By no stretch of the imagination, today’s world is full of causes capable of keeping the mind busier than many of us would hope. From politics to social injustices, many of these diversions even present themselves as noble to pursue. And while we are the most equipped of all people to make an impact, able to act not just with our own strength but with the very strength of Christ that works within us, the world still moves further and further from righteousness. In realizing this, we often push a bit harder, rebuke a bit more fervently. We remain undeterred. And for a time, we see victory, but in the end, we seem to lose ground. To this, I write perhaps now it is high time we as believers look inward rather than outward. See, God loves all creatures and creations; we know this love to be unconditional. However, to invoke God in our lives, call upon His many promises, His mighty power, there are conditions that must be met. If what was described before resonated at all, then we certainly should be asking ourselves: are we meeting God’s conditions?
Stopping to consider & reconsider.
God’s word reveals to us many promises, many of which we recite like poetry when times are tough but what we often leave out or fail to consider is the condition that is set before it. Yes, His love is unconditional, but His promises are absolutely conditional. No matter how small the condition. This should not be new news for any of us for the pattern started with Adam in the book of Genesis, reading—
“Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Gen 2:16-17 NKJV).
So, as we live our Christian lives in the pattern of seasons designed by the Most High, when find ourselves in troubling waters that have persisted for what feels like too long, I encourage all of us to yield reflecting on the world and reflect on His word, examining ourselves with all reproach.
“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chr 7:14).
For many of us, the first condition is undeniably easy. “If My people,” we must be his people— John 3:16 being our motto more times than not— and so we jump straight to the promises, unknowingly glossing over the second half of that condition: “who are called by My name”. Notice it does not say “who call themselves by My name”. One might argue semantics, but we know God to be thorough and meticulous and that He means what he says. He is not accidental. In other words, giving pause to examine ourselves, are our lives known for faith? Or are we known for our secular endeavors? How would the nonbelievers in our lives describe us? Do they even know we walk with Christ?
So again, I encourage us to examine ourselves carefully, weighing our lives against the Word God, look for the fruits we ought to be bearing.
“But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithful, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law” (Gal 5:23-23).
In the places we walk, talk, and in the lives we touch, do we see these fruits (as defined by the Bible) planted? Can nonbelievers as well as believers say these things about us, having no bad words to pit against our character? Consider Titus 2:7-8. Paul writes to the church in Crete telling them in all things to show themselves to be a pattern of good works, and in doctrine, to have integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned, so much so that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say about them. And one might be tempted to argue this is specific to church elders, but an important aside taught in Titus is that what is good for the Pastor, is also good for those in attendance.
Conditions are not up for interpretation.
When it comes to circumcising our hearts and examining how we measure to God’s conditions, His standards, we must not consider just actions, but the stewardship our time as well. In Exodus 20:3, God’s people are given the first commandment: “You shall have no other gods before Me.”
The wording of the first commandment implies there will be other gods, and while they are certainly not the one true Living God, they certainly are objects of worship. And so, as Christians we may think to ourselves that we are in the clear. We aren’t praying to some inanimate object, performing rituals in someone else’s name, casting spells, or practicing two religions at once. Although those things may be true, we should not be so hasty. Remember, those commandments were delivered to and for believers. And despite being so near to God in a literal and spiritual sense, the children of Israel still had it in them to dedicate themselves to a foreign god— on more than one occasion.
Let’s make it personal. In the US, our culture does not teach reverence as we might see from our brothers and sisters from other parts of the world. We do, however, uphold the idea of the individual, teaching that time is valuable— that it is money. It is traded, paid for, and regarded as a commodity, sometimes a luxury. Understanding that, if an idol can be defined as an object of passionate devotion, we must then contemplate what worship might look like in our culture. To phrase it plainly, we must also examine where and how we devote the majority of that very commodity we are taught is precious. For many of us, time goes to work, our kids, and trying to stay afloat— things that are by no means inherently evil or wicked, but are we doing these at the expense of our relationship with Christ? When we work, when we tend to our children, when we go about our busy days, are we doing so in gratitude, giving thanks, and making an effort to pray without seizing— that is to take moments to acknowledge and speak with God throughout the day? Or do we find ourselves full of complaints, grumblings, and idle talk? Is God taking a backseat to the life our actions appear to want to live?
A quick way I learned to evaluate my own heart is to ask myself if I had to give up all the things I worked to acquire by order of God, could I do it? Would I hesitate? When giving his sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us—
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matt 6:24)—
“mammon” meaning wealth regarded as an evil influence or false object of worship and devotion.
If, like me, you find one or two, maybe more, things that gave you pause when considering giving up all earthly possessions or found yourself rationalizing that God would never ask such a thing of you— I offer a prayer we might pray:
Father God, forgive me, for in my heart I am not ready to easily part with many of the material things you’ve given me and allowed me to pursue. I do not strive to make them a god before you, but I confess they have taken residence within my heart. I pray Father, that you would teach me to see them as I should see them, regard them as I should regard them and that you would remove all falsehoods and lies far from me. Instill your proverbs of wisdom within me, teaching me to pursue neither wealth nor poverty, and to be content and grateful for what you allot to me. Amen.
