Titus 1 October 26, 2018
They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. Titus 1:16
According to author Brennan Manning, "The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians: who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable."
Reading Titus today and seeing the list of godly characteristics, I came up short. When I look honestly inside my heart, I realize I am a bundle of paradoxes. One minute I am blameless but the next minute I am the one to blame. I believe and have faith that could anchor a battleship; the next moment my faith disappears. I love and then I hate. I try not to be quick-tempered and then something goes wrong on my computer and I shout at it, as if my computer will have hurt feelings by my yelling. The bottom line: I come up really short with Paul's list.
So how can I not be a contributor to the number one cause of atheism in the world? Only by living by the grace promised by God. To live by grace means I own all of the chapters of my life, both the good and the bad. By admitting the continual struggle with the dark side of my heart, I am acknowledging that I am totally dependent on God's grace. As Thomas Merton put it, "A saint is not someone who is good but who experiences the goodness of God."
The gospel of grace nullifies our worship of superstar Christians who project that they never struggle with the dark side. It destroys this two-class system that many people have set up in their minds, that there are struggling Christians and then there are people like me. What I so deeply appreciate about Grace Church is that we are a family where you don't have to hide your struggles. We all know that there is a continual battle going on for our hearts and we intentionally create a safe place where we can share the battle.
Own the paradoxes and struggles and then testify of the grace of our good God that is the foundation of our lives.
--
"Multiplying leaders to change the world"
They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. Titus 1:16
According to author Brennan Manning, "The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians: who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable."
Reading Titus today and seeing the list of godly characteristics, I came up short. When I look honestly inside my heart, I realize I am a bundle of paradoxes. One minute I am blameless but the next minute I am the one to blame. I believe and have faith that could anchor a battleship; the next moment my faith disappears. I love and then I hate. I try not to be quick-tempered and then something goes wrong on my computer and I shout at it, as if my computer will have hurt feelings by my yelling. The bottom line: I come up really short with Paul's list.
So how can I not be a contributor to the number one cause of atheism in the world? Only by living by the grace promised by God. To live by grace means I own all of the chapters of my life, both the good and the bad. By admitting the continual struggle with the dark side of my heart, I am acknowledging that I am totally dependent on God's grace. As Thomas Merton put it, "A saint is not someone who is good but who experiences the goodness of God."
The gospel of grace nullifies our worship of superstar Christians who project that they never struggle with the dark side. It destroys this two-class system that many people have set up in their minds, that there are struggling Christians and then there are people like me. What I so deeply appreciate about Grace Church is that we are a family where you don't have to hide your struggles. We all know that there is a continual battle going on for our hearts and we intentionally create a safe place where we can share the battle.
Own the paradoxes and struggles and then testify of the grace of our good God that is the foundation of our lives.
--
"Multiplying leaders to change the world"
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