Friday, March 17
Wise in what is good…
Scripture: Romans 16
Romans 16:19 Your obedience is known to all and thus I rejoice over you. But I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil.
Observation
Be wise in what is good, innocent in what is evil.
Paul repeats an idea found elsewhere in Scripture. Be experienced, practiced, wise in what is good. Be innocent, pure, guileless in what is evil.
Application
One of my concerns these days is that I see Christians becoming increasingly cozy with what is bad. We have lost the intense desire to be as close to God (and good) as possible, and instead are embracing evil in a misguided attempt to be relevant. We have abandoned the goal of being pure in heart and word and deed.
I just finished reading Becoming Jesus People, by Riley Taylor. It’s the stories of 19 people who came to Jesus in the early 70’s at Liberation House in Eugene. The stories reminded me of how earnest we were to be all in for Jesus, how eager we were to abandon evil and embrace good.
People abandoned drugs and alcohol, sobered up and found their joy in the Holy Spirit (see Ephesians 5:18). Today, alcohol use is on a rapid rise among Christians; I fear that marijuana, now legalized, won’t be far behind. Then what?
People cleaned up their language. We stopped swearing and instead began praising the Lord, giving thanks and speaking words that edified (see Ephesians 4:29, 5:4). Today, it’s increasingly fashionable for Christians to use foul language.
People threw away their secular music albums, and devoted their musical interest and ability to praising God (see Ephesians 5:18-20). Today, Christians are increasingly ingesting media that is anything but pure or good, and seem unconcerned about the detrimental effects of that on them.
I’m not trying to be legalistic—God forbid! But I would like to be “wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil.” I’d like to be all in for Jesus, and more like him and less like the culture I swim in. The world is a formation machine, and we’re called not to be conformed by the world but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:1-2). We are to be “blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation, among whom you shine like stars in the sky” (Philippians 2:15-16).
Prayer: Lord I love you. You know that the last thing I want to become is legalistic about any of this. But I do what to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. I want to be more like Jesus and I want to shine like a star in our dark world. Please help me to be pure and winsome like Jesus.
More: Numbers 33-34, Matthew 17