Consecration's Fire, II

After quite a few posts about this... I think the reason I feel this unease about relevance is partly because I see how some Christians are getting involved in politics, entertainment and so on.

But examples like the South Korean president, who is a Christian, being protested against by Buddhist monks for what looks like discrimination, Mr George W. Bush, and so on - all these make me think. The necessity of competence in work too.

Plus the fact that sometimes we really do want to reach out more to our colleagues / coursemates but wonder how to balance the time spent.

So far... what I've gathered from all this is that:

1. We should always aim to do our best for the Lord, in whatever we do. Everything we do, we do it for His glory. Even if we fail, we fail in a way that shows Christlikeness.

2. Just because God can use the weak to shame the strong, doesn't mean that we should just stop growing. To what extent should we aim to improve ourselves and grow?

I think it's like a athlete training under a coach. The athlete, if he really wants to win the prize of his life, needs to take the initiative to train himself at every opportunity possible. Not to be passive, just waiting for the next official training session.

But he also needs to seek the overall guidance and direction of the coach. If the coach suggests training, say, the upper legs, then the athlete would do well to focus on the upper legs. Or the coach can see how the overall training is going, and give feedback on whether you are going well or to stop completely and take a good rest.

In short, it's a partnership. God and you, fellow workers. Wow.

3. But the most important thing, I think, is that we must, first and foremost, choose to be fully consecrated to God. To purposely set ourselves apart for His use. To be totally His.

Because if we seek to be excellent in commerce, in church, in campus, etc., but our relationship with God is not strong, then we are like houses built on sand. Never mind how much potential or talent or strengths or skills we have - if it is of mere men, it will ultimately not last.

But if we choose to set our hearts upon Jesus first and foremost, to surrender all our weaknesses and brokenness at the foot of the old rugged cross... then no matter how old or young you are, no matter who you are or what you've done, be you a scholar or a school-dropout, a CEO or a cleaner, a scion or a slave...

God is able to do so much with anyone who is utterly consecrated unto Him.

"Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you."

Ultimately, it is a heart set on fire for God that makes people sit up and pay attention.

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.
Acts 4:13

And that's the key thing.

One major reason the Church has become irrelevant in quite a few parts of the world, is because people have lost their passion and zeal for the truth. They sing Jesus is alive, but they live as though He was very dead.

If Christ truly is risen, then why aren't we dancing for joy in the first row every time we sing, "He is risen"? Why do we choose not to be radical in living and loving totally? Why do we compartmentalize God into a 30-minutes "quiet time", forgetting about Him the rest of the day?

Excellence in the marketplace alone is not enough; we need to be totally sold out to Jesus. Because He really is God.

Christmas is coming. The greatest gift of all came down two thousand years ago. How many friends do you want to tell this year? One? Two? Or shall we go out and invite as many as we can, day after day, year after year, till none are left?

Gandhi was once asked, "Mr. Ghandi, though you quote the words of Christ often, why is that you appear to so adamantly reject becoming his follower?"

He replied, "Oh, I don't reject your Christ. I love your Christ. It's just that so many of you Christians are so unlike your Christ."

Something else I thought about was that being passionate for God doesn't mean that we automatically become culturally irrelevant. Otherwise why would so many people flock to hear Jesus? Jesus really is the most relevant and loveliest person who ever walked the face of the earth. Charles Templeton, an avowed ex-Christian, once burst into tears, sobbing, "I... miss... him!..."

The problem is that we haven't let God's Word transform every aspect of our lives, including work. If we really applied God's Word zealously in every area of our lives... imagine the impact and influence that we could have as ambassadors of Christ!

Just some thoughts here.