For almost a month, I have not been able to drive because my van visa is out and will only remain good as long as my FM3 visa is good. Since I do not physically have my visa (hopefully it will be here this week), I have not been able to drive. My attorney had told me before I left Mexico City that I would not be able to drive. Now many would have said (as many actually did) go ahead and drive around here, you will not have any troubles. I choose not to drive. My reward: probably not loosing my vehicle facing trouble in a jail cell etc. In my home area, while with a friend each time, we went through three Federal and military check points with the city. This is not the norm for here to have Federal checkpoints in the city. If I had chosen to drive, I would have very possibly lost the van that does not belong to me.
I use this as an example for something that has bothered me for some time now. It something I have been guilty of in the past in some form. Sometimes we bend rules to benefit ourselves. Some examples maybe: driving illegally (like described above), obtaining music or movies not paid for by pirating, showing of videos that extend beyond the scope of license, reproduction of copyrighted literature where the rights limit this action, etc.
Romans 13:1-7, says we are to be subject to those in power (as long as it does not go against God, Acts 5:29)
So is wrong at anytime, right? I think Bible makes clear that disobeying those in authority is only justified when it goes against the Lord. Does doing things of the such demonstrate the life that Christ would have us live? It reminds me of the childhood lesson on white lies. A lie is a lie no matter how big. The Bible says our communication be yea, yea; nay nay (Matthew 5:37). Our simple yes and no should be enough because our answers should be pure. There is no reason for more or less. In the same, should our actions not be pure? How can our lives purely reflect Christ if there is anything of question in them?
If I want to teach that it is wrong to steal but download music from the internet without paying for it (unless the copyright owner allows it for free), how can I purely and effectively teach stealing is against the Word of God? I am definitely not a perfect person and have been guilty of such type things listed in this article in the past. One question comes to mind. How does this affect missionary effort?
The 6th beatitude says, “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” [Matthew 5:8] The pure in heart are happy and will see God. Those who are pure in heart live a life transformed by God. In Philippians 4:2-9, the passage starts out by asking them to be of like mind. Likewise, we as Christians should be like-minded. Verse 8 says, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” Truth, honesty, just, pure, lovely, and good report are the things we need to focus on and do. But, we cannot get there without doing what verse 4 says. We are to be in prayer about everything. I dare say that the effectiveness of our efforts is directly related to our purity. Things that seem small and insignificant can have great consequences. We cannot be unified in spirit if sin divides us. The missing link here is prayer. Many people have many opinions on how missions or Evangelism should be done, but if we are not first pure in heart, how can we know what God would have us do? I think our problems with realising whether or not what we think about copying other literary works, music, etc is based upon our submissiveness to Christ. The thing about having a pure heart is that there is a step to it. The beatitudes come in order for a reason. The first is being poor in spirit. Until we are as Adrian Rogers said, “spiritually bankrupt”, we can never progress to the point of having a pure heart until we put aside all pride, realise our worthlessness without Christ, and bow before Him in all humbleness. Sin divides us from God and our fellow brothers. We will not have the mind of Christ nor think like-minded until our lives are in total submission to Christ. If we as Christians want to reach a world for Christ, we have to repent and seek Christ and work together. We have to put behind our personal mindsets, which include the ways we think missions, Evangelism, and how church should be done. Thus, we are opening ourselves to what Christ says through His Word and through His Spirit. There is a lot of controversy right now within the SBC, specifically the IMB, over certain policies. I have a personal opinion on the two policies in question [Baptism requirements & private prayer languages] but what I see now is arrogance by some on both sides of the issue. Arrogance can be translated as pride. Psalms 10:4 says, “The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.” Countenance can be translated nose. The morally wrong through the arrogance of their nose will not seek God and God is not in their thoughts. Proverbs 13:10 says, “Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.” Quarrels come from pride. If you are a Southern Baptist you need to know what is going on in the convention. It is my belief that many people over the years in leadership within the convention within various entities have taken advantage of their positions and the lack of knowledge by Baptists to exploit their pride. We must humble ourselves before Christ and repent and then we will see the greatness of His glory work in our lives as well as our brothers and sisters.