richness of a relationship with God
Let us not delude ourselves further. Just because we don't practise socially-objectionable behaviours and generally desire to hurt no one in our daily actions does not mean that we are good christians, nor do we have a rich relationship with God. It is simply insufficient not to want to do evil; there must be a positive action on our part as well.Today's vcf sermon, delivered by one of our law lecturers, was amongst the most inspiring I've heard, and it left me stunned and burned by the reality of her words. Many of us would generally agree that we're not thieves, robbers, drug addicts, porn addicts, do not practise pre-marital sex, and overall do not seek the harm of others. We lead good, open lives and do not possess dark secrets. Thus, it is easy for us to then claim that we are good christians. But the speaker today brought home a message that was hard for me to swallow - that despite all the non-evil I've done, it doesn't mean I have a rich relationship with God. She cited the parable of the rich fool in Luke 12 as an example. The rich man hoarded wealth for himself because his sole purpose was to take life easy: eat, drink and be merry. But God demanded his life that very night, and asked him who will get what he had prepared for himself. And it dawned on me that, I had behaved exactly the same way. Although I'm not stashing away cash in the bank at the moment, I once very much wanted to just live life the way I want it to (barring all evils), and pursue my own happiness above anything else. They are just seemingly innocuous things, like sourcing out the best food and desserts, travel, read, play sports, pursue my interests, etc. But it's such a me-centered ideology to live by, and very selfish too. There's nothing in the list that focuses on people.
The speaker went on to expound on what it means to be a citizen of God's kingdom. One point that struck me was how we let ourselves be led by the earthly noose. If we know that we are going to take a law exam, would we study physics? In the same vein, if at the end of our lives, we know we are going to be judge by God's standards, why do we still continue to abide by the rules of the world? Is instant gratification more seductive than God's laws? Or is God not real enough to us at the moment? Or have we been blinded by the enemy?
Another point which provoked me was, what is the mark of my belief in Christ? Most of us church-goers would immediately rattle off the number of ministries we are involved in, and take that as our service to God. But what does ministry really mean? It is the application of the victory we have over the enemy to a broken and fallen world. The key focus here is on the world, and not us. How willing are we to reach out to the broken and fallen world? If someone is clearly ostracised by his peers because of his personality quirks or irrepressible behaviour, are we going to behave like the rest of the world and ostracise him as well, or will we take the very bold and difficult step of reaching out to him/her and offering the very basic we have - friendship?
These are certainly hard to do, many of which I'm guilty of myself. Which is why it struck home so painfully that I'm still so, so far from perfect, despite all the flaws I've tried desperately to eradicate. Often I've thought that by leading a relatively good life, it will be a sufficient testimony to my faith, and consequently arouse the interest of non-christians. But I realised that many non-christians do lead relatively good lives too, so what, then, is the difference? Thus, a positive action on our part is needed to show that the lives we lead are willing ones in response to the outpouring of love that God has showered upon us first.
posted by solitude @ 6:45 PM
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