Our Lord Jesus Christ has sent us out on a mission to go into different cultures and to proclaim His love and goodness in our own specific spheres of influences, but sometimes believers walk into the world and get consumed by it. How do we engage the culture of this world and ensure that we influence them and not them influence us?
Whether you are a student, a professional, a businessman or a pastor, we have all been called by God to be ministers who share the good news of Christ to others through our words and even through our actions. Jesus commissioned in Matthew 28:19, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
But sometimes the concern of being consumed by the world is a real issue that many Christians face. We want to be a blessing to the bars, the streets, the clubs and the drug dens, but how do we do that and remain in tact in our faith in Christ without compromising, losing faith, becoming frustrated or even burning out? Here are three points to remember as we engage the world.
Stay connected to the body
Believers are like coals in a heap of ember. When one coal is removed from the fire, it can die off and lose it's fire, but when kept or returned to the fire it is set aflame once again. Christians are the same in that we need to remain in fellowship with red-hot Christians who are on fire for Jesus always. Proverbs 18:24 says, "A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."
Keep Christ in your heart
When our hearts are constantly filled with the love and person of Jesus Christ, it becomes impossible for anything else to enter it. That's why it's important to always remain in the power and presence of Jesus as we go out into the world and preach the gospel. We bring Christ with us wherever we go. He is not an ornament that we simply wear, but an identity that we are born into.
Jesus said in John 15:4, "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me."
We are to stay connected to Christ as we go out to the world.
Be empowered by the Holy Spirit
Before the disciples were to go out into the world to preach the gospel, Jesus had instructed them to remain where they were until the Holy Spirit would come and empower them. Acts 1:8 says, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth,"
When we go by any other power, chances are that we will fall and fade out in capacity and empowerment, but as we go in the power of the Holy Spirit, we can move mountains and go to wherever God calls us and not be consumed by the world.
