The Third Way – The Way of Christ

The Third Way – The Way of Christ 1 Thessalonians 5:1–11 (NIV84) 1 Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. 5 You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. 9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. What does it mean to “belong to the day” in a dark world? How does our faith relate to the world of sports, fashion, music, money, technology, and work? Should we embrace our world, or withdraw from it? How can we reconcile the Bible verses that say, “Don’t love the world” with the verses that say “Go into all the world” with the gospel? How can we stand for life when abortion is considered legal and socially convenient? How can we stand for truth when popular philosophy says there are no moral absolutes? How can we stand for righteousness in an age when people with strong convictions are labelled as judgmental and intolerant? How can we love our neighbours when most people tend to stay to themselves? How can we point to Jesus as the unique Son of God and the only Saviour in a world that shrugs and says, “It doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you’re sincere”? How can we teach our children that God comes first when most of the time our world places God on the margin, instead of at the centre of what’s going on? How should we deal with the world we live in? Believers have answered that question in different ways, and have tended to drift toward one of two extremes: isolation or conformity. The isolationist approach says: • Remove yourself completely from the world. Pull away from your community, your schools, and your neighbours. • Don’t have any close friends who are non-Christians. • Never read a secular book or magazine. Pay no attention to the news. • Shun science and technology. • Forget about art, music, movies, and the mall. Develop your own Christian subculture. But isn’t Jesus Lord over all of life? Doesn’t He call us to engage our culture and penetrate it with the good news? According to a survey, only 16% of 18 to 22-year-olds have any contact at all with “organized religion.” Yet their interest in spiritual things is even greater than in the past. 82% of them are asking questions about life after death. If Christians withdraw from their world, where will these young people find the answers they’re seeking? At the other extreme, there’s the conformist approach. It says: • Just drift with the cultural tide, wherever it takes you. Uncritically adopt the mind-set of those around you. • Don’t concern yourself with what’s modest and decent; follow the fashion designers in Paris and New York tell you. • If you see a movie, don’t analyse and critique its message; absorb whatever Hollywood sends your way. • At work or school, don’t let others know you’re a Christian; they might think you’re weird. • Don’t encourage government officials to deal with issues of right and wrong or talk about their faith when discussing public policy; that violates the separation of church and state. • In the church, don’t step on anyone’s toes. Get preachers to avoid the meat of God’s Word and deliver painless, comfortable monologues. • And evangelism? Forget it! Who are you to persuade others to change their points of view? But conformity is for cowards, not for Christians. Today, many Christians have let the world squeeze them into its mould so that they have become indistinguishable from the world. Why should a seeker even go to church at all if what he finds there is exactly like the secular world with a little “God-talk” thrown in? There’s a third alternative: Jesus’ approach. Neither isolation nor conformity is the way of Christ. Jesus doesn’t call us to isolate ourselves from the world, nor does he want us to conform to the world. He offers a different way of living—a third alternative. Christians aren’t captive to our culture. Nor are we captives of the counterculture. Our allegiance is to the kingdom of God. Our citizenship is in Heaven. How can we find the right balance? Jesus had the perfect balance. Sometimes He left the crowds and went off by himself to pray, but He was no isolationist. Other times, He went to dinner with well-known sinners. He rubbed shoulders with crowds in the marketplace, on the beach, by the roadside. He didn’t deliver his most famous sermon from a church’s pulpit, but on a mountainside. He was “in the world,” but He was “not of the world.” He loved the people, but He told them hard truths—even if the crowds walked away because He didn’t say or do what they expected. He offered forgiveness and grace, but He also called sinners to repentance and told them to “go and sin no more.” Jesus was impossible to pigeonhole. He didn’t just march to the beat of a different drummer; He reinvented the drum. He kept God’s law, but He challenged commonly held traditions like what you were allowed to do on the Sabbath Day. Worshipers in Jerusalem had grown comfortable with the money changers in the temple, but Jesus threw them out. His disciples were drawn to Him, but they couldn’t quite figure Him out. He fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah, but He didn’t always act the way His countrymen expected the Messiah to act. Some tried to brand him a rebel, yet they couldn’t find Him guilty of a single sin. Some said He was in cahoots with the devil, but everywhere Jesus went, He overthrew the devil’s work. Jesus told his disciples to be as shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves (Matthew 10:16). In other words: Be sharp, but be pure. Be involved, but be different. Communicate, but keep your distinctiveness. Connect, but