Today in God's Word—September 2023
East Tallassee Church of Christ
September 7, Hebrews 13
Following Jesus impacts much more of life than what we do at a church service, and goes far beyond agreeing with some doctrinal statement. Discipleship impacts all of life, every day. Some particulars are mentioned in this portion.
We’re supposed to love God’s family and show hospitality to strangers. We’re supposed to have compassion on those who are suffering and live morally pure lives. Our lives should be characterized by contentment with what we have and confidence in what God has promised. We should respect and imitate the conduct of godly leaders. These are all matters of daily living.
It is a convenient brand of Christianity that emphasizes doctrinal correctness and the particulars of church organization and procedure. All those matters are important, but they are not all that matters. I understand why some people who claim to be faithful followers of Jesus would rather define faithfulness by such checklists than get to the essence of a changed life. We may feel free to live as we please, conduct business as we see fit, treat people however we choose to treat them (and do so with a clear conscience) when we compartmentalize our lives and measure our discipleship by what we do in a church service. It’s easier to check off a list of doctrinal positions than to surrender every action, word and thought to the lordship of Jesus Christ. This chapter reminds us that acknowledging God in everyday things — doing good and sharing what we have — is what pleases God.
If such a whole-life commitment seems beyond our ability, the writer reminds us that God equips us with everything good so we may do his will. God is working in and through our surrendered lives to accomplish what pleases him. By equipping us and working in us, he is the one who gets all the glory.
I doubt we will ever wield the kind of influence Jesus wants us to have on the world around us if we define our discipleship in terms of things we do within church walls. Lost people who matter to God are not likely to read our clever doctrinal statements. But our neighbors and friends can see what God is doing in our lives when we’re faithful to do everyday things in ways that reflect God’s influence and control. We’ll be in a much better position to tell them what they need to know when we’ve been showing them what it means to us.
Copyright © 2010 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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