Scripture text for Tuesday, May 11th, 2010: 2 Corinthians 4:1-6:2
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Last night at the Monday night Men’s Bible study we were discussing the various arguments that non-Christians make against the validity of Christianity. One of their most common arguments is that Christians are hypocrites because we worship a God that calls us towards right living, yet repeatedly choose wrongly.
Our critics are absolutely right. We do often choose wrongly despite our devotion to a good and perfect God. We do often behave as misfits and do all sorts of things that are inconsistent with the life of Jesus. We are not proud of these sins, but we would be lying if we said they did not exist.
The critique of our world and our own recognition of our sinfulness often prevent us from sharing our faith. We are fearful that we are not a worthy witness for God. Thus we say nothing. We convince ourselves that to speak up and share our devotion to God would do more harm than good.
2 Corinthians 4:5-6 says, “For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”
This passage comes to us as a comfort. We do not present ourselves to the world claiming that we are hope and salvation. We preach Jesus Christ as Lord. We believe God is hope and salvation. It is Christ that we call people to rely upon and trust in.
One guy at the Bible study said we should respond to our critics with, “yep, we are hypocrites . . . and you are too, come join us.” Another said we should say, “don’t compare me with others, compare my pre-Christ life to my post-Christ life . . . then you will see God’s work.” Their points were the same. We don’t preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord.
Devotion prepared by Dan Teefey
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