I was teaching our youth on the typical Wednesday night service and I was moved to understand where their mindsets were. It would teach me how to be more effective when ministering to them. I asked them a couple of questions and of course, I received various answers that triggered the thought of my blog today. "If we truly understood the principles of God, then we would not be so quick to compromise because reverence "Godly fear" would be more present. Let's get into it...
The first question I asked was simple, "What is a Christian"? I wanted to see how they perceived the word as it would help me to understand their current standard of living. When they began to respond, the answers came forth with hesitation. The most common response was, an individual who does the right things over the wrong things. The sad thing is, I never heard the response - One is saved by Jesus Christ. So, it is safe to say that the dominant part of their perception was based upon moralistic values. One could argue that it is a given that you would have to be saved so there is no need to say that when responding, but the question is not rhetorical. The point is it should be the first answer because salvation only comes through Jesus Christ.
At this point, I asked them what is right and what is wrong. Quickly, the wrong things included: lying, fornication, drinking, smoking, sneaking out of the house, disobedience, not praying, etc. On the contrary, the answers to the right things to do included: praying, obedience, fasting, reading your word, chastity, etc. All of these derived from the given definitions of Christian.
I'm getting to the point, please continue to follow me.
I continued our lesson with different scenarios, but to spare you from a prolonged piece of literature, I will only discuss one. I asked them, "What do you think of when I say prostitute, better yet what do you think about prostitutes?" WHEW !!! Can we say bold responses. LOL. Ok, here are a few: ratchet, nasty, low self esteem, sad, no respect for themselves, and there were others. Then I asked, "What is the difference between a fornicator and a prostitute?" Without any hesitation, one shouted out... One gets paid and the other one don't. I must admit we laughed, though it is not a funny matter. But hey, I am being real in this. Moving, another response was they sleep with a lot of people and they don't even know them.
So, I told them this basic principle: based upon their definitions of rights and wrongs (what they presented earlier), a fornicator is also: ratchet, nasty, low self esteem, sad, no respect for themselves. They looked at me like I was madd crazy. Anyway, some were like no it is different. Then I began to explain the point of the lesson. Here we go:
Many people define "a part" of Christianity off of a moralistic system. That is fine. The problem comes when one forgets that God is not moralistic; He is truth and just. He presents The Word of God to help shape our moralism. Our morals are shaped by outside influences such as family, environment, personal beliefs, etc. To one person, prostitution can be perfectly fine because they understand that a person may need to make dat money - I'm on my grind, getting paid mentality. To another, it is absolutely degrading and there is no place for it. I told them (based on there answers), a prostitute is seen abominable because of how many people he or she sleeps with even if they know them or not. I explained (according to their morals) that a fornicator is seen as a controlled sinner. i.e. I'm not a loose woman or lewd man because I don't just give it up to anybody. I control what and who I give it up to and it's not as bad as a lewd sinner. I enlightened them with this: By principle, you are saying, "At least I am sinning with morals and that in itself is acceptable".
If we understood God as being just and truth, then we wouldn't measure our sins. We would understand that God does not like it period. Rather you are lewd in it or controlled in it. Keep your focus on PRINCIPLES. SIN is not acceptable to God. Right to God is righteousness and wrong to God is sin, unholiness. In this truth, I believe if we as Saints would began to shape our morals based upon the WORD OF GOD, and not what the world has deemed to be ethical, then we would be more careful in what we allow ourselves to operate in. Our reverence for His Holiness would be more evitable and holiness would become a lifestyle.
The principle is this: God does not like sin period. Don't judge one's sin as greater or lesser than your sin because it measures on a different level in regards to your moralistic system. A prostitute is just a lewd fornicator or adulterer. He or she needs ministry, deliverance, and perhaps salvation. A fornicator needs ministry and deliverance. Both of them are seen as "sin". It does not matter if one is "sexing" with 3 or more people vs. a single person. Sex before marriage is a SIN to God. He can forgive the prostitute (fornicator) just as much as He can forgive the controlled sinner (fornicator). It did not sit well with some of the youth, but it did wake them up to some things.
Exhortation in Truth: The right and wrong should be judged according to the Word of God and not by our own philosophies. God is just in His judgment. He sees Sin as Sin. He hates it all. And because we ALL have fallen short of His Glory, He saw ALL of us as EQUALLY sinful humans. But ALL GLORY TO GOD: Because He made a way of redemption, we can be seen as guiltless because of the blood of Jesus - the blessing behind every Saint.
You have to accept Him, be saved FOR REAL! The plan of salvation is available (always) if you want to be saved; it is at the top of this page. If you want Jesus to be THE Lord of your life, pray it with sincerity and allow God to change your life and build your morals in Truth. Prayer request are always welcome! We are here to set the captive free through His grace. God Bless You All and please respond. Fellowship is awesome, not debating. LOL.
1God-1Luff-1Faith
