Not Conforming To The World, But Saving It

A lie is telling us it’s perfectly alright to be me-centric and to be without God. All it matters is our happiness and freedom. There is no need to care about what is good, as long as it makes “me” happy, and as long as it works.

Christians living under such a lie have to guard against the trap of assimilation and hold tightly to God’s truth. Then we will not fall into the lie but find the love and courage from God to save the world, despite anticipated difficulties and hostility.

 1. The LIE <2 Th 2:9-12>:

*Opposite from the way and perspective of God.

1) LIE: “ME”-centric.

• Freedom without boundaries is dangerous; freedom in ignorance is folly.
• Man was created to have control every other creation, except for himself. But when man tries to control himself, he lost control of other things, including himself.
• Because of freedom >> Co-existence >> Not feasible
• It has to be God-centric; He is the standard of GOOD.

2) LIE: Man can be without God; Man can be God.

3) It is scary when the LIE is normalized as the “truth”.

2. How to live in the world under the Lie?

1) Hold tight to the truth! Don’t let go! <Phil 2:14-16>

2) Keep doing right regardless of majority view or results. <1 Pe 3:13>

• Beware of trap of assimilation <Ro 12:2>
  – Daily fixed-time prayers
• Be eager to do good

3) Be prepared to suffer for doing good. <1 Pe 3:14, 17>

4) Learn to make every threat an opportunity. <Ep 5:15-16>

5) Especially guard ourselves in what we spend longest hours at – Work. <Col 3:23-24>

• Not to derive self-worth, but to glorify God
• Potential realized at job >> Kingdom of God
• Even when we do well at work, pray that our hearts won’t be tempted
• Don’t “over-credit”, nor “over-accuse”, ourselves for our performance

3. We need to save the world. <1 Pe 3:15; Mt 28:18-20>

1) Be interested in people’s lives (LOVE).

2) Confirm the “intrinsic value” of the gospel.

• Gospel itself is powerful and relevant

3) Exposure matters.

4) Believe there are God’s people hidden somewhere.

5) Share with conviction.

• Enjoy gospel

Reflections:

• Share two things about what you received from the TBRC.
• [Prompters, if necessary, when members don’t know what to share: What is one change in your perspective?
• What is one thing you will like to work on after the camp?
• What is it that you still find challenging even after hearing the messages?]