The number one fruit in the life of a true Christian is a changed life. II Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature (creation): old things are passed away, and behold all things are become new.” If a person has never had a change in their life, they have never been born again. They profess but don’t possess. Many years ago, there was a preacher named Jack Hudson. The church he pastored was the Northside Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC. It was the largest church in the state at one time during his ministry. In his later years as pastor, he would literally have to crawl out of the bed in the mornings because of a debilitating disease. His testimony and power in his preaching were legendary in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. I was reading something he had written during that time and have never forgotten what I read. His quote was, “When I got saved, I got such a jerk that I’ve been out of step with the world ever since. When I got saved, I lost half my friends and got a whole new vocabulary.” His life was different. So was mine when I met the Lord.
Have you ever heard these words? “This world is not my home; I’m just a passing through. My treasures are laid up, somewhere beyond the blue. The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door, and I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.” The last line from that little song most of us sing fits me like a glove. The world and dedicated Christians have two different worldviews. Things the world finds funny, I don’t. I don’t understand their lingo and banter. The things the world values, I don’t. The way they treat one another brings sadness to my soul. The lying and conniving among people in power testifies with a megaphone that they do not know God. The things they believe, I shake my head at and think, “What is wrong with these people?” all the while knowing what is wrong, they are lost, unsaved. So, if their worldview and ours is different, how are we supposed to try and live our lives? In a word, biblically.
We read and seek to obey the scriptures! We won’t bat a thousand, but we keep on trying. Our testimonies are the only light the lost ever see, so we are different, in a biblical way. We are called “living epistles” (II Corinthians 3:2-3). Our commitment to the things of God will set us apart from the world. Our Bibles are the blueprint for our lives. II Timothy 3:16 tells us the Word of God is not only inspired but what it is good for. Doctrine, knowing what to believe. Reproof, conviction when we do wrong. Correction, the path to correct the wrong living. It is like a doctor setting a broken bone. Instruction in righteousness, the route to take in getting closer and closer to the Lord. We live with eternity in mind and not the right now. Matthew 6:19-21 tells us to lay up treasures in heaven. I was reading some old sermons from a preacher named Fred Craddock. I’d never heard of him before, don’t know anything about him, but I ended up buying the book a few years ago. This isn’t an endorsement, but I have enjoyed parts of it. The book is called the “Cherry Log Sermons.” In one of the sermons, he told a story that rang true in my soul. “Not everybody has a family like Mrs. Alderson. She was a member of the church in Tennessee where I was the pastor. Her four daughters were already married, and some of them had children too. Mrs. Alderson was always at church. The daughters said that when they came home to visit mother, she always said, ‘Now be sure to bring a Sunday dress and tell your husband to bring something nice, because when you visit me, you go to church.” The daughters were married and had families of their own. They were adults who made up their own minds and did their own thing, but Mrs. Alderson said, “When you come to my house, you come to my church. Any questions?’” (Craddock, Fred B. The Cherry Log Sermons (p. 114). I thought to myself, that’s the way it ought to be. Instead of letting others outside of those being committed to Christ set the pace, we set the pace. We make our life’s decisions with the Bible and honoring the Lord in mind. Our commitment to Christ and His church is paramount in our decision-making processes. We are to be different.
We should never be intimidated by the world. 1981 Clemson University won the National Championship in football. There was a lineman that played on that Clemson team, and he was a friend of Marty, who was a friend of mine. Marty related this story to me. He said, “I asked him how do you handle the peer pressure being at Clemson. You are on a great football team. People are constantly offering you things and tempting you to become involved in all types of sin. How does that pressure effect you?” The young man said something to Marty that I have loved since the day I first heard it. “Marty, I don’t handle the peer pressure, I am the peer pressure.” What a great way to live a Christian life. We live differently. The commitment to Christ never faulters or waffles. The way we walk, talk, act, decide things all testify that we are different.
Pastor Tom