don’t conform. Be “in the world, but not of the world.” Don’t let your culture shape you; you shape it! Be an influencer—a force for godliness. If you have an unquenchable passion to change your culture for the better, 1 Thessalonians 5:1–11 has some important lessons for you to consider. “Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you” (verse 1). Some Christians have brought dishonour upon the church by engaging in date-setting and wild predictions about the Lord’s return. Paul warns us not to get involved in pointless speculation. We dishonour our Lord and we look foolish to the world when we proclaim an inaccurate message supposedly from God. “For you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night” (verse 2). Jesus will return at a time when many do not expect him, so we should be alert and on guard for his return at all times (Mark 13:32–37). It’s too late to prepare for a storm when the wind is already gusting. Someday it will be too late to prepare for the coming of the Lord (Matthew 24:42–51). “While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly, as labour pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape” (verse 3). Don’t be side-tracked by pointless speculation, focus on what really matters. The day of the Lord, however, need not overtake God’s people with complete surprise, for we should be prepared for it at all times. “But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief” (verse 4). “You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness” (verse 5). Friends, most of the time we take light for granted. The sun comes up each morning. We flip on the light switch in our homes. If you want a midnight snack, there’s even a little light in the fridge. Imagine what it would be like to live in total darkness. The Bible says “God is light; in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). When God created the heavens and the earth, he said, “Let there be light.” God’s Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path (Psalm 119:105). Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). Paul says we are “sons of the light.” There are several qualities of light that help us appreciate what this means. While light stays essentially the same, we can find new ways to shine it. In Bible times, a homeowner would use a candle, a torch, or an oil lamp (a bowl of olive oil with a cloth wick floating in it). Two centuries ago gas lamps were developed. One century ago, Thomas Edison invented the electric light bulb. Then along came battery-powered flashlights, and eventually lava lamps and strobe lights. Today we can use laser beams for surgery. We keep finding new ways to let light shine, but light itself remains basically the same. Likewise, God’s truth always remains the same, but each generation needs to figure out some fresh new ways to shine it. There’s something mysterious about light. Scientists still don’t know all there is to know about light. Is it a wave? Is it a particle? How does it move with lightning speed, yet most of the time we’re not even aware it’s moving at all? There’s something mysterious about faith, too. I can’t always explain how God answers prayer, but I know he does. I can’t fully explain Heaven, but I am confident it’s real. Light works quietly. You never hear light. It never makes a sound. It doesn’t attract attention to itself—it just helps you see other things more clearly. If you’re lighting your world, you don’t call attention to yourself, but to the Lord (Matthew 5:16). Light shouldn’t be hidden. In Matthew 5:14 Jesus said, “You are the light of the world; a city on a hill cannot be hidden.” In that famous verse, he used the plural form of the word “you.” He was not only talking about one person individually; he was talking about his people collectively. Did you ever drive through the countryside on a dark night? Far off in the distance you can see the glow of town lights ahead of you. On a clear summer night, out at Lillico, you can see the glow of Devonport and Ulverstone. You wouldn’t notice one little light shining by itself, but when lots of lights combine together, you can’t miss the glow. That’s how it is in the church too. Jesus said, “Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house” (Matthew 5:15). There were no matches in Jesus’ day. To start a fire, you had to use pieces of flint or rub two sticks together like Boy Scouts do. It wasn’t easy to get a fire going, so once you did, you wouldn’t light a lamp and then put it under a bowl where it would quickly go out. You’d put it on a stand where it would give light to everyone. Are we reflecting the light of Jesus where we live, at work, at school, and in all our relationships with people around us? “So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled” (verse 6). Friends, too many Christians suffer from “Eutychus syndrome.” Remember Eutychus? He fell asleep during Paul’s sermon. As the sermon went long, Eutychus’s eyelids began drooping, his head started bobbing, the lamps were flickering in his eyes, and he fell asleep (literally!). He fell out of a window three stories from the ground, and he “was picked up dead.” But Paul wrapped his arms around Eutychus, and God restored him to life. They went back upstairs, had something to eat, and then Paul went on and finished his sermon, talking until daylight! (Acts 20:7–12.) The Eutychus syndrome is all too common. Christians are often spiritually asleep. We allow worldly things to steal our alertness. Jesus’ message to us is the same thing he told the church in Sardis: “Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you” (Revelation 