Sunday, November 26
Live to honor God
Scripture: Job 28-29, Romans 2
Romans 2:23–24 You who boast in the law dishonor God by transgressing the law! 24 For just as it is written, “the name of God is being blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
Observation
Paul challenged Jews who because they had the law believed they were superior to Gentiles. Paul insisted that it’s not having the law, but obeying the law that mattered. And by breaking the law, the Jews dishonored God and gave the Gentiles reason to blaspheme God.
If you’re gonna talk the talk, you better walk the walk!
But this also applies to Christians. I read Romans 2:17-29 and substituted “Christian” for “Jew,” “the Word” for “the law,” and “baptism” for “circumcision.” Try it. I believe this is what Paul would write to American Christians who claim the moral high ground but fail to live on it. God and Jesus and the Christian faith have gotten a black eye in our culture largely because of our failure to live the gospel we proclaim.
Application
If you’re gonna talk the talk, you’ve got to walk the walk! Live it!
This doesn’t mean perfection—no one expects that. But it means living in love, humility, grace and kindness. It means living in such a way that God is honored by our lives, rather than dishonored, and that unbelievers see something genuine and real that they can’t dismiss or ignore.
Let your life speak, let your words speak so that God is honored and unbelievers can believe.
Prayer: Lord, forgive us for failing to live our faith and thus bringing dishonor on the name of Jesus. Help us to live to honor You—and draw unbelievers to Jesus.
Extra: Last night, Laina and I watched a movie, “This is Christmas” on Prime. It was a wonderful story of a young man who rode the daily commuter train to London with the same people every day, but no one interacted. He believed that “a stranger is just a friend you haven’t met” (great thought!) and invited everyone to a Christmas party. It’s a terrific reminder that every person is more than meets the eye. (Spoiler alert: there’s also a romance.) It’s worth the watch.
Having said that, here’s my caveat. While it’s a wonderful story about friendship and kindness, it’s not what its title suggests. This isn’t Christmas! Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus, and of course, Jesus is never mentioned, and Christians only in a derogatory fashion early in the movie (see my observation and application above for why). Our culture largely strips Jesus out of Christmas and makes it about human kindness. Of course kindness is a good thing. But Christmas is about Jesus…not just being nice each other. So… “This is Christmas” is a delightful movie—enjoy it! Just remember that this is not Christmas—Jesus is. And it’s Jesus who changes human hearts and makes us fully human and kind.