"Why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and don't do the things I say?"
In putting this question to the disciples to whom he was speaking, Jesus put the group on notice. IF you are going to be my followers, you do not have the choice but to follow me. Do as I do, walk in my path. Hear what I say and follow my example.
In the art of debating, if you are losing the debate and being bested by another, you can't get mad at the other person for besting you, or at least you shouldn't. The right person to be angry with is yourself for not having been as prepared as you should have been. We often feel that we are completely prepared for a situation, only to find out that we are far from ready to face it. Instead, our human nature relishes in the idea that through our own power and intellect, we are completely prepared for the argument in the debate or the trial we are about to face in life.
In apologetics so often we fail in the same way. We think we are preparred to defend out faith, to stand firm on His word and so on. Like politics, when talking about faith we have such personal feelings about the subject that emotion sometimes rules the day, and reason and intellect are thrown out thew window in favor of screaming.
being faced with an argument against your faith or how you personally feel about God there are several ways that we can react. We might simply listen, and not respond at all. While there is some merit in this response in that it will most certainly not be escalating the discussion into levels of rudeness and anger. Yet at the same time, you have to understand that this is not defending your faith.
You might react with bitterness or sorrow. When faced with a faith question you cannot answer pride often gets in the way and we lash out because we are made to feel belittled. Then again, you might break out into a seasoned argument using scripture to defend your position. Doing this in love is a fantastic way to interact with those people who would debate the things of faith and God. It shows them that you believe strongly in your faith, you are willing and able to defend it, and if done properly, that you really do love the person to whom you are exchanging points of view. The problem with many of these reactions and discussions by Christians is that many of their arguments are based on personal feelings or assumptions or things they thought were true or that they had been taught about scripture, and not the facts or truth of scripture.
To know all of scripture, let's face it, is next to impossible. And, even if you could recite the bible, word for wor, from beginning to end, that alone would not make you a "knower of all facts" regarding the bible or Christianity. So how do we get the basics? How can we take scripture and compress it into a cliff note format that we can remember and make sense of?
In examining Luke 6:46, I was immediately drawn to the simplicity of what should be our resolve in the defense of our faith. It's all about Jesus. We need to respond to the world in the same way Jesus did. Answer the way Jesus answered. Imitate Jesus in all that we do. to do this, we must simply know Jesus which IS the root of the Christian faith. What better way to know Jesus than to study what He said. What better way than to know as well as anything in scripture, the Crimson Conversations that took place on the fields of Israel and were divinely placed on the pages of our bibles in red ink?
I can't think of one.
being faced with an argument against your faith or how you personally feel about God there are several ways that we can react. We might simply listen, and not respond at all. While there is some merit in this response in that it will most certainly not be escalating the discussion into levels of rudeness and anger. Yet at the same time, you have to understand that this is not defending your faith.
You might react with bitterness or sorrow. When faced with a faith question you cannot answer pride often gets in the way and we lash out because we are made to feel belittled. Then again, you might break out into a seasoned argument using scripture to defend your position. Doing this in love is a fantastic way to interact with those people who would debate the things of faith and God. It shows them that you believe strongly in your faith, you are willing and able to defend it, and if done properly, that you really do love the person to whom you are exchanging points of view. The problem with many of these reactions and discussions by Christians is that many of their arguments are based on personal feelings or assumptions or things they thought were true or that they had been taught about scripture, and not the facts or truth of scripture.
To know all of scripture, let's face it, is next to impossible. And, even if you could recite the bible, word for wor, from beginning to end, that alone would not make you a "knower of all facts" regarding the bible or Christianity. So how do we get the basics? How can we take scripture and compress it into a cliff note format that we can remember and make sense of?
In examining Luke 6:46, I was immediately drawn to the simplicity of what should be our resolve in the defense of our faith. It's all about Jesus. We need to respond to the world in the same way Jesus did. Answer the way Jesus answered. Imitate Jesus in all that we do. to do this, we must simply know Jesus which IS the root of the Christian faith. What better way to know Jesus than to study what He said. What better way than to know as well as anything in scripture, the Crimson Conversations that took place on the fields of Israel and were divinely placed on the pages of our bibles in red ink?
I can't think of one.
Who is Jesus? In preparing to study the word(JESUS) and to examine the words He spoke, this question must be answered first for me.When Pilot asked what is truth and walked away without hearing the answer.I find myself in Jn.14:6,I AM the way,truth and life,then into Matt.4:4,Luke.4:It is written,man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of GOD.Lights on....JESUS is the WORD therefore to know Jesus is to follow the Word.Simply put Luke 9:23-26,He said to ALL,if any person wills to come after me ,let him DENY himself[ disown himself,forget,lose sight of his own desires and interests,refuse and give up himself]and take up his cross daily and (JESUS)[cleaving steadfastly to HIM and conforming to His example in living and if need be in dying.Yes it is now that the truth revealed is living in and for Jesus.
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