The membership at Bahamas Harvest Church (BHC) was encouraged to always be the stewards of influence that God has given them, and reminded that the influence is a powerful force.
“Your influence can either attract people to God, or it can repel people from him, whether you realize it or not,” said BHC senior pastor Mario Moxey during his Sunday sermon under the “Who Drank My Wine?” series. He explored what life is supposed to be like for Christians, a topic he told them would be difficult for many people to digest and receive, given human nature.
“Christianity is all about selflessness. This is diametrically opposed to us, to who we are,” said Moxey. “Christianity is about other people, not yourself.”
And he said Christian liberty revolves around social dos and don’ts – the things that are culturally normal. But Moxey said Christian liberty has some limits and that limit is how it affects a person’s walk with God, or how his liberty influences other people’s walk with God.
Referencing the apostle Paul, the senior pastor said Paul, the most major proponent and advocate of Christian liberty, pumps the brakes when it comes to Christian liberty.
“Paul believes in Christian liberty, so much so that the entire book of Galatians is all about liberty in Christ – that we are no longer in bondage … that we’re free. Paul says we have liberty from the penalty of sin in our lives through faith in Jesus Christ. And then he says we have liberty from the power of sin over our lives – that we have liberty from the presumption of sin; in respect of any activity that we do that is not expressively forbidden by the Bible that may be a presumption of guilt, even though it’s a gray area more or less.”
Moxey said when Paul wrote to the Church at Corinth, and said he is allowed to do anything, that that is what he meant.
“Because Paul understood his liberty. He understood what Christ dying on the cross meant and how that freed us, so he understood his liberty.”
The BHC pastor said that liberty is not a simple matter of whether something is right or wrong.
“If it’s forbidden, we know that it’s clear – it’s black and white; these other areas that Paul is referring to, what you may call gray areas, because the Bible does not expressly say that it’s a sin, is what Paul is talking about. Paul is challenging us on how we live our lives and the impact our lives have on other people. In essence, he is saying, my liberty is limited by two considerations, even though we are free to do anything and everything under Christ, what is its impact on my walk with God. Am I drawn closer to God, or am I drawn further away from God?”
Moxey said no believer has the right to knowingly cause someone to fall into sin and then excuse it by the catchphrase “they have a right to do whatever they want to do as they’re free in Jesus Christ”.
“Christian liberty ceases to be Christian and it becomes carnal the moment it begins to affect the walk of other people.”
Moxey said with Christian liberty means people are forced to consider other people, and not just have a bubble around themselves.
“We now have to think about other people in our walk and so, this requires us to have a certain level of Christian maturity.”
The pastor said Paul challenges people to raise the standard, not lower the standard, and that people have a decision to make – what they’re going to do with the liberty they have. And that whatever they have an appetite for, that believers should not allow heir appetite to ruin someone else.
“Christianity challenges us,” Moxey told them.
He said that unfortunately, not every Christian sees their life as an instrument to win others to Jesus Christ and that there are too many of them in their own bubble who could care less about the rest of the world and the people around them, as they are focused on themselves.
“There are Christians who tend to vigorously promote such liberties and they easily fall into an undisciplined lifestyle. But, on the other side of that pendulum, there are some Christians who tend to limit such liberties and they fall into a very legalistic lifestyle, so we’re caught now in this tension. And it’s not a matter of whether or not the Bible says that it is forbidden; we should all determine how we’re going to live our own lives and the activities that we engage in based upon how it impacts the reputation of Christ in the community and whether or not it’s going to help or hinder the advancement of the kingdom of God.”
Getting to that point, Moxey said is a completely different level of living and walk in God, because the expectation is that they’re going to live their life in such a way that even when they know it’s okay to do certain things, they have to give it up, because it could impact whether or not somebody else goes to heaven. He said in the midst of whatever they’re doing, believers have to ask themselves whether God is getting the glory out of what they are doing.
“The life God has called us to have is a selfless life, placing others above ourselves.”
The BHC senior pastor reminded them that the flesh is extremely selfish and self-centered, and expects the world to revolve around it.
“Our flesh has an appetite for those things that gratify our carnal nature. Everything that I do is for my me – my life, my happiness, my house, my car, my food, my wine, my everything – it’s all about me. Flesh has no place in your life and that’s why we have to crucify it. We need to crucify our flesh, because our flesh yearns for our rights and says I have a liberty to do this.”
But he says Jesus is the ultimate example of selflessness and service. And that his entire life was about selflessness and serving others.
“Jesus came not for his own benefit, but our benefit. God humbled himself. He gave up his divine privileges. He gave up his rights, and that’s what we ought to do, we have to give up our rights.”
Moxey said selflessness is one of the greatest traits in the Christian life. And he encouraged his membership to not use their liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love, to serve one another.
“The strongest force in the universe is our love. Love drives us to drink of this new wine, not just for ourselves, but for the benefit of others,” he said.
“There may come a day when you will want a loved one to come to faith in Jesus Christ, but because of the liberties that you have exercised in your faith, you may discover that someone drank your wine – in other words, they don’t make it,” Moxey told them.
“Whether or not you realize it, or whether or not you even accept it, it doesn’t even matter, there are people who are reading your life like it’s the gospel, because in reality you are the only gospel that some people will read. They get their cues from you. They’re watching you. You have to be a steward of the influence that God has given you, because that influence is a very powerful force. Your influence can either attract people to God or it can repel people from him, whether you realize it, or not. What are you prepared to give up for the sake of winning some to Jesus Christ?
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source https://thenassauguardian.com/the-challenge-of-christianity/
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