Sincere Humility (January 30th)
January 30 – Sincere Humility: Seek out a preacher of a “rival faith” and ask him/her about Salvation, listening openly without judgment. Offer your own insights only if you are asked to do so — and be very brief if you are so asked (This is a humble listening mission, not a proud preaching one).
Back when I was about to depart the Big island of Hawaii, I decide to engage this particular activity on a grand scale – creating a 20-question interview (most of them related to the them of “Salvation”) and asking its questions to dozens of local Christian church leaders. I then compiled the answers (many of which were very different), juxtaposed them with the answers the Bible itself gave to the questions (which were always very different again), and then returned this compilation to each of the ministers whom I had questioned.
I don’t know if this gift every really “reached” any of them, and yet I do remember how good it felt to truly listen to a member of a “rival faith” (i.e. someone whose spiritual beliefs classified me as either a “heathen” or as “condemned”). It was so liberating to simply sit and listen to them – with no judgment of them, only Love; with no rejection of their beliefs, only intrigue; with no inclination to debate or even discuss what they were saying, only to honor them as brothers & sisters by listening to them intently.
I have since regularly engaged this practice when speaking with most of the strangers I encounter, regardless of whether or not their beliefs harmonize with my own. The tangible effect of this simple practice has been astounding, and I in-Courage you all to experiment with it regularly yourselves.
Anyway, here is a small excerpt from that series of interviews. If anyone is interested in the unabridged version thereof, please contact me and I will gladly send it to you.
See You when I see you …
… and until then, Be Now!
Scaughdt
Question 1) What is a “good Christian”?
Tullos Jones (Southern Baptist) … “An obedient follower of Christ” [Christ’s Life? “Yes” … Jesus as the only Son of God? “Yes”]
Marc Uebelhardt (Congregationalist) … “A Good Christian knows that he’s not a Good Christian … He knows the Truth while simultaneously knowing that humans are inherently sinners …”
David Whitehead (Purpose Driven Church) … “A Good Christian looks to the Bible and does everything it says to do.”
…………………………………..
Philippians 4:5 … “Let your gentleness be known to everyone.”
Romans 12:9-10 … “Let your Love be genuine; discard what is evil, adhere to what is Good; Love one another with mutual affection … ”
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 … “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the Will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
Hebrews 12:14 … “Pursue Peace with everyone …”
2 Corinthians 13:11 … “Live in Peace; and the God of Love and Peace will be with you.”
Romans 2:13 … “It is not the hearers of the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but the doers of the Law who will be justified.”
Ephesians 6:7 … “Render service with enthusiasm …”
1 Thessalonians 5:11+14 … “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up … always Seek to Do Good to one another and to all.”
Question 2) What is required for Christian Salvation?
Tullos Jones (Southern Baptist) …“Admit that Jesus is the only Son of God, believe in his death and resurrection, and confess/repent one’s sins”.
Marc Uebelhardt (Congregationalist) … “A belief in Jesus’ death and his resurrection; where belief means ‘to commit’ (in the Greek) … It is more than the historical belief in Jesus’ existence and his Life Path.”
David Lemari (7th Day Adventist) … “Only using Christ’s words, one must be baptized of water and Spirit; the latter of which leads to a change of Heart that comes from giving one’s life to God.”
Derek Napoleon (Congregationalist) … “Faith allows one to surrender to Christ (Ephesians 2:8-10) … One must merely ask Jesus to be your Lord; confessing and repenting to him.”
Wendell Broom (Church of Christ) … “One must hear the Word of the Life of Jesus Christ and believe in Jesus Christ as one’s personal Lord (this is faith) … Secondly, one must repent (which leads to a change in one’s Being – either calm or violent – where the man stops living in the flesh and starts Living as a man in the Spirit) … Thirdly, one must confess one’s faith before others and thereby actively spread the Good News … Finally, one must be baptized.”
…………………………………..
Matt 7:21-23 … “Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in Heaven.”
John 5:29 … “… those who have done Good will rise to Live …”
John 13:15 … “I have set you an example, that you should Do for one another as I have Done for you.”
1 John 2:6 … “By this we may be sure that we are in Him: Whoever says, ‘I abide in Him’ must live just as He lived.”
John 13:17 … “If you Know these things, you are Blessed while you do them.”
Acts 10:34-35 … “God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who reveres him [God] and does what is Right is acceptable to him.”
1 Corinthians 4:20 … For the Kingdom of God depends not on talk but on action.”
Galatians 6:2 … “Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”
Ephesians 2:10 … “For we are what He has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our Way of Life.”
James 1:22+25 … “But be Doers of the Word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves … Those who look into the perfect Law, the Law of Liberty, and persevere, not being hearers who forget but Doers who act – they will be Blessed in their Doing.”
1 John 2:29 … “If you Know that he is Righteous, you may be sure that everyone who Does Right has been Born of Him.”
1 John 3:7 … “Everyone who Does what is Right is Righteous, just as He is Righteous.”
1 John 2:3 … “Now by this we may be sure that we Know Jesus: if we obey his Commandments.”
Galatians 5:14 … “For the whole law is summed up in a single Commandment, You shall Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Luke 10:29+37 … “But meaning to justify himself, he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’ Jesus replied … ‘Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?’ He replied, ‘The one who showed him Compassion.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.’”
John 15:12 “This is my Commandment, that you Love one another as I have Loved you.”
Mark 9:35 … “He sat down, called the twelve and said to them: Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”
John 15:8 … “My Father is glorified by this: that you bear much Fruit and become my disciples.”
John 13:35 … “By this everyone will Know that you are my disciples: if you show Love for one another.”
1 Corinthians 12:4-7 … “There are different kinds of Gifts … different kinds of Service … different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men … all are Given one Spirit … there is no division … To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the Common Good.”
Question 16) Must one worship Jesus himself to be Saved?
Tullos Jones (Southern Baptist) … “His teachings affirm who he was but Salvation comes from a belief in who he was.”
Marc Uebelhardt (Congregationalist) … “Yes.”
David Whitehead (Purpose Driven Church) … “Yes; Jesus is the only Son of God … It is not good enough to merely believe in God … All roads do not lead to Heaven [and] sincerity of belief is not enough … Jesus says that he is the only Way, the only Truth and the only Life.”
Wendell Broom (Church of Christ) … “YES.”
Alva Elliott (Pentecostal) … “Yes … Other religions may be good and yet they are wrong.”
…………………………………..
John 6:15 … “When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.”
Mark 10:18 … (Jesus) “Why do you call me Good? No one is Good but God alone?”
John 5:41 … (Jesus) “I do not accept Glory from Human Beings.”
John 12:44 … (Jesus) “Whoever Believes in me Believes not in me but in Him who sent me.”
Romans 1:25 … “Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity … because they exchanged the Truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator.”
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