Constant through Craziness

The above picture, taken from a boat in the rising floodwaters of Hurricane Harvey by my uncle, is just a part of one example of the craziness that our world--our country--has gone through in the last few months. From the Charlottesville riots to terrorist attacks to great natural disasters, there is no doubt that many are wondering how to respond. Many Christians see this and think, "How do I act now that something has happened?" The truth is that as Christians often are this way and this should not be the case. The Bible says in I Peter 3:15, "Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:" So how do we do this? How do we look at our crazy world and show people what it means to be a Christian through everything that we go through?

1. We must act like Christ.

Now I know what some of you are thinking: This guy is doing a series all about pictures of Christ and how we should be like him. Why is he bringing that into this topic? To be quite honest it's because we need to hear it. I need to hear it. As Christians, we are called by our very title to be "little Christs." And how did Christ respond to things like we are going through now? Well, for starters, he calmed storms on the sea of Galilee and walked on water. He took Peter's hand and raised him up from drowning. He quieted a mob that was trying to kill a woman and then took compassion on her. 

Where does his example leave us? We can't walk on water or control the weather. We can't always reach down and pick someone up off the edge of the water to save them from drowning. And calming a mob with simple words is not going to be everyone's forte. But what did Jesus have and give during each of these situations that we can emulate? He gave hope and he gave peace. He gave the disciples hope that they could make it through the storm and peace once the storm was gone. He gave Peter hope that he could walk on the water and peace when he lifted him from the waves. He gave the woman caught in adultery peace that there were no more accusers around her and hope that she could live a life that honors God. We can give people that same hope and peace through Christ. 

2. We must maintain our testimony.

So often we look at our world and it causes us to lose our testimony. It may be in an expletive-laden rant on social media. It may be in how we approach someone on the street in the middle of a crisis. It may even be in what we don't do for someone- not helping an unbeliever who knows we are a Christian when they need it can damage the cause of Christ. It is unfortunate in our day and age when the children of God do nothing to help. James 1:27 reads, "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." The first part of what God sees as pure and undefiled religion is doing just that- helping those who are in great need. And the second part of pure religion is taking this whole point and living it out by keeping our testimony clean. 

3. We must watch for Christ's coming.

"Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch (Mark 13:35-37)." 

In this passage, Jesus was talking with the two sets of brothers in his inner circle: Peter, Andrew, James, and John. They had asked him, "Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?" They wanted to know what would happen in the future. Through the whole chapter, Jesus told them of many events to come. His one admonition to them through it all was said in two different ways: "take heed" and "watch." Take heed is basically our modern "look out!" It was a warning to be looking for those who would attempt to decieve them. But the watching is specifically mentioned four times in the final five verses of the passage. Jesus wanted his disciples then and now to watch for Him to come back. Verse 37 shows that He wanted them to watch, and He wanted everyone else to watch. 

Jesus is coming soon. As each day comes and goes with all of its craziness, we should become more like Him. We should maintain our testimony before God and the world. We should watch for His coming.