Divine Simplicity Focus on the things that matter…sweep aside the things that don't.

“Preach the Gospel and if necessary use words.”
                     —Attributed to St. Francis of Assisi

As the book of Ecclesiastes tells us, there is truly nothing new under the sun. Listen to the words of Psalm 12 (NKJV):

Help, LORD, for the godly man ceases!
For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
2 They speak idly everyone with his neighbor;
With flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
3 May the LORD cut off all flattering lips,
And the tongue that speaks proud things,
4 Who have said,
“With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are our own;
Who is lord over us?”
5 “For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy,
Now I will arise,” says the LORD;
“I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.”
6 The words of the LORD are pure words,
Like silver tried in a furnace of earth,
Purified seven times.
7 You shall keep them, O LORD,
You shall preserve them from this generation forever.
8 The wicked prowl on every side,
When vileness is exalted among the sons of men.

Things in King David’s time sound remarkably similar to today. I hear many fellow believers complain that our country is slowly slipping into the cultural/social abyss—pick one. They use countless examples to justify their positions: the staggering divorce rate; rampant abortion; sexual promiscuity; widespread drug abuse; trashy movies and TV shows; endless wars; political corruption; greed; and extensive fraud, waste and abuse in government spending.

We Christians are free to blame anyone we choose for America’s current woes, but we should start by taking a good look in the mirror. We are partly to blame. Many of today’s social and cultural problems could be reduced and in some cases even eliminated if Christians would just start living like Christ taught us.

Once a person accepts God’s gift of salvation by placing faith in Christ as his personal Savior, something important happens. Like it or not, that person becomes a walking billboard for Christ to all of the unbelievers he knows. What unbelievers see in this Christian’s behavior serves to either honor or dishonor Christ. Does the Christian strive to be more Christlike, as the Bible teaches, or does he simply fall in and conform to the secular world’s pursuit of wealth, position, power and other forms of self-gratification?

A Christian’s behavior should reflect the Gospel to unbelievers. As the saying goes, “actions speak louder than words.” Christ teaches us we should love one another and we should love our neighbors as ourselves. This requires work—getting one’s hands dirty from time to time. It’s usually messy dealing with human problems.  It’s not the sort of work that earns one a place in eternity. Christ did that for us and presented it as a free gift to those who accept him as Savior. Rather, it’s the kind of work that exemplifies the wisdom attributed to St. Francis, “Preach the Gospel and if necessary use words.”

According to an article I recently read , there are approximately 350,000 Christian church congregations in the United States. That figure amounts to a staggering 27 times more Christian congregations than McDonald’s restaurants. Just imagine how much different our country could be if each of these congregations dedicated itself to performing relational ministry in its surrounding community. We could change the direction of America’s social and cultural decline. The biggest mission field in the world is waiting just outside the door of your church.

There are millions of people in this country who need a helping hand and more importantly, need to hear the Gospel. Helping others can be a risky business. Are you willing to take a risk for Christ?  Know that He will provide you all the help you need.  Recall St. Paul’s words to the Philippians: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Take the gifts God has given you and put them to work outside the walls of your church. We can change the world!