Inspire the wonder Part 2

 

How can we inspire the world around us to the awe of God's splendor, if we fail to be in awe of the Almighty God ourselves?

We simply can not.

There is no way Christians can convince anyone that God is wonderful- or full of wonder- when we present him in a way that detracts from that.

For example, just anyone can not walk into, let's say, a Starbucks, walk behind the counter, and pose as a barista with out the tell-tale apron. Without that apron or a Starbucks name tag, this person is now, just a questionable patron. People will give a raised eyebrow if a random individual walked behind the counter and started taking orders. What's more? When orders are mis-taken, and cups are mishandled, and spills are made, (even if with a smile) customers will question the "stand-in's" credibility. Multiply this phenomena by hundreds of stores nationwide and consumers will begin question Starbucks itself. They will complain about lack of customer service, and public accountability. Subsequently, Starbucks would charge these "posers" with defamation of character.

In this same way, our visible walk will either promote the truth of God's character or promote a lie.
Those green aprons set the customers apart from the Baristas. But that is only a start. The barista has to exemplify experience and offer Starbucks-quality service to be believable as a Starbuck's Barista, and to represent Starbucks honestly.

Similarly it seems the church is being infiltrated with impostors. It seems there is an overabundance of those who want the credentials but not the accountability. Everyone wants to be called a Christian, but want to just come in and barge behind the counter and begin serving, when there has been no true Christian experience.

 (H is for Holiness...)

What, you may ask, does holiness have to do with awe and wonder?

Well when we are enamored with God and who He is, we imitate him, aim to please Him, and introduce others to Him. That is usually the case for most Fathers - no- with anyone, we love.

 Fact: God is Holy.
His holiness is what makes him who He is. To revere God is to revere his holiness. It is to aspire to  "be holy as he is holy." 

Now holy does not mean pious, religious, stuck up,condescending or merely different. Holiness is being separated from the world's philosophies unto God's view of living.

Here is an excerpt from author Kim Haney that is spot on:

 " Anyone can be separated into a religion. I could convert to Islam and ... I would have adapted a very rigid disciplined religion in which to be dedicated. I could convert to the new age teachings and dress differently. I could begin tapping into the universal force and allow myself to be  controlled through positive thinking. I would still be separated from the majority of the western world. I could take the rigid vows of a nun and live in a convent the rest of my life, dress in Coptic catholic robes, or become a Buddhist monk and shave my head.

...Separation alone can not make you and me holy. Anything people separate themselves to, outside of God, still makes them part of the world's system. It may be different or divided from what the majority of the population does, but it's still not connected to the One True God who is holy.

Look at the Pharisees in the Bible; they were a people who separated themselves from other Jews and Gentiles, but they did not separate themselves unto God, so they never became holy- they just became separate. ..

...Separation in itself does not bring power and anointing. You must be separated unto, or attached to God, while detaching from the world. God alone, the One you are attaching yourself unto, is the one who makes you holy."

Being different is a start, but it is not enough. Being set apart from whom or what, needs to be defined.  Being different in what way? Being different for what reason? Because that also matters.

If one is set apart from the world in thinking but not in living, what is the real difference?

If one is set apart from the majority by the choice of activities they engage in merely because of personal preference but not to promote God, then what difference does it truly make?

If one chooses to blend in with the people around them so much that the Christian can not be spotted in a crowd, what part of God are you representing?

If the world sees nothing offered from a Christian's life as unique from what they already have,  to what god am I committed?

To be contiunued...