So the mid-week service of the church I attend was tonight, and the pastor taught on Separation from the World. I'm just going to touch on a few points he made in his introduction.
On Separation from the World:
"Separation from the world brings the opportunity" for a relationship with God.
2 Corinthians 6:11-18, firstly focusing on 17,
"Therefore "Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you,"
It doesn't say not to hug or grasp or hold onto the unclean thing, it says don't even touch it.
Then in 2 Corinthians 7:1 it says
"Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."
Every once in a while we have to purge from ourselves the things that slip in, the things that we make excuses for. "It's not that bad," "It's okay," if we have to make excuses, then we probably shouldn't be doing it in the first place.
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| We need to be separate from the world, not going back and forth over the line we draw and the boundaries we make. They're there for a reason. |
I like the message, and I also think it's good to think about what's actually unclean, as opposed to things you may not like personally. Like, I hate Christian heavy metal b/c I think it sounds demonic, but that doesn't give me the right to dub it unclean. As said in a sermon I listened to recently, "you are not the Judge."
ReplyDeleteSo while you should draw those lines and never cross them, it's also important to put much thought into where you draw them. You run the risk of either alienating the people you're trying to reach, or not really being a representation of Christ at all. And it's also important to dub things and sins, not people as unclean. B/c we're all sinners, and God loves us just as much as non-saved people.
Thanks for the input, Amanda, I like it, and it's a good addition to what I've written. =)
ReplyDeleteI agree that it's good to consider where the lines should be drawn. They're there to protect us, our spirits, not hinder our ministry.
Thanks. I agree too. =P Also, I'm following you twice b/c I have two accounts, one I used to use that follows a million blogs, and my new one connected to amanda.kurka@gmail.com, which I actually use and follows a select few. =)
ReplyDeleteAh, makes sense, looks really sad though, having only two followers that are actually the same person...
ReplyDelete