The World and the Christian

Session 3:

“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove that which is good, and perfect, will of

God.” Romans 12:2

A basic question:• WHO RULES MIGHTILY IN THIS WORLD?• WHO IS THE GOD OF THIS WORLD?

As Christians, we tend to forget that we are just passer-bys in this world. This is actually not our home. Revisit the lyrics of this popular Baptist song:

This World is not my home, I’m just a passing through,

My treasures are laid up, somewhere beyond the blue,

The angels reckon me from heaven’s open door,

And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore!

And so, we should realize that one day, we will leave this place and go to our heavenly home, perfect, without struggles, pain, disability, sadness, and sin.

But while we have our time here on earth, we should also realize that as Christians, we face a daily battle that we can lose daily, or win daily. We are all children of God in the world of a god.

Can you still detect which things are good, and not good for your values and integrity? Are we going into so much compromise that it affects our testimony? Don’t always think that you’re a Christian that Satan won’t touch.

Don’t you forget Peter 5:8:

• CHRISTIAN RADAR!

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”

AWARENESS (1 of 4)

• She learned of the tree and what it can do, as lied by the serpent (by the day ye eat, then your eyes will be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil).

AWARENESS (1 of 4)

– How about your life? Are you aware of the tempting things in the world such as money, popularity, success, comfort, etc? More so, are you aware that these things are good (or bad) for you? God already warned Eve about this tree, and she is aware of it.

INTEREST (2 of 4)

• Eve saw that the tree was “good for food” and was “pleasant to the eyes.” That sparked something in her that made her forget about God’s instruction of never eating it. This became the turning point of man falling into sin.

INTEREST (2 of 4)

–How about your life? When the time that you experience something good, do you already judge that it is right? • For Christians, they usually promise to be good

givers in the church of their tithes and offerings by the time they we’re just receiving allowances. But when they begin to work and earn larger amounts of money, they slowly become selfish and doesn’t usually give the proper giving to the church, and ends up giving more to themselves..

DESIRE (3 of 4)

• The beginning of want, of ownership. Eve “desired to be wise” in her own conceit, completely forgetting the instruction by the Lord not to eat the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:9). There is almost no turning back.

DESIRE (3 of 4)

–When you begin giving in to earthly pleasures that would greatly affect your being as a Christian, Satan is enjoying it. Are you wanting more of the things that make you fulfilled personally, which in return disturbs your love for the Lord?

ACTION (4 of 4)

• The fall has began. When Eve took a bite, she also shared her sin with her husband, Adam.

ACTION (4 of 4)

– Remember that the fruit is the knowledge of good and evil. Before she ate it, she know only the GOOD, which is what God wants us to know. But evil/sin entered in when we gave in to these compromises this world gives us.

– Eve shared this curse of sin to Adam. As Christians, you don’t know who you are also affecting when you sin. It maybe your brethren in Christ or your testimony.

Career• There’s nothing wrong with aiming

for a career, and even earning well. But we are Christians that happened to be professionals, Not Professionals that happened to be Christians. Meaning, our Christian love should always abound first than earthly success. This is sadly, not so true with the current generation.

• Do you have a work that is economically/personally good, but in return suffers your worship and Christian life?

Remember that not everything that feels good is good. Learn from Eve.

Peers & Affiliations• It is true that no man is an island, but it

is also true that what your friends are, reflect who you are.

• Do you have friends or barkadas that lead you towards the right values? Or rather, they are the ones that lead you to things that separate you from your Christianity?

• On the other hand, it can also be viewed as YOU being the influencer for good things and values. And it should not be YOU as the source of bad influence.

Entertainment• The morals of this world are

getting worse. Music and style trends makes you look “cool” and “in” if you get into the likes of the satanist Lady Gaga, party values of Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and liberated Miley Cyrus.

• We see Hollywood and even local showbiz tolerate cross-relationships, love-child between actors, gays and lesbians, as well as casual and interchangeable sex partners and sweethearts in films and tv series.

• In showbiz also, it is a common trait that if you do “sexy scenes or poses,” you are ‘mature.’

• Movies also depict false stories about God and his Word (Narnia, Avatar, 2012, Da Vinci Code, etc). And if we lose sight of the meaning of these films, Hollywood had us fooled.

Self-Possessions• You are reflected from the language to

what you wear. Abrupt languages such as “sus” (short for Jesus), “susmaryosep,” “Praise the Lord (ala-pentecostal)”, and other vain mention of the Lord’s name had been a common thing for the hearing, as well as common curses such as “Pu+@”, “T@ng…” and “FU**.”

• Modern fashion also had its standards like a woman becomes sexier and “beautiful” if she shows more skin. Tattoos, excessive and inappropriate piercing is something “normal” to our world. Sadly, people misinterpret the verse in the Bible that says, “the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

• Other than the material, the most common possession that Christians have is time. How do you discipline your time? Are you balancing your priorities in life? Or are you too BUSY with the things of this world. Busy meaning:

Being Under Satan’s Yoke

B U S Y

Christianity• Everyone is pushing towards oneness, that

regardless of faith, it doesn’t matter. Christianity of today is being reinterpreted that it should follow the benefits of man, but what they don’t see is that the truth should follow what God wants us to do, and not what man wants to do.

• Religions now interpret God to the way they like, not the way God wanted.

• New faiths that allow “Feel-good” music and doctrines already think they match the message of God. There’s too much compromise nowadays that real Christians lose their stand in the absolute, unchangeable doctrine of Christ’s salvation.

• We now have Christian Rock, HillSong music that dilutes the message of salvation to somewhat of a love song. And just like Eve in the Garden of Eden, once interest gets in, it’s going to be a world of compromise for your faith.

•Making a stand is not common nowadays.

• Now you may ask, what should I do? In reality, these things won’t disappear. They will stay. What makes the difference is your maturity and the strength of your values and faith

• Positionally, we are in Christ already and we have been delivered away from these things (Colossians 1:13), so don’t let yourselves get lured back to them

Check your Christian Radar. Is it broken?

If so, then fix it. How? We simply ask forgiveness from our Lord, and commit to Him the obeying heart he wanted us to have.

Reflection Time

• Go back to the AIDA Model and the listing we had. From there, shortly and concisely identify your top 10 compromises in this world, and beside it, the actions you can do. It may or may not be in the list.

After that, reflect on the following key verses, and write your thoughts on each.

• Romans 12:2• James 4:7• Philippians 4:8

After that, reflect on the following key verses, and write your thoughts on each.

• Romans 12:2• James 4:7• Philippians 4:8