Do not conform but instead help reform!
In today’s American culture Christians are getting a great deal of push back from both our government and fellow citizens of these United States, when attempting to profess their faith and share God’s Word in the public square. The use of demeaning comments towards, and the attack on the character of members of the Christian community, seem to have ramped up in recent years. People threatening to file lawsuits, as well as verbal and physical assaults being cast, are things taking place against disciples of Christ.
Of course, such actions have been used by the devil to shut down the teaching and preaching of the Word of the Lord and conform to his ways of thinking, since the beginning in the Garden of Eden: And the serpent said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, nether shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
In our First Reading for this Sunday, from the Book of Acts, we see where the Apostles were arrested by the Jewish leaders and put into prison for preaching, teaching, and healing in Jesus’ name. Miraculously they were released from incarceration by an angel, and they went back out to the temple sharing and teaching God’s Word. They were once again brought before the Jewish hierarchy and told to knock off what they were doing. They were told to conform to the demands of the High Priest and Council or suffer the consequences.
But Peter speaking on behalf of the brothers boldly stated, “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him." Acts 5:29-32
God’s Word can reform a person’s heart and mind in a way nothing else can. The devil does not want people to follow the Lord, he wants them to follow the ways of this sin-filled of which he is a influencer of. Stand firm, stand strong, do not buckle, and do not be intimidated by those who would try to suppress God’s Word and the message of the Gospel.
The writer to the Hebrews tells us, The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” And a bit further he declares, “Do not be led away by diverse teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace”. Hebrews 13:6, 9a
Dear brothers and sisters in the faith, “Do not conform but instead help reform the world for Jesus!” Pastor McCarty