A new survey came out last week which reveals that Christian are losing their influence in the United States.
“The nation has grown less religious in the last two decades … with a 10 percent drop in the number of people who call themselves Christians and increases in all 50 states among those who are not aligned with any faith.
“Between 1990 and 2008, the percentage of Americans who identified themselves as Christian dropped from 86 percent to 76 percent …
“The group that researchers call the "Nones" -- atheists, agnostics, and other secularists -- have almost doubled in that time period, from 8.2 percent to 15 percent.
“And, in a further indication of growing secularism, more than a quarter of Americans -- 27 percent -- said they do not expect to have a religious funeral when they die.”
http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/03/survey-shows-us-growing-less-r.php
Christians are losing their credibility. Our faith is losing its appeal. Much of the erosion comes from the younger generation. A study of 19 to 29 years olds conducted by George Barna a couple of years ago pinpointed some of the reasons for our declining influence. As it turns out, the problem is us:
“Among young non-Christians, nine out of the top 12 perceptions were negative. Common negative perceptions include that present-day Christianity is judgmental (87%), hypocritical (85%), old-fashioned (78%), and too involved in politics (75%)
“David Kinnaman, who is a 12-year-veteran of the Barna team, pointed out some of the unexpected findings of the research. ‘…I was surprised how much their perceptions were rooted in specific stories and personal interactions with Christians and in churches. When they labeled Christians as judgmental this was not merely spiritual defensiveness. It was frequently the result of truly “unChristian” experiences. We discovered that the descriptions that young people offered of Christianity were more thoughtful, nuanced, and experiential than expected.’”
http://barna.org/barna-update/article/16-teensnext-gen/94-a-new-generation-expresses-its-skepticism-and-frustration-with-christianity
Just in case you were lost in the wording, it turns out that it’s young people’s actual experience with Christians that’s turning them off to our faith. We’re just not terribly winsome anymore.
It’s really sad that in America we’ve got multiple translations of the Bible, piles of study aids, conferences and classes of all kinds. We’ve got Christian music, Christian TV, Christian movies, even Christian toys, but we’re losing the battle for the hearts and minds of our culture. Yet, in the Bible we find people like Joseph, who had almost no spiritual resources, and his faith had far reaching effects.
Let’s turn to his example once more. I want to show you the influence a Christian life should have.
The Far Reaching Effects of a Reliable Witness
Joseph was a man of faith. But he didn’t just believe in his heart. He lived out his faith and it gained him credibility. Let’s think back about the kind of example he set. Joseph was a man of integrity. Although God blessed him with success in every situation Joseph nonetheless worked hard and never used his position or power selfishly. He could have had a quiet little affair with Potiphar’s wife, he could have squashed his brothers in vengeance, but Joseph honored God and loved people. Joseph learned total dependence on God. He may have come closer than any human being to living as Jesus Christ did – in complete reliance upon the heavenly Father’s directions. As a result, God worked miraculously through the man, saving lives along the way. Joseph forgave those who wronged him. He sought to reconcile them to one another and to the Lord. Joseph spoke about his God to as many as would listen. But he didn’t merely talk faith or hold the knowledge of God in his head or keep his devotion locked in his heart. He lived it as a reliable witness and his faith had far reaching effects. So can yours.
If you’ll live out your faith in word and deed you can have similar impact. A reliable witness …
Encourages fellow believers in their faith
After leading his brothers through a process of transformation and reconciliation Joseph sent them back to retrieve their anxious father, Jacob, to bring him down to Egypt. At first the old man disbelieved his 11 sons, but Joseph sent him some convincing proof. Pay careful attention to the name change that occurs here:
But when they told him everything Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the carts Joseph had sent to carry him back, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. And Israel said, “I’m convinced! My son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.” Genesis 45:27-28
Joseph carefully instructed his brothers on what they should say to their father. He previously coached them to share the whole story of God’s work in his life in Egypt. He sent carts and provisions as proof. The testimony of Joseph’s life revived the spirit of Jacob. Suddenly, the text refers to him as Israel rather than Jacob. This generally occurs in Genesis when Jacob begins acting in faith and exerting godly leadership. Joseph’s reliable witness reached the discouraged heart of his father and encouraged his faith. Israel confidently embarked on the journey to Egypt because of Joseph. He awakened from his passivity to once again become an active participant in God’s will.
That’s one of the far reaching effects of a reliable witness. Believers are encouraged to live out their faith. Sometimes reliable witnesses have their lives written down. Back in the 1950s five Christian young men led by Jim Elliot were speared to death by the Auca Indians who they were trying to reach with the Gospel. Their sacrifice inspired hundreds more missionaries to make their way to the South American jungles.
Sometimes they’re much closer to home. Last year I had the privilege of knowing a young man named Austin Gentry. He was one of my students. Austin is the real thing. He’s what you’d consider an on-fire Christian. He