I have found in life that there are so many options, so many opinions, so many theories & postulations that we oftentimes find ourselves adrift in the sea of diversity. One only has to look down the cereal aisle at the grocery store to become overwhelmed by variety and variance. While I can choose with expediency and lack of concern in terms of breakfast cereals, I dare not practice such reckless relativity in terms of my spiritual convictions.
Ours is a world that thrives on buzz words and catch phrases. Many of them are indicative of our time: relativism, diversity, situational ethics, tolerance. All fit nicely into the package of postmodern thought. And while each brand of moral/spiritual cereal may offer a "new and improved" slogan, as well as a fancy toy, what we oftentimes experience in taste tends to lack flavor and leaves us hungering for something else to fill our emptiness.
I must confess that the only thing that has filled that emptiness is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Yes, I am a Christian. I am a Christ-follower. I am a follower of the Way...His way, His truth and the life I experience is nothing short of the by-product of living His way and living by His truth.
Yet I must confess that the more I walk with the Lord, the more I truly see that Christianity is not merely a set of beliefs to which I give intellectual or even affectual assent. It is a life-style in which I'm called upon to put my faith into practice. It is a challenge issued for me to live out what I truly say I believe in. If I say I want to be like Christ I must by very nature of that decision, make certain that I make every effort to love as He loved and live as He lived.
The Apostle Paul put it this way in the concluding section of Galatians 5:6. He said:
"...the only thing that counts is faith working through love." (NRSV)
The only thing...not many things, not one of innumerable options. The only thing. Ahh. The sound of certainty and experiential objectivity. It would seem to me that what Paul was trying to get across is this:
"If you're truly a Christian others will recognize it by the way you live in love."
It would seem that our faith in Jesus Christ is not real until it's united with how we live out our day to day lives. And therein is the challenge, but perhaps that's part of the grace. If it comes too easy then its too good to be true. We know life isn't easy, but if we express our faith through loving action towards others it can be good.
Shalom my friends,
Pastor Jeremy
