Whatever
Aug 6, 2009 Honoring God, change, different, teens set apart
The following post was written by a user of Teens Set Apart. This post may not necessarily reflect the views of T.S.A.
Whatever! Whatever you say
Whatever! I will obey.
Whatever! Lord, have your way.
Cause you are my God. Whatever!
Before Rush of Fools, Reilly, and a number of other great artists were out there singing the Gospel, Steven Curtis Chapman was already on it (and still is!), singing about life as a Christian. Ten years ago, he released his album Speechless. One of the (classic) songs on this collection is “Whatever” – all about Steven’s plans vs. God’s plans. It’s about the need to submit to what God has and give up your own desires to answer His call. When I look around in the Church today, I find a lot of teens who are all about plans – plans with friends, with family, with church, with school, with life. And I have to wonder…how about their plans with God?
Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that Christian young people don’t care about God. Many of them do. They go to church a little, they pray a little, they read their Bibles a little. Where’s the plans, though? In Ephesians, the apostle Paul was writing to a church who really didn’t understand much about God’s plans. They were saved. They loved Jesus. They even loved and shared with other Christians. But they didn’t understand that they were not just God’s people. They were a called people. They were marked by the plans of God and it was not their own work, their own idea, but it was in the heart of God from the beginning. That’s why Paul was writing to them. He tells them in Ephesians 1:18-19 that he prays “that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe…”
Later on he would go on to tell us what this looks like. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:8-10). God had a plan from the beginning to save us when we didn’t deserve it. He had a plan to give us faith in the work of Jesus on the cross and by the power of His resurrection to raise us to a life that never ends. He planned this without getting our take on it. He planned this without seeing how well we would perform. He planned it and He made us to carry out His plans – and those are plans for good works – Gospel-driven things done for His glory and the good of other people.
We don’t always know what those good works are going to be. So, this is where I really appreciate Steven’s song because it’s a continual reminder to me that I need to go to God and submit to Him and say, “God, whatever it is You want me to do is what I want to do. Please help me to do it well so that people will praise You.” The best part is that this isn’t something we can do with our own strength. God has to do it. Those of us who are believers of Christ have received the Holy Spirit and have Him dwelling in our hearts. The Holy Spirit gives us all the power and guidance we need to live and to do the things God has for us. So, we have one charge: lovingly submit to the God who called you, planned you, and has made you to do all the good things He has planned for you and for others.
Tags: apart, called, change, different, Ephesians, Gospel, grace, help, Honoring God, music
Called Higher
Jun 9, 2009 different, teens set apart
I am going to talk about standards in this post. I am not going to list rules on whether or not such and such a movie is bad because of so and so or such and such clothes are immodest because of so and so. That would be wrong. However I am going to show that Christians are called to a higher standard than just above the world’s current morals.
“So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.”
~Galatians 5:16-18
Are you a born again Christian today? If you are, you are called to live by the Spirit and not to indulge in any sin. You cannot serve two masters. You will hate one and love the other. We are called to live by God’s standards of living, not just a wee bit better than what the culture currently thinks is right and wrong.
Jack Valenti, former president of the MPAA, stated in a speech broadcast on C-Span several years ago that the rating system for movies is not an oak, but a willow. It bends and bows for however the current morals of the culture are. (Worldly Amusements by, Wayne A. Wilson, pg. 199.) However God’s rating system is inflexible. If he is the same yesterday, today, tomorrow, and forever, his morals of what is right and wrong will be the same.
So, where do we find these morals that Christians are called to live by? God’s standards are defined in his word. I do not go looking up what kind of horn the Cape Horn is in a biology book. That way I would get the wrong answer. The same way, we don’t look at the world to find out how to live a holy life pleasing to God. We look to God’s word.
Now here is where it gets difficult. Your standards may not be the same as mine. You might conclude from the fact that God’s standards never change that Christian’s standards are always the same. It is not that easy. In 1 Corinthians 8, Paul talks about eating food offered to idols and how for some that could be a stumbling block while for others it doesn’t affect them. Sometimes there is certain things that might not be sin for another person, while it might defile another’s conscience.
Here is a modern example of what Paul is talking about. I personally like listening to Christian rap music. My mom doesn’t because it reminds her of secular rap, which has to do with gangs, violence, and other sin. I don’t have that past experience. Rap music reminds me of Christian artists like tobyMac. My mom and I have discussed this, so now whenever my mom is around I do not play that style of music. I am not hiding it from her, I am not listening to it when she’s around because she doesn’t like it. [Disclaimer: I'm not saying rap as a style of music is bad or good scripturally, I'm just giving you an example from my own life.]
“But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.” The Holy Spirit guides our standards of whether or not to watch this movie or listen to this music or to wear that. God gives us in his word certain things that we are to and not to talk about, look at, or participate in, but we need to ask the Holy Spirit to give us discerning hearts in the application.
I encourage you to read, pray, discuss, and apply. Read the Word of God to see whether or not to talk, watch, listen, or wear. Pray that the Holy Spirit will guide your decision. Discuss with your parents and mature Christians how you can apply the scripture’s standards in your life. Apply God’s higher standard in you life, in order to live as the spotless bride of Christ. In this life we won’t perfectly attain God’s standards, but we need to continue pursuing them nevertheless.
“Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me – practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”
Tags: born again, called, different, higher, standards
Loading...