"Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. God knows we are sincere, and I hope you know this, too. Are we commending ourselves to you again? No, we are giving you a reason to be proud of us, so you can answer those who brag about having a spectacular ministry rather than having a sincere heart. If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit." NLT.
“I survived 2020.” Someone could make a fortune selling t-shirts with that slogan. Maybe someone already has. It’s been that kind of year. Twelve months ago we could hardly have imagined what was about to happen:
• Covid-19.
• A worldwide lockdown.
• A new word: pandemic.
• Something called “social distancing.”
Then came economic unrest, trouble across the nations, a crisis of confidence, a rising death toll, and the search for a vaccine. Add to that a peaceful #endsars protest that was hijacked by hoodlums leading to an outbreak of violence, wanton destruction and looting in a dimension that has not been witnessed in our country since the start of our latest democracy way back in 1993/94. The list goes on and on. The last eleven months has been something else. It has been a hard year, and it’s not over yet. No one knows what the future will bring. Rather than speculate about the future however, I want to address a fundamental question that is very relevant at times like this: How should we live in times like these?
Our text gives us three clear answers to this very important questions and we will reflect on these answers one after the other.
Live Urgently - “Therefore, since we know the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade men” (v. 11). As children of God, we “know the fear of the Lord”, we know what it means to fear God and we should as God’s children live in the fear of the Lord. To live in the fear of the Lord is to live to please Him and according to the Apostle Paul, one of the ways by which we please God is by committing ourselves to doing everything we can to persuade others to join us in following Jesus. So what do we do in hard times, we actively engage in persuading men to come over to the side of God.
Live Transparently - Secondly, what do we do in hard times? We live transparently - “What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your consciences. We are not commending ourselves to you again, but giving you an opportunity to be proud of us, so that you may have a reply for those who take pride in outward appearance rather than in the heart” (vv. 11b-12). Our life must be an open book, there must be nothing to hide. We all have a past and for many of us we are so ashamed of our past that we are usually reluctant to talk about our past. This is however not so with the Apostle Paul, he was not proud of his past but nonetheless he was not ashamed to talk about it. If you desire to live transparently then you must be open about your past, this is very important if you desire to build trust amongst those around you. In hard times people are looking for heroes, individuals that they can proudly look up to, a transparent life is a very important requirement towards being that hero that those around you will want to look up to in hard times.
Live Unapologetically - Thirdly you live unapologetically - “For if we are out of our mind, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you” (v. 13). To put it in another way, we are to live without regrets.
If we take Paul seriously, then we must do what he did and refuse to apologize for our beliefs. It is better to be thought insane if that is the price of faithfulness to God. As Christians we must live our faiths openly and boldly without feeling the need to apologize to those who may be uncomfortable with our faith or the way we go about professing it.
• Never apologize for God’s Word.
• Never be ashamed of the gospel.
• Never keep quiet just to get along.
I began by commenting on the strangeness of these days. As we come to the end of the hardest year we can remember, God’s Word shows us the way forward. How can we live for Christ in times like these?
• Live Urgently.
• Live Transparently.
• Live Unapologetically.
Do that, and we can impact the world no matter who what the future holds. Shalom
Pray for someone today.
.it has been a difficult year indeed and I give thanks to you for your grace of preservation and protection all through, your name be praised in Jesus name. as evidence that I fear you please help me to please you by persuading men to surrender their live to you in Jesus name. I receive grace to continue to live transparently, a life that has no secrets or skeletons to hide in Jesus name. I receive boldness to live my faith boldly and openly without submitting to the pressure to apologize to those who are uncomfortable with my faith in Jesus name. my I never be ashamed of the gospel of Christ in Jesus name.