We live in a time when biblical predictions have become visible realities. Paul wrote that in the last days perilous times would come upon the earth (2 Timothy 3:1). Right now things are taking place we couldn’t have imagined a few years ago. Who could fathom a fifteen-year epidemic of school shootings?
Jesus predicted that men would become lovers of themselves, lovers of money, hateful, proud and arrogant. Today our nation’s leaders can’t agree on the most basic common principles. If someone has the nerve to mention sin, he’s called a bigot and made an outcast. As God’s Word is moved to the sidelines of the culture, sin becomes more and more prevalent.
Pastors feel the spiritual bombardment. Week after week, I learn that another marriage may be falling apart. Kids cut their own skin out of self-hatred. Drugs are more widespread than ever. And there are fewer voices of help as each month 1,500 pastors leave the ministry.
As Christ’s body, we can’t be asleep to these things. The Old Testament speaks of the sons of Issachar, a group that had a knowledge of the times and skill in dealing with the world. Can the same be said of Christ’s body today? If we discern the times, we know this isn’t a moment for half measures. The only way for us to “deal with the world” is not to let church be business-as-usual. Jesus said of certain demonic spirits, “This kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting” (Matthew 17:21, NKJV). In these times, our prayers have to be fervent — because without spiritual change, things look too bleak.
In the midst of darkness, Jesus calls us to be light. And here is our message for such a time: “Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4, KJV). God has done awesome works in the lives of his people. And each one of us is called to proclaim his glory through a boast-worthy testimony.
What does a boast-worthy testimony look like? I can fall prey to an unboast-worthy testimony. I’m a confessional pastor; I have no trouble being open about my failures and shortcomings. But if I’m not careful, I can get stuck in a confessional mode. It isn’t enough to tell others we’re struggling along the journey. The times call for us to move from a bemoaning lifestyle to a boast-worthy lifestyle.
Here is the kind of boasting I’m referring to: “As the Scriptures say, ‘If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord’” (2 Corinthians 10:17, NLT). To do the kind of boasting Paul describes, we have to have a boast worthy of God’s glory.
Biblical figures couldn’t fathom a life of faith being business-as-usual.
David never said, “My dad asked me to be a shepherd, so I was a good one. I fought off lions and never lost a sheep.” That was a good testimony — but it wasn’t boast-worthy of God. David’s boast was, “As a young shepherd, I killed a giant who threatened God’s people. No one else would fight him, but the Lord empowered me — and I struck Goliath dead.”
As a butler in Babylon, Nehemiah risked his life as a wine taster for the king. But Nehemiah’s boast in God was different: “I rebuilt a city to restore honor to God’s name.” With God’s name mocked in Jerusalem’s streets,
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