By Greg Laurie
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that
brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the
Gentile. Romans 1:16
A woman went to a
doctor with both ears severely burned. The doctor said, "In all of my
years of practice, I have never seen anything quite like this. How did you burn
your ears?"
"Well," she said, "I was ironing and watching television. Suddenly, the telephone rang. I answered the iron instead of the phone and burned my ear."
"That's horrible!" the doctor said. "But how did you burn your other ear?"
"Can you believe it?" she said. "The idiot called back!"
It seems to me that, like this woman, some people in the church today are preoccupied. In many ways, we have lost our focus and have missed what our priorities should be. For one, I think we have lost sight of who our real enemies are. Is it Hollywood? Is it the government? According to the Bible, our enemies are the world, the flesh, and the Devil.
I think we also have forgotten what we are really for, as well as the real weapons of our warfare. Are our real weapons boycotts and protesting? No. Primarily, they are prayer and the Word of God.
Lastly, I think we have forgotten what our real message is. Is our primary message that we are against homosexuality or that we are against abortion? No, our primary message should not be negative, but positive: It is the story of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
My fear is that more people know what we as Christians are against than what we are for. Do they know what we believe? Do they know what we think about Jesus Christ?
"Well," she said, "I was ironing and watching television. Suddenly, the telephone rang. I answered the iron instead of the phone and burned my ear."
"That's horrible!" the doctor said. "But how did you burn your other ear?"
"Can you believe it?" she said. "The idiot called back!"
It seems to me that, like this woman, some people in the church today are preoccupied. In many ways, we have lost our focus and have missed what our priorities should be. For one, I think we have lost sight of who our real enemies are. Is it Hollywood? Is it the government? According to the Bible, our enemies are the world, the flesh, and the Devil.
I think we also have forgotten what we are really for, as well as the real weapons of our warfare. Are our real weapons boycotts and protesting? No. Primarily, they are prayer and the Word of God.
Lastly, I think we have forgotten what our real message is. Is our primary message that we are against homosexuality or that we are against abortion? No, our primary message should not be negative, but positive: It is the story of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
My fear is that more people know what we as Christians are against than what we are for. Do they know what we believe? Do they know what we think about Jesus Christ?
