Bulletin Articles
Restoring New Testament Christianity: Part 6
Note: this is part 6 of a series of articles on “Restoring New Testament Christianity”
Thus far in this series of articles, we have focused on the need for continual restoration and noted that first and foremost, that starts with restoring our hearts and actions to align with Christianity. Over the next couple weeks, we will examine some key areas where reformation is often most needed. First, let us consider whether we are truly citizens of a heavenly kingdom.
Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:24 that one cannot serve God and the things of this world. Yet, the popular belief and practice of many is that we can grasp this hope of a heavenly kingdom while still immersing ourselves in all of this world we can. Many of us live our lives no differently than conservative, non-Christians except for the fact that we attend church each week. We watch the same entertainment, our conversations are the same, and we are frequently just as involved in the commercial and materialistic pursuits of this worlds as everyone else.
The Scottish preacher and writer Henry Drummond said, “it is the man who tries to make the best of both worlds who makes nothing of either; and he who seeks to serve two masters misses the benediction of both.” This world and the next are enemies and at odds; we cannot therefore be friends of both. Jesus said in John 15:18,19, “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.” Which world are we living for?
The early church is a good example for us here. A preserved 2nd century letter to someone named Diognetus describes Christians to the Romans as follows: “they dwell in their own countries simply as sojourners…they are in the flesh, but they don’t live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth but are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time they surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men but are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned. They are poor, yet they make many rich. They possess few things; yet, they abound in all. They are dishonored but in their very dishonor are glorified.” And here is how the Romans described Christians: “you abstain from respectable pleasures. You do not attend sporting events. You have no interest in public amusements. You reject the public banquets and abhor the sacred games.”
Would we be criticized by the world for being totally absorbed in the interests of a heavenly kingdom and ignoring the things this world has to offer? In John 17:13-19 Jesus prayer was not that we be taken out of this world, but that we are not of this world. Let us restore our focus to that of the heavenly kingdom and may God help us to continue to loosen our grip on the things of this world.
