Monthly message for July

Wrington and Lynch Chapels Minister’s Website Article, July 2019

Here’s something worth remembering:

None of us are from another planet. And the Christian message is that everybody who’s part of the human race is sinful, and needs a saviour. That’s my starting point. Every now and then a study comes out that shows that Christians get divorced at about the same level as those who aren’t Christians. That causes church authorities to go ballistic, and they say, ‘We’ve got to have more courses on marriage, study the Bible more.’ Their implication is that, really, we’re good people, we’re better than those others. Now, I believe in marriage. I think it’s significant. I’m all for promoting marriage. But every time they find that Christians are about the same as everyone else, they’re shocked. Don’t be.

I heard the story of a young Christian, called Justin, who worked parking and caring for cars. Then, the company got the contract to look after cars of clients at a major strip club. Suddenly Justin had a moral dilemma. He said to his boss, ‘I’m a Christian. I can do this job, but can I do it without going into the strip club?’ The boss said, ‘Sure, if you want.’ So he did, for a long time. At one time, Justin was outside when one of the strippers came and said, ‘Justin, where is so-and-so?’ He said, ‘Down the street.’ She said, ‘Could you take some of us there?’ So, they climbed into his car, and drove off. As they were driving, one of the ladies said, ‘Why won’t you ever come in and watch us work?’ Justin said that suddenly God gave him the right answer. He held his finger and thumb up and said, ‘Because I love Jesus just that much more than I want to come in and see you work.’ Justin had an amazing impact on a lot of those women. Why? Because he never once thought of himself as better than they were. He thought about Jesus. Christians need to do that. The bumper sticker is true that says: ‘Christians are not perfect, but Christians are forgiven.’ When our attitude is like that, we’re good for the world. The lie is: ‘I’m better than those pagans.’ That makes non-believers say, ‘They’re a bunch of hypocrites. I’m not going to that church. If that’s what it means to be a Christian, I don’t want any part of it.’ I understand that. But most of the time we shouldn’t try to have slick, pat answers. We should humbly bow our heads and say, ‘That’s true, and we’re working on it; but Jesus still loves us, and he loves you.’ That’s the only position Christians should have. If you’re a non-Christian reading this, I hope you forgive us and help us get better. Then let’s look to God together.

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Every blessing Duncan