3:2-3). “For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night” (verse 7). One of the ways Christians demonstrate self-control is by avoiding destructive and addictive behaviours. Addiction clouds judgment, wrecks marriages and families, wastes money, takes lives on the highway, lessens productivity at work, causes illness and disease, sets a bad example for young people, and makes its users do foolish things they later regret. “But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet” (verse 8). Paul uses a similar analogy in Ephesians 6, where he says we must “be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power,” and put on the “whole armour of God” so we can take our stand against the devil’s schemes. If you’re a soldier, you don’t just wander into battle wearing flip-flops and a T-shirt; you put on your armour. There’s a spiritual battle going on, and we need God’s protection in the fight. God wants us to be protected, not defenceless. The main battlefields of our wars are not in church buildings but on the turf of daily life. We don’t wage war as the world does, but God provides us with spiritual weapons like the Word of God and prayer that are more effective than anything the world offers. Jesus didn’t pray that His people would be removed from the world, but He prayed that in the midst of it we will be protected from Satan. He said, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world” (John 17:15–18). Our relationship to the world is like a boat. It’s good for a boat to be in the water, but it’s bad if there’s too much water in the boat. Christians need to be in the world. Jesus sends us there. But we need to be careful not to get too much of the world into us. We don’t have to fight this battle alone. Jesus prayed, “May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me” (John 17:23). Division in the church dims our light and weakens our influence. We need each other. Christian unity is one of our most powerful spiritual weapons. If we’re going to win this cultural battle, it won’t be because of our own strength but because of the power God provides through his Holy Spirit working in the church. Here are four practical steps we can take as Christians if we want to make a difference in our culture for the sake of the Lord. 1. Before you try to change your world, ask God to change you. In a Peanuts cartoon, Charlie Brown says, “I would like to change the world.” Lucy says, “I would start with you.” It’s good to start with ourselves. Is your own heart right before God? Has your salt lost its saltiness? Have you been hiding your light under a basket? 2. Don’t run from people; relate to them. Jesus was a friend of sinners. Don’t belittle them; befriend them. Non-Christians aren’t arguments to be won, they’re souls to be loved. If you build relationships of honesty and trust, God will turn those relationships into bridges for the love of Christ to cross. 3. Don’t conform; be transformed. We need to discipline our minds to think Christianly. Analyse the world from a biblical perspective. Whether it’s a song on the radio, a news story on the Internet, or a story line on a TV show, evaluate its message and filter out the ideas that displease God. The Bible says, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). Don’t just mindlessly soak up the culture around you. Let God shape your worldview. 4. Don’t isolate; penetrate. Ministry doesn’t just happen in a church building. Be an involved and informed Christian citizen. Vote in elections. Voice your opinions about moral issues affecting your nation. Take your faith with you as you get involved in school activities, sports leagues, and community events. Be a good neighbour. Paul was flexible with his methods but firm in his message. He never compromised God’s truth and never wavered about his convictions, but he related to people in a way they could understand. He said, “I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22). Friends, heaven is not our only goal; we still have work to do on earth. There is a new way of living in play. Not only are we new creations, but there is also a new life that God has for us, a new way of being human. We must keep on doing God’s work until death or until we see the unmistakable return of our Saviour. Look around you. Be sensitive to others’ need for encouragement, and offer supportive words or actions. Remember it is you near the end of a long race, when your legs ache, when your throat burns, and when your whole body cries out for you to stop that friends and supporters are most valuable. Then their encouragement helps you push through the pain to the finish line. In the same way, we should encourage one another. A word of encouragement offered at the right moment can mean the difference between finishing well and collapsing along the way. We are the people of the third way – The Way of Christ. We are called to share a new life, a new way of healing the world we are commissioned to go out with an agenda similar to His, to implement the work of the cross in all the world. We reveal to the world the New Way to be human in a hostile world. In Christ, we are made alive in order to walk in the new works that God has prepared for us. God wants us to salt the earth and light the world in factories and auto repair shops, in school classrooms and corporate boardrooms. We need Christian doctors and nurses, cooks and coaches, lawyers and farmers, bankers, musicians, athletes, artists, salespeople, scientist, and cleaners. We are children of light. We’re called to make a difference in our world.