This morning our Thursday study was in Mark 14. Mark 14 describes the Thursday before Christ’s crucifixion. One of the guys noted that we were studying what happened on this day a little over 2000 years ago. Somehow, that amped up our time this morning.
We spent a lot of our time talking about Peter’s denials of Jesus. There is a tendency at times to look down on Peter for this. But as we talked through this, we began to think about ways that we deny Jesus today. All of those around the table were guilty, including me. Further, we have the Bible, the Holy Spirit, and Peter’s example. Peter had none of that. So our failures, our denials, are, if anything, more of a problem than his.
We determined that we deny Jesus when we pull back from sharing Christ with people. I have done that. Maybe it is in the middle of a business meeting and there is an opportunity to share Christ, and we do not because we think it may hurt the deal. Or perhaps there is a job situation that we fear that if we share in that context it may affect our employment. Sometimes I have not shared just because I did not want to be rejected by the one with whom I was talking.
In light of the knowledge we have, that makes Peter look pretty good.
Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:19 – 23 tells us that he did everything he did for the sake of the gospel. He exhorts us in Colossians 3:17, 23 – 24, to do the same, as to the Lord. We are told by Christ in Matthew 6:33 that we are not to worry about the things the gentiles seek but to seek first His kingdom… We have this, we memorize these things, we study these things, we have heard messages on these things… still we hesitate, we evaluate how sharing with someone is going to affect us. Really? They are going to hell, we are supposed to put their needs ahead of ours, Philippians 2:3 – 4.
Yeah, Peter is looking pretty good.
We determined that we deny Jesus when we pull back from sharing Christ with people. I have done that. Maybe it is in the middle of a business meeting and there is an opportunity to share Christ, and we do not because we think it may hurt the deal. Or perhaps there is a job situation that we fear that if we share in that context it may affect our employment. Sometimes I have not shared just because I did not want to be rejected by the one with whom I was talking.
In light of the knowledge we have, that makes Peter look pretty good.
Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:19 – 23 tells us that he did everything he did for the sake of the gospel. He exhorts us in Colossians 3:17, 23 – 24, to do the same, as to the Lord. We are told by Christ in Matthew 6:33 that we are not to worry about the things the gentiles seek but to seek first His kingdom… We have this, we memorize these things, we study these things, we have heard messages on these things… still we hesitate, we evaluate how sharing with someone is going to affect us. Really? They are going to hell, we are supposed to put their needs ahead of ours, Philippians 2:3 – 4.
Yeah, Peter is looking pretty good.
No comments:
Post a Comment