Friday October 7, 2011

Read: Matthew 8:5-13

 

Being slapped in the cheek is never fun and I’ve got the scars to prove it!  But it’s not the slap that hurts!  It’s the embarrassment and the ding to our dignity that really smarts. Imagine the pain of the Pharisees and proud religious leaders when Jesus used the Roman centurion’s faith to teach about the Kingdom of God. These religious leaders assumed that both they and nation would automatically enter that kingdom of God paradise.

 

But listen to Jesus’ words and feel the sting on their cheeks.  Jesus begins in vs 11 by hinting that those who come will be from outside the promised land. They would be non Israelites!  Then He slaps home the truth – the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside! OUCH! Jesus is directly challenging the accepted culture of the day, the thinking of the day and even the prevailing wisdom of the day. Everything the religious gurus accepted as kosher has been turned upside down by the Saviour.

 

When it comes to our own day we would do well to imitate Jesus. Our world’s culture, our world’s thinking and our world’s wisdom needs to be directly challenged. Christian teenagers need to challenge the mentality that it’s ok to goof off and to waste the teenage years drinking, partying and being totally silly. Christian mothers need to challenge the wisdom of the super mum syndrome – mothers who think they can run a multi-million dollar business, have a busy social life and raise wonderful children that love their parents and walk in obedience. Christian men need to challenge the “me, me, me” syndrome that is prevalent among so many men and the wisdom that says ‘you can look but not touch’.  Christian churches have so many areas of our modern day culture that they need to challenge.

 

There are three avenues through which you can change the world. Firstly, as an individual you can challenge the culture as you come across areas that contradict the Word, be it at work, in your family, among friends or whatever.  A wise man once said that evil triumphs when good men do nothing.  Will you face the world, challenge the world, when you have the opportunity to speak up or to stand up for what Christ has said is right and true? Secondly, your cell group can take a stand as a group. You can write to the various levels of parliament, support the needy, raise justice for those who are unfairly treated and so on. A small group can make large inroads in any community if they persist. Is your cell ready and equipped to take on the world? Thirdly, your church can be challenging society and its accepted norms and cultures in a host of ways. Is your church mobilised and ready to fight the good fight?

 

Our culture needs to be challenged. But how do I determine which bits to challenge and which bits to accept? How do I determine when to raise my voice and stand up and when to sit down and shut up? It really is simple! Anything that contradicts the Word of God needs to be challenged. Obviously, there’ll be different degrees of challenge needed but we should never accept as truth anything that contradicts the Word.

 

 

Think about what aspects of culture you can challenge:-

a/. Personally.

b/. Through your cell

c/. Through your church.

Prayer Points:

> Praise God for the team from Australia who went on a project to Papua New Guinea. Please continue praying for those who gave their lives to Christ while they were on the PNG university campus, that they would continue to grow in their faith in Christ.