“Stay away from a fool, for you will not find knowledge on their lips.”
Proverbs 14:7
So this week has been an interesting week. I was asked by HBO to be in a documentary. They used language that was very vague. Here is what they said. "We'd love to speak with you about the idea of having a conversation with the hosts of our show about religion and local politics in Oklahoma." I did some digging and found out that it was basically going to be a documentary about Christians vs. drag queens in small towns. So I made the decision to stay out of it. Why? Because it's a trap.
This morning I awoke to messages from people telling me about this same HBO group sponsoring and putting together a massive drag show in the middle of the town I live in. The same kinds of questions have been asked of me. "What should we do?"
Well, here is what I think.
1. Don’t freak out. God’s not freaking out so we shouldn't either. This may have caught us off guard, but God was not shocked by what happened. The wickedness of our land is not surprising God…he saw this coming before the foundations of the world were laid…this is all under the sovereign control of our King (Psalms 37:13-22). So therefore don’t worry about it either. Remain faithful to preach the Gospel. Chase Christ. Pursue purity. He’s got this! 1b: Stay away from this event. This whole thing is a trap to make those who name the name of Christ to look like back woods fundamentalists. The show is planned for Sunday. Rather than go to this particular event and just be lambasted by fools, invite some family and friends to church and worship KING JESUS and then go have lunch around your table and spend time resting and having conversations around the truth of the finished work of Christ on the cross.
2. Clean up your house! Start today by looking at your own life, and repent of the sins that are going on in your heart and life. We are quick to rip apart homosexuality and drag queens as an awful sin (which it is) but so is your angry bitter heart, so is your unforgiving attitude. Your sin is just as awful as their sin. It all needs to be redeemed. We start by leading out in the area of repentance. We bow our knee to the King of the universe and repent of our sins ( 1 John 1:9 ).
3. We Pray The reason we have such horrible things going on in our nation is because the church has not been on its knees praying the way it should. Revival starts in the house of God, not in the halls of congress. (2 Chron. 7:14 If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.) If the church is not praying and repenting then don’t expect the rest of the nation to do any different. Prayer does actually change things.
4 Stay focused on sharing the Gospel. Can I be really honest, the reason we're in this mess is because those who call themselves Christians rarely if at all actually share their faith and attempt to persuade someone to repent and trust the Gospel of Christ. According to Barna research only 10% of professing Christians actually share their faith. This is why we're in the mess we're in. How do we fixed it? SHARE THE GOOD NEWS OF CHRIST with those who you interact with on a regular basis.
The only thing that changes people is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, not pushing them to try and live out some type of moral modification. Because in all reality we can’t live out that moral standard. We’ve all fallen short (Rom. 3:23). Jesus has to live this thing out for us and in us. I know it’s easy to jump in with the rest of the world and start saying everything is lost, but this is when the Gospel can and will shine the brightest. The Gospel invades dark spaces and brings light. What we need to be focused on is not the issue itself. We need to be focused on Jesus, and as a result of being focused on Him, we become salt and light to a dark and dying culture. Invite someone into your house that does not think, look, or believe like you and make it your goal to share the HOPE of Christ with them in a loving manner.
This is how we transform the world.
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