke’ “I” don’t watch R movies, ext. Ext. Statements like these are pious. What you thought you had surrendered to God, has now lifted you to a lofty place in your own head. There is absolutely no reason to broadcast that which you have surrendered to God. It almost never brings anyone closer to God themselves. What often does is your humanity. it’s the tangible. The very things about you that they can identify with.

I believe this was what Paul was writing about when he said; “Though I am free and belong to no man. I make myself a slave to every one, to win as many as possible. To the Jews. I become a Jew to win the Jews. To those under the Law. I become like one under the Law (though myself am not under the Law), so as to win those under the Law. Those not having the Law (though I am not free from Gods Law but under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the Law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the Gospel, that I may share in its blessing.” I do believe that its important to clarify myself. I am not by any means saying that we need to drop our convictions. Our convictions ,whatever they might be, are holy and pleasing to God when we live by them. That is what makes this a hard road. Our convictions are challenged constantly in life, when we walk with the blind. And that’s why its important to be firmly planted on a good foundation. We must at all times be secure in what we believe. Never shaken. So once again my disclaimer is noted. For the impressionable (children, teens, and those younger in their faith), It is wise to stick close to those who believe as you do. Now, this however is not an exception to duty. But rather a call to be extra safe, and to look that much harder for creative ways to reach those that God has put in your path. And for all the others out there, I will later go into detail of the importance of having a good support system, and how this is the purpose of a Church community. What I am saying is this, don’t ever expect others to understand your convictions. They belong to you and God. They’re not meant to be pushed onto others (especially those who are not yet under the law). We can no more expect the lost to know the way, than the blind to see the horizon. Be gracious and understanding. Meet them where they are. Walk through life with them, and show them Christ through love. And be ever so careful as you do it.

Paul’s example is not the only one we find in the Bible. The very foundation of Christianity shows us this same example. God, in all his perfection, saw fit to become man, in order to save man. He became fully man, but refrained from sin. Who are we, brothers and sisters’ to deny the same chance for grace as we’ve been shown? It is much harder to live amongst sin, them it is to hide from it. But, The fact is, lighthouses do no good at the bottom of canyons. Go and be seen. Quit hiding within your churches, and houses. Place yourselves strategically within the hoards of people without headlights. With the blind, and lost. Walk with the sinners for fear of their demise. Learn to love them, and in turn you will show them God. I pray that God will point someone out to you tomorrow. Some one to show his love to. I pray that you don’t botch it by preaching, or listing all the things you don’t do, or do differently than them. I pray that you fall in love with the person God has made them. And that God in turn, shows you how deeply he loves them.