What’s a lion tamers most important piece of equipment? Think about it. He enters the cage, facing the roaring lions. He has a whip, a chair. Maybe some goodies for the beasts. Guess what?
The chair is the most important thing!
Why? When it’s waved in the lions’ face, I’m told, it confuses them. They have trouble figuring out which leg to focus on; which to attack, and they forget all about the man behind the stool.
Christians are like the lions. We are being confused; manipulated. The enemy is holding up a chair; one leg is homosexual marriage; another is abortion; another premarital sex. There’s a whole bunch of legs I could throw out there. We start focusing on one issue, and all of a sudden, a different leg comes into view. Confused, our eyes dart back and forth.
Don’t get me wrong. I support, one hundred per cent, those individuals and groups that take Biblical stands on these controversial issues. Our Supreme Court recently upheld sin as legal. Thank God for those who stand for righteousness.
But, do we feel like we’re losing the battle, because we’re so focused on the stool’s legs, we forget our primary purpose?
A religious leader came to see Jesus. He wanted to talk side issues.
“Jesus,” he said. “You’re a good teacher. You must have come from God.”
But Jesus responded by focusing on what was important. (John 3:3) “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
That, my friend, is what is important.
Mark 16:15 “He (Jesus) said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.’” This is the church’s purpose; helping God open eyes; changing hearts.
There are tons of people who fall on the wrong side in arguments about the hot button issues of the day. The trouble is, they truly believe they’re sticking up for people’s civil rights; defending the weak. They have no concept of what God’s Word says. Arguing with them is futile.
In a fallen and broken world, people can’t see things from God’s point of view. They can’t see the kingdom of God until the blinders have been removed from their eyes.
They Must be Born Again.
I can try to convince them to change their opinion. If I succeed, that’s wonderful. But if I haven’t opened their eyes to Life in Jesus, but simply changed a moral or ethical view, have I accomplished the bigger purpose to which God has called me?
So, in today’s society, Satan is having a field day. He waves one outrageous view after another in the face of the Christian. Will we fall for the ploy? Will we take our eyes off of what we’re truly supposed to be about, and go after the stool’s leg? Will we focus all of our energy on the battle, but forget the war that rages for the hearts of men? Will we get caught up in attacking an issue, but not changing a life.
Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Dear Lord, help me to turn people back to you. To change hearts; open eyes.