Glory in the Details by TM Moore

Glory in the Daily Details (7)

Written by TM Moore

tViewpoint, The Wilberforce Forum

http://wilberforceproject.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=222&Itemid=26

Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you. Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure.
Proverbs 4:24-26

We don’t have to guess about how to express the character of the Kingdom in the details of everyday life and culture. If we begin to focus our thinking on the kinds of standards we will embrace, the sources to which we will appeal, and the fruit we hope to realize in every area of our lives, this will gradually begin to affect the use we make of all culture, including that which we engage every day of our lives. Because we are so constantly pressed on by the surrounding culture of materialism, secularism, sensuality, and relativism, we are in danger of merely reflecting to our lost contemporaries the very culture which they themselves express. But we are children of the light, and more is expected of us.

Three standards should guide us in our thinking about what to wear, how to converse, how to treat other people and do our work, and all the other details of everyday culture. These are the standards of beauty, goodness and truth. By thinking often and deeply on all that is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise (Phil. 4:8), such attributes will begin to come to expression in every area of our lives. Three sources are available to us in searching out the meaning of each of these terms: Scripture, Christian history, and the work of the Spirit in our own day. Yes, we shall have to do some more focused reading and study, and to engage in discussions with our Christian friends about the form such matters might take. But if it means that we will walk in the light, and the light of Christ will shine through in all we do, won’t it be worth the effort? Finally, there are three fruits that we should strive to realize in all our cultural endeavors. The Kingdom of God, Paul tells us, is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Spirit. He continues, “Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men” (Rom. 14:17, 18). Can your conversation really express such fruit? Can these actually be visible in the way you work, how you treat the people around you, and all the daily details of life, down to what and how you eat and drink? We must believe it is so, for God intends us who are His children of light to shine like a bright lamp in all our good works, so that men may take note and give glory to God (Matt. 5:16). All day long the way you engage in everyday culture is making a statement about you and what you believe. Let us resolve that, increasingly, all our cultural activities will become staging-grounds for advancing the Kingdom of light.