But Conditions are to our benefit.
Meeting God’s conditions is crucial to the Christian experience but live a day in today’s world and it is quite simple to see how easily one can unknowingly fail to meet even the first commandment. Thankfully, God, through Jesus Christ, gave us a way to come boldly before him.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
Of course, the condition here, much like in 2 Chronicles 7:14, we must confess our sins. We must admit we are wrong. In fact, the verse right before it, 1 John 1:8 reads—
“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
Meeting the condition here sets us free. So, even if some of us right now are deceiving ourselves, let us take to His word for all scripture is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness— but remember, this is written to believers. That is certainly not to say the Bible cannot be used to correct others, in fact it must be used, but it is to be used as a reminder that our correction must come first.
Importance of decreasing so that he may increase.
Yes, the world is in a bad state; in fact, it actively courts sin and death, but this should not be new news for it is the enemies’ domain— but should you be called or compelled to be about the businesses, politics, and debates in the world, when you do, consider 2 Timothy 2:16, 23-26. In these verses, Paul reminds Christians that we should shun profane and idle babblings for they will increase ungodliness, and that we should avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. Paul also notes that a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach with patience and humility. In reading this, please understand. This is not a call to be passive, passive aggressive, or even accepting of sin, but rather a call to be indomitable in the face of the enemy that works in places we cannot see. This posture is meant to help keep us from going astray.
See, the Holy Spirit does not commandeer our bodies, taking over sensibilities. Whether right or wrong, we very much remain in control of the gifts bestowed upon us for our calling for it is written—
“And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets” (1 Cor 14:32).
And because these gifts are irrevocable, one can conclude that if we go astray, it can and will be misused. So, while we may see success in the application of our faith— our gifts, we must remain vigilant, reflecting on ourselves before others, working diligently to present ourselves as workers who do not need to be ashamed. And when we reflect, pray, invite the Holy Spirit to show you the true state of your heart setting aside your own expectations so that you may not be deceived in believing your ambitions, wants, or goals are God’s, for we should all know by now that the heart can lead us astray. And as an exercise in reflection, humble and weigh yourself before God’s word, considering James 3:17-18:
“But the wisdom that us from above is pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”
Have we seen peace in our life— in those that we influence? Or does the wisdom we so often provide divide and sow discord?
Wisdom for the time we have left.
I write all this not to accuse one brethren over another, but to ask are we really meeting the conditions set by God in order to truly take hold of his promises? To phrase it another way, are we doing what God has purposed and required of us as believers or are we telling God “This is what I will do for you.” No matter the teaching, be wary of the latter. Matthew 7:20-23 depicts how walking a life in such a way is dangerous to our salvation. Just as important, verse 20, in Christ’s own words, we are to understand His people are known by their fruits. The world can and will be chaotic, but in our life and of those we touch, we should be seeing the very fruits outlined in Galatians 5:22-23.
In verses 21-23 of Matthew 7, we can read that at the time of judgment, there will be those who proclaim Jesus, proclaim to be deserving of salvation by their works, by their own actions. But we know the truth— we are saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus and not by our own efforts or works. Yes, faith without works is dead as written in James 2, but those works have a prerequisite and that is faith as defined by God, not the world, and yes, there most certainly is a difference. Word by word, 2nd Chronicles 7:14 calls out to the “those who are called by My name”. What it does not include are those that call themselves by His name. And one may want to argue semantics, but to that I would remind them God is not accidental, He is purposeful and deliberate, and it was the misapplication of these very ‘semantics’ that cause God to only allow Moses to see the promise land but not enter into it. Knowing this should not scare us but be reason to pause, setting aside our own understanding as His word teaches, so that we may course correct and examine if the world has more claim over our heart or does the world, and more importantly does God, see the Christ in us?
And so, being keenly aware of our time together and our time before the coming of Christ, I encourage all of us to see that we walk circumspectly, considering the ramifications of thoughts and actions, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil (Eph 5:15-16).
And as you do these things, remember that God has given us authority and stewardship over our blessings of time, resources, and gifts. It may be tempting to spend them freely as we wish, but as children of God we are called to a higher purpose as workers who are to be diligent to present themselves approved to God, as workers who do not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Tim 2:15).
And finally, with a little inspired wisdom from me, brothers and sisters be careful in what you associate your name and blessings with. In whatever you do, know that you should not be some label who happens to be Christian, but always be a Christian who “happens to be”; and whatever those “happens-to-be” are, be sure that they are righteous and pure in nature for God will not bend a knee to anything of this world, and neither should his children.
Kevin M Finley 