No One Can Serve Two Masters

So this was not intended to be my next post. I choose what order I post these in carefully, but after a conversation I had with a coworker yesterday I decided to talk about this.

While I was talking to this person she said that her friend stopped participating in a certain ministry because he seen some of the students involved in the ministry live 'double lives'. When I heard this I became very upset. The person in this story is not alone. I have heard many stories that end just like this.  This brought up several interesting points I decided to share.

The first point is that we never know what opportunities we might be missing, or causing others to miss by our actions. Take the above story for example. Had this student stayed connected to this ministry his or others that he might have come across could have been very different. Now since I know the student in the story, I'm confident in saying that he turned out alright. But the fact remains that we want to always want to be opening doors for the Kingdom of Heaven not closing them.

Which brings up my next point. Secret sin hurts people. Some people are fooled into this idea that sinning behind closed doors is okay. 'If nobody knows about it, then its not hurting anyone right?' Wrong. The first key point is that, sin always hurts God. It doesn't matter if not a human on earth knows about it. More importantly, sin is separation from God. Meaning that if you are wrapped up in sinning, its hard to stop because you are separating yourself from your lifeline of help.

To go off of this, double lives, have a way of becoming exposed. When a double life is exposed there usually has to be more sin involved, (lying etc) to minimize the amount of damage that it might cause. When, (I say when, because double lives come out eventually) this happens, it can be very hurtful to lots of people. It will destroy creditability in your life, and ruin any authority that your words once carried. People will feel betrayed and hurt.

It's not just the church, or friends and family that will be hurt. I asked a friend of mine one time, what his biggest problem with [Christians] was. He replied, 'They are fake. I can go to church with [someone] on Sunday and then go partying with them on Friday. This double life that this person was living, is hurting my friends view of Christians, and the church, and ultimately God himself.

Now please don't read this and hear my words saying that myself or that Christians are suppose to be sinless. But what I'm trying to get at here is that there is a lot at stake. As Christians we carry the responsibility of exampling Gods character. This is a hefty responsibility that needs to be taken seriously. It has great and even unknown consequences if we fail to do this. So if you are struggling with a double life, or secret sin. Go tell someone. Get accountability and pray daily for this to stop. If you know who this is their story, then be praying for this person. It might be a good idea to approach this person in a healthy and loving way, and offer help in bringing them back to living a righteous life.

Give to Caesar

Now I realize that this post is very late. But I wanted to post it at some point, and now felt like a good time.

So a few weeks ago was the 4th of July. The independence day of the United States of America. Now my relationship with my country has been a bumpy ride. I had some pretty conservative world views. I was pretty outspoken about my political views. But there was a point when I was in a debate with someone regarding open borders to Mexico. I felt like I was 'winning' the debate, but it was all the sudden when I realized that my words carried so much hate. I felt sick to my stomach. I could feel God's heart breaking with disappointment, as I am committed to preaching and extending Gods abundant Love. But my words were nothing but hate. I realized that it was due to some of my political views that I was erecting a barrier of hate from Gods people. People that if you read my last post, God loves as much, if not even more than me. I decided that it would be better to take some time away from politics. I wanted to spend more time learning how to effectively love people, and to stay away from political debates until I was able to do it maturely, and I felt that God would be pleased with my words.

I stayed away from chasing the political games for a while. I spent more time with God and through the help of some other close friends, I learned how to serve a King and not a country. Now I can blog about this another time, but a King is nothing like a president. Which is the only sort of political figurehead I have ever been a citizen.  So it was quite a learning process discovering how to serve a King, and be a citizen in the Kingdom of Heaven.

As I was learning what this all means, I got very wrapped up in it. I began to despise not only our government but all government. I began to crave serving a just King. I got wrapped up and began to hate people again, this time it was political figures. I decided that all politicians, and lobbyists were corrupt jerks that couldn't be trusted. Even if I wasn't as outspoken with my hate, it still existed in my heart. It was then when I was reading my Bible. Jesus was questioned about paying taxes to Caesar. Jesus begins to talk about giving to Caesar what belongs to him, but do not give to Caesar what doesn't belong to him.

Now it might be worthwhile to note that the early church was under the ultimate reign of Caesar. Roman citizens would even profess that Caesar was 'lord.' Early Christians were persecuted and even killed for not making this claim. This point and Jesus teaching about government got me thinking about what responsibilities I have to my government and my country.I know that the Bible commands me to obey the laws of the land assuming they don't conflict with God's Law. I felt that Jesus was talking right to me. Give to your Country what is theirs, but do not give them what isn't theirs.

As I was wrestling with this, some of my friends traveled to China. A nation where the public professing of faith is not allowed. Churches have to be registered with the government and have regulations for what can be taught. There are limits imposed on things like Bible sales, and where Christians can gather. It was during this time when sending emails to my friends had to be coded to prevent suspicion, that I realized how truly good we have it here in America. For everything that this nation does wrong, there is alot more that this nation does right, regardless of your political position.

So this 4th of July had a new meaning for me this year. I really thanked God for living in a place where I can openly share the Gospel with my campus mates. Even now as I am typing this and going to post it in a public forum I am not afraid of censorship, or of being imprisoned for this post. I was actually very thankful to be a citizen of the United States, even if I am ultimately a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven. Just like the young Roman church I can ultimately serve one who is greater, while still paying my taxes to Caesar.

So I'm here to leave you with a challenge. Do not waste this opportunity that you have been blessed with. Since we live a Christian tolerant nation, go and openly profess that Jesus is Lord. Go and share the Gospel with friends, classmates, and neighbors. Go and learn what it means to pay taxes to Caesar while serving a King.