If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you. Do you remember what I told you? “A slave is not greater than the master.” Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you.” [John 15:18-20 (NLT)]
A century of dike-building, agricultural development, and population growth has destroyed much of Florida’s wetlands and threatened the survival of dozens of animals like Florida panthers, Snail Kites, and Wood Storks. The White Ibis, however, is an exception. Having adapted to the new urban landscape, large groups of ibis happily graze the lawns of subdivisions, parks, and golf courses. They’ve found it easier to poke at the soil for a predictable buffet of grubs, earthworms, and insects than to forage in the remaining wetlands for aquatic prey like small fish, frogs, and crayfish. Once wary of humans, these urbanized ibis pay little or no attention to people as they follow one another across our lawns.
While conforming to a world of diminishing wetlands may be beneficial to the ibis, the Bible makes it clear that Christ’s followers are not to conform to the world around us. As the salt of the earth, we are to bring a distinctive taste, look, and smell to the world rather than take on the flavor of the world in which we live. Nevertheless, like the ibis, Christ’s church appears to be acclimating and adjusting to the world surrounding it.
In an effort to fill the pews and keep the coffers filled, we’re seeing His church adapting and conforming to today’s culture. Social media, politics, fashion, popular music, celebrities, advertisements, movies, television, politics, and politicians seem to be infiltrating and influencing our attitudes, worship, instruction, and doctrine. We’re beginning to shape values, use words, understand events, and determine right and wrong through the eyes of the world rather than the Bible. Jesus, however, was anything but popular, politically correct, or entertaining and His Church was never meant to be cool, trendy, fashionable, or fun to an unbelieving world; it is meant to be like Christ!
Just as the Israelites were not to succumb to the influence of the pagan nations around them, we are to remain apart and distinct from the corrupting influences of the world around us. While sinners should be welcome in the church, sin should not. Nevertheless, afraid of offending anyone—we creatively reinterpret or ignore Scripture, turn a blind eye to sin, or refuse to speak of sin at all. Are we seeking the world’s approval or God’s?
If we go back to the beginning of the Church, it’s estimated there were only about 1,000 Christ followers in the Roman Empire. By AD 100, however, there were about 7,500. By AD 150, there were 40,000 believers and, by 350, 34 million people (more than half the Roman Empire) followed Christ! Although the early church grew by about 40% each decade, the numbers are going in the opposite direction today. According to the Pew Research Center, 90% of Americans identified as Christian just 50 years ago but, in 2023, that number was only 64%! While adapting to the world around them may be working for the ibis, it doesn’t seem to be working for today’s church. In actuality, the church the looks and acts like the world around it, is not Christ’s church.
The early church didn’t grow because it lived as Rome did—it grew because it lived as Jesus did. The early believers had an uncompromising faith that transformed the pagan world around them. Let us do the same!
I read a devotion that suggested substituting our own personal anxieties and concerns for the troubles listed by Paul in Romans 8. Perhaps your version would read: “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate me from God’s love. Neither old age nor loss of loved ones, neither cancer nor dementia, neither my anxiety about my wayward child nor my reservations about finances—not even the powers of terrorism and hate can separate me from God’s love. No hurricanes, earthquakes, pandemics, or wars—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate me from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Mornings, I read a short devotional from Streams in the Desert, a devotional by L.B. Cowman. Compiled between 1918 and 1924 and first published in 1925, it consists of portions of inspirational sermons, tracts, church bulletins, hymns, devotions, and poetry Mrs. Cowman collected through the years. Each day’s reading begins with a portion of Scripture and a recent devotion began with Psalm 4:1: “Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress.” Because the devotional uses the King James Translation and I usually read the NLT, I didn’t recognize this verse; nevertheless, I had a good idea what it meant.
When writing about giving God the glory and how we are but instruments of God’s grace in the world, I recalled a quote by Mother Teresa having to do with being God’s pencil. Wanting to quote it correctly, I Googled it. Along with the quote, I came across several versions of a parable about a pencil. Of unknown origin, it has been around for more than twenty years. Nevertheless, the parable was new to me and this is my version of “The Parable of the Pencil.”
The Israelites had been away from Israel for less than two months when they arrived at Rephidim. With no water to drink, the people complained, questioned whether the Lord was with them, criticized Moses, and then threatened him. Fearing for his life, Moses asked God what to do. Instructing him to strike a rock with his staff, God promised that water would come gushing out and, as promised, it did. The miracle was memorialized by the name given to this location, Massah (meaning testing) and Meribah (meaning quarreling.) Unfortunately, that was not the last time the Israelites tested the Lord and quarreled with Moses.
At first, it seems that the “Parable of the Unforgiving Servant” should be called the “Parable of the Forgiven Servant.” After all, the king forgave his servant’s debt of 10,000 talents—the equivalent of billions of dollars. While the first part of the parable illustrates the value and extravagance of God’s forgiveness, it takes a dark turn in the second part when illustrating the reciprocal nature of His forgiveness—something the servant learned the hard way!
Devotions of the Heart 