11/22/2025
Do people we associate with consider us to be arrogant or conceited men and women of faith? By this I mean, do we present ourselves in faith as being stuffy, academically aloof, or “better than you” Christians? If we are like this or are more interested in appearing righteous than actually being righteous, then it is time that we wake up. Jesus was born a humble carpenter’s son and lived a common life despite being anything but common.
“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.”
1 Corinthians 10:31-33 ESV
We see it all the time, people who can’t enjoy their life of faith because if they did, they might appear to be less. This is a form of insecurity. Jesus didn’t come to place us in bondage; He came to set us free. He was a king who wasn’t afraid to be seen as a commoner, He attended weddings, laughed, and ate wonderful meals with friends and people that the “stuffy” folks, Pharisees, wouldn’t dare be seen with. He lived life to its fullest and yet was still able to live it righteously for the glory of God. Living everyday lives and glorifying God are not mutually exclusive. Pastor Oswald Chambers wrote about this in this way...
“We have to live the surface common-sense life in a common-sense way; when the deeper things come, God gives them to us apart from the shallow concerns. Never show the deeps to anyone but God. We are so abominably serious, so desperately interested in our own characters, that we refuse to behave like Christians in the shallow concerns of life.” - Oswald Chambers
When I was in college I had two professors; one would stand at the front of the class and lecture, and then when class was over he would walk directly out the door without interacting with his students. The other professor lectured, but invited questions, and after class he made himself available to his students. Sometimes he would invite several of us to his home where we would sit cross legged on the floor, sip wine, eat cheese and crackers, and discuss what we were reading in class. Who would you suspect made the greatest impact on my education? Who taught me the most? Both were English professors, and without looking at my yearbook I couldn’t tell you the name of the first professor nor what he taught, but I do remember Colonel T.Y. Greet, and still enjoy Shakespeare’s writing.
How many pastors, priests, or lay Christians lose the impact they have on the souls about them by separating themselves from these would-be students of faith? How many times do we spend more effort trying to impress those around us with our command of scripture, or academic theological mastery, and totally lose those who are earnestly seeking Jesus? How many times do we go in a Performa manner to the bedside of the sick, and pray a rote or cerebral prayer as we neglect to caringly hold the hand of the dying, and display the love of Christ to them?
I think Pastor Chambers saw it correctly. I learned more about Shakespeare sitting with a group of fellows on a professor’s floor than I ever dreamed of learning in a lecture alone. The common became unimaginably great. Jesus reaches us in His ability to sit with us and He conveys God’s glory far more effectively than if He had been a king in a castle, or a wise man locked away in a temple or monastery. Oswald Chambers challenges us to look introspectively; he warns us that living our life here and now is just as righteous, and holy, as postponing our happiness until we reach heaven.
“Beware of allowing yourself to think that the shallow concerns of life are not ordained of God; they are as much of God as the profound.” - Oswald Chambers
So, let’s join Jesus at the wedding, drink some wine with the other guests, marvel at His miracles, sit at the table with Him and listen as He prays... smile and laugh with the children that gather around His feet, and cry for Nicodemus as He did. All these common things of life are godly and feed our faiths. If we do this then perhaps we will find that our stuffiness will abate, and the joy of God will fill us. Are we ready to celebrate weddings and wash the feet of those around us? Are we prepared to live life to its fullest in Christ?
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the fullness of life, and the joy you give me in even the smallest and most common aspects of it. Thank you for sending Jesus to live His life among us, and to teach us that these common-place blessings in our lives are just as much a part of you as the pomp and circumstance of any king’s coronation. Help me Father to put those around me at ease as I speak to them about you, and the wonders of your Word. Give me a common-sense approach to witnessing that will bring souls to you. Let me show others that loving and serving you happens every day, and in everything we do. Give me the heart of Christ as I visit the sick and dying. Give me the tears for the suffering and those who mourn and let your love flow from me as I comfort those who are heartbroken. Teach me Father that every small occurrence in my life is noticed by you, and worthy of my care and attention. In this way give me the eyes to see your Glory and show me how to celebrate your joy in the life you have given me. In every aspect of my daily life I will give you the glory, and with each breath you breathe into me I will live the righteous fullness of living that Jesus spoke of. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who brings peace, joy, and every righteous fullness into my life. Holy are you who turns water into wine, death into life, and the defeat of sin into our sanctification through your grace. I praise you Father, not in serious tones alone, but in joyous song and boundless happiness that can’t be contained. I sing to you just as you sing over me… in the melodious joy of life.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! My god is great and greatly to be praised!
“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
John 10:10 KJV
“The Lord your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.”
Zephaniah 3:17 ESV
Amen! Amen! Amen!
Rich Forbes