Making Jesus Famous

I wrote this yesterday after our church service.

January 7, 2018

There was an article this week on the news website that I check every day.

The name of the article was “Are we paying the price for failing to honor and teach morals?”

It was a very interesting article about the consequences in our nation due to the lack of morals that are being taught in our country.

The author basically stated that parents, the church, the education system, and culture itself have failed to teach this generation basic morals and values. The author’s conclusion was as follows, “This is how amoral societies work. They tear down restrictions in the name of freedom; they later find those discarded structures protected innocent victims and society generally from the evil committed by morally ungoverned souls. May our nation, our culture and our people grasp anew the proven standards of conduct and teach them assiduously to all.”

I do not think that the author went far enough though. I believe that the teaching of morals without Jesus Christ as the model is what has contributed to the downfall of our nation. We need to turn people back to Christ.

I was a little taken aback that this article made the news in the first place. For years, Christians have been crying out that the removal of Christ from society would have far reaching effects. I believe that we are now in a time where that is being felt. People today are into one thing. Themselves. They want what they want, and they do not care who they have to run over or hurt to get it. They are going to go their own way.

The teaching today in church was on Romans 1:18-32. Our elder pointed out that people today have thrown out the map and instructions and have created their own map. There is a list of sins in this passage and when you read it you will be shocked that it sounds a lot like our society today.

²⁹ They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, ³¹ foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

That certainly describes a lot of things we see on the news today not just in our country but across the world.

I recall a movie that I have watched called Time Changer. Here is the description from their website. “The year is 1890 and Bible Professor Russell Carlisle has written a new manuscript. His book is about to receive a unanimous endorsement from the board members at Grace Bible Seminary until his colleague, Dr. Norris Anderson, has a "difficulty with something.”

Dr. Anderson believes what Carlisle has written could greatly affect future generations. Using a secret time machine, Anderson sends Carlisle over 100 years into the future, offering him a glimpse of where his beliefs will lead.”

His belief – that it is okay to teach morality without Jesus Christ.

What the Bible professor discovers shocks him to his core and causes him to rewrite a lot of his manuscript. He comes to the conclusion that it is impossible to teach morality without the person of Jesus Christ as the compass or the map.

I think we are seeing in our nation the result of that very thing. For years people have been fighting to get every sign of Jesus Christ and God removed from all areas of society. People call Christians fools and ridicule them. They fight to get God’s name removed. They protest anything to do with Christ. They have even gone to extremes to physically harm those who proclaim to follow Christ.

They have succeeded in making the name of Jesus and God bad words in our society. You can believe the most ridiculous thing in the world. You can follow any religion. We have people who claim to be animals and worship odd things. Yet, if you claim the name of Jesus you are labeled a radical and a fool and people are ready to physically attack you. You can claim anything BUT Christ.

We see it all the time. Society as a whole is trying to remove the name of Jesus from our country. A country that was founded on Biblical principles. The article that was written last week included a quote by John Adams.

John Adams said, “we have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

What a powerful quote. It pretty much describes why our country is in the state that it is in today.

Romans 1 talks about the very thing that is going on in our country.

^“21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Claiming to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

²⁸ And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

³² Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.”

Sound familiar. It sounds a lot like our country. We can add screens, phones, social media to the list of things that fight for place in our lives that God should rightly have. The huge problem comes in that last verse. We have a generation of people who are teaching our children how to live contrary to the ways of God. I like how the New Living Translation words it.

³² They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.

So, what do we do? As parents, it is my job to teach and train my children how to follow God. I know that I am not responsible for my children’s salvation. It is a personal choice that they need to make. But, I am going to take every opportunity to tell them about God. They are going to see me worship Him, serve Him, pray to Him, and read and study my Bible. I will take every opportunity to show them the love of Christ. I want them to see me in the morning meeting with Jesus for devotions. I want to sing to Him in front of them. I want them to see my Bible open and marked up. That is one way. The decision is up to them, but I am going to do everything in my power to help them make a personal commitment to Christ. I want to raise up children who will love the Lord and in turn raise their children to love the Lord and so on for generations.

I also need to take my faith outside the walls of my church and my house. I need to show the love of Christ to the people that God send in my path. I need to be prepared to share my faith as 1 Peter 3:15 says.

¹⁵ but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

I think that last phrase is so important. Gentleness and respect. I think that the world sometimes sees Christians as crazed people who stand on street corners yelling and screaming at people who they call sinners. Hypocrites. People who say one thing but live another.

I want to be honest with those I encounter. I am just a sinner saved by grace. The blood of Christ covers my sin and His love cleanses me and saves me. I am just as guilty as every single person that has ever been born. I want to approach people with love and respect and patience and gentleness. I want them to look at my life and want what I have. I want them to ask why I am the way I am. That is how we start a change. We show people the love of Christ and make them want to have an encounter with Him like we have had.

We need to show them that the map we are following is worth it. We need to draw them back to the creator of the map. Christ is the answer for all the problems of our country and world. There is no other way other than to follow Him. It is up to His followers to draw people back to Him.

I hope that you will pray about ways you can make Jesus famous. How will you serve Him? Will you prepare yourself so that you can give an answer to the hope that is within you?

My sister and her family who are making Jesus famous in Spain.