Here’s a excerpt from a prayer (page 117) in the Valley of Vision,
edited by Arthur Bennett, Banner of Truth Trust:
“May I …never confine my religion to
extraordinary occasions, but acknowledge thee in all my ways; never limit my
devotions to particular seasons but be in thy fear all the day long; never be
godly only on the Sabbath or in they house, but on every day abroad and at
home;
“never make piety a
dress but a habit, not only a habit but a nature, not only a nature but a
life.”
Our society seeks to coerce us
into compartmentalizing Christianity; it does not appear to seek that so
overtly with other religions and philosophies. Yet, the Scriptures teach us to in all your ways acknowledge Him
(Proverbs 3:6a), and Jesus speaks of those who are not ashamed of Him and of
those who are ashamed of Him (Matthew 10:32-33). Shall we cave in and surrender
to the world’s coercion or will we faithfully witness to Jesus Christ?
It seems that most of our
witnessing training is covert, as if we lived in a totalitarian society. Do we?
If so then let’s not gloss over the issue; but if we don’t then let’s not
excuse our closet Christianity. And whatever the case might be, do we have an
excuse to avoid persecution for the Christ of the Cross? If we don’t
acknowledge Jesus Christ then how will others encounter Him? After all, the
Great Commission (Matthew 28:16 – 20) is given to us all.
Hypocrisy can be an enigmatic
thing, it isn’t so straightforward as we might think; it isn’t simply about
people pretending to be something they are not – that’s too simple. People
often don’t know they are pretending; they fall into the deceit, they fall into
wearing a mask, and a time comes when they can’t distinguish the mask from the
reality – they make piety a dress. The
Laodicean Church (Revelation 3:14) didn’t know its own condition, it thought it
was doing well, it thought it was healthy and wealthy, but it was poor and
naked and miserable and blind; and it was lukewarm.
Those under the broad umbrella of
Christianity who reject outright the Divinity of Christ and the Atonement and
the authority of the Bible know where they are – there is nothing enigmatic
about them – other than why they bother going into the ministry or why they bother
operating and attending churches. But those who by compromise and
self-righteousness and making piety a
dress rather than an inward reality in Christ capitulate to the world’s
standards and dictates, and who fail to acknowledge Jesus Christ in their ways
– that is enigmatic – because it isn’t likely that they started out that way,
it isn’t likely it was their intent – and no doubt we all have elements of
these things in our lives.
We are so accustomed to not
witnessing that our training in witnessing is nearly all stealth oriented, we
are taught not to be straightforward (what Biblical warrant to we have for
that?) – seldom is it inculcated in us as the fabric of life; and as much as I
value and practice relational bridge-building – that must not be our only
paradigm for witnessing, it certainly isn’t the only Biblical paradigm. The
central Biblical paradigm is acknowledging Jesus Christ in all our ways,
throughout all facets of life; bridge-building should be done in this context –
Jesus is not some trump card we hold in our hand until a future time – that may
be the norm in the current church, it is not the Biblical norm.
Lord Jesus, help us to
acknowledge you in all our ways; let our acknowledgment of you be without
self-consciousness or conceit or religiosity; but rather let it be as one
friend speaking of another friend, let it be as a spouse speaking of his or her
beloved, let it be as a hungry man telling others where he has found bread.
