Warrior Training:
No Neutrality
“If you are not for me, you are against me.” Jesus (Luke 11:23, Matthew 12:30)
When I look at my own life in Christ, I notice that I tend to have three categories of thinking: There are the things I do for Jesus and God (worshipping, studying and reading the Bible, fellowshipping with other Christians, serving others, etc.). Then there are the things I do against God, the times when I’m selfish and sin. But these are not the only two categories in my life. I also have a third category—just hanging, not doing things for God, but also not doing things against Him. In this third category, I’m just living my life (working, watching TV, fixing things, goofing around, going on vacation, etc.).
I think, if we were honest, we would see that this third category probably takes up the majority of our time. But, as I read the Scripture, I find this category really doesn’t exist at all. It is an invention of our culture, and a dangerous one at that.
Paul calls on all Christians to see themselves as soldiers, doing everything—yes, everything—for the pleasure of our Lord. He writes, “No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer.” (2 Timothy 2:4). He tells the Colossians, “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:17).
So, does this mean that the way we live the majority of our life is wrong? Is it against God? Am I not allowed to mow my lawn? To cook my dinner? To hang out with my friends—unless we are talking about God? How am I supposed to live?
The danger of holding this view is that it pushes our Christian life into the fringes of our lives where it can easily disappear. We simply get too busy living our lives to be Christians.
Firstly, we need to understand what God actually calls us to do. As far as I can see, God calls us to do two things. 1) He calls us to show what it means to be a true human, remade in Christ into the image of God. This means we are to live a life that reveals God’s character. This means that in everything we do, we are to show God. We can still go to work, but when we do we need to work for God. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” (Colossians 3:23-24). This goes for everything we do in our normal lives. We are to do all to the Lord.
The Law of God is so helpful in this regard. When we read it, we see how God was telling the Israelites how to honor Him in all the little things they did in their normal farming and trading life. There was no separation between normal life and spiritual life. Everything was done before God and to show His glory.
I challenge all of us to spend a day relating everything we are doing back to how it shows we are made in God’s image. When we create, it is because God, who made us like Himself, is creative. When we speak to others, it is to be as Jesus would speak to them, with love and empathy.
The second thing God calls us to do is to share the Gospel. This is our commission. This is connected to the previous priority. When we live for God, in the big and small things in our lives, people will see God in us and will wonder at how we live this way. They will be impressed with our full identity, our constant joy, our deep-seated peace, and our tireless work ethic. They will know that we do not fear death, but know that God is preparing a much better eternity just for us. Most of all, they will see our deep love for Jesus.
God will use us as an example of how they might also live. The Holy Spirit will work on their hearts, convicting them of sin and drawing them to the light of Jesus. If we are sensitive and praying with the Spirit for our oikos, the Spirit will provide us with opportunities to share the gospel.
The benefit to living according to these two things—doing all to honor God and sharing His good news of salvation—is that, eventually, our entire life will be under Christ’s Lordship. We will see ourselves as thoroughly Christian. We will live here, now, as we will live forever in Heaven in God’s presence.
So, the challenge. We need to identify that we have fallen for the lie that there is a neutral ground that is neither for God nor against Him. All is either for or against Him. We need to repent against this.
We need to ask God’s Spirit to help us bring everything we do and say under Christ’s lordship. This will take some thinking, some mind-renewing (Romans 12:2).
If we make this our constant habit of life, we will be able to say with Paul, For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21).
No Neutrality
“If you are not for me, you are against me.” Jesus (Luke 11:23, Matthew 12:30)
When I look at my own life in Christ, I notice that I tend to have three categories of thinking: There are the things I do for Jesus and God (worshipping, studying and reading the Bible, fellowshipping with other Christians, serving others, etc.). Then there are the things I do against God, the times when I’m selfish and sin. But these are not the only two categories in my life. I also have a third category—just hanging, not doing things for God, but also not doing things against Him. In this third category, I’m just living my life (working, watching TV, fixing things, goofing around, going on vacation, etc.).
I think, if we were honest, we would see that this third category probably takes up the majority of our time. But, as I read the Scripture, I find this category really doesn’t exist at all. It is an invention of our culture, and a dangerous one at that.
Paul calls on all Christians to see themselves as soldiers, doing everything—yes, everything—for the pleasure of our Lord. He writes, “No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer.” (2 Timothy 2:4). He tells the Colossians, “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:17).
So, does this mean that the way we live the majority of our life is wrong? Is it against God? Am I not allowed to mow my lawn? To cook my dinner? To hang out with my friends—unless we are talking about God? How am I supposed to live?
The danger of holding this view is that it pushes our Christian life into the fringes of our lives where it can easily disappear. We simply get too busy living our lives to be Christians.
Firstly, we need to understand what God actually calls us to do. As far as I can see, God calls us to do two things. 1) He calls us to show what it means to be a true human, remade in Christ into the image of God. This means we are to live a life that reveals God’s character. This means that in everything we do, we are to show God. We can still go to work, but when we do we need to work for God. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” (Colossians 3:23-24). This goes for everything we do in our normal lives. We are to do all to the Lord.
The Law of God is so helpful in this regard. When we read it, we see how God was telling the Israelites how to honor Him in all the little things they did in their normal farming and trading life. There was no separation between normal life and spiritual life. Everything was done before God and to show His glory.
I challenge all of us to spend a day relating everything we are doing back to how it shows we are made in God’s image. When we create, it is because God, who made us like Himself, is creative. When we speak to others, it is to be as Jesus would speak to them, with love and empathy.
The second thing God calls us to do is to share the Gospel. This is our commission. This is connected to the previous priority. When we live for God, in the big and small things in our lives, people will see God in us and will wonder at how we live this way. They will be impressed with our full identity, our constant joy, our deep-seated peace, and our tireless work ethic. They will know that we do not fear death, but know that God is preparing a much better eternity just for us. Most of all, they will see our deep love for Jesus.
God will use us as an example of how they might also live. The Holy Spirit will work on their hearts, convicting them of sin and drawing them to the light of Jesus. If we are sensitive and praying with the Spirit for our oikos, the Spirit will provide us with opportunities to share the gospel.
The benefit to living according to these two things—doing all to honor God and sharing His good news of salvation—is that, eventually, our entire life will be under Christ’s Lordship. We will see ourselves as thoroughly Christian. We will live here, now, as we will live forever in Heaven in God’s presence.
So, the challenge. We need to identify that we have fallen for the lie that there is a neutral ground that is neither for God nor against Him. All is either for or against Him. We need to repent against this.
We need to ask God’s Spirit to help us bring everything we do and say under Christ’s lordship. This will take some thinking, some mind-renewing (Romans 12:2).
If we make this our constant habit of life, we will be able to say with Paul, For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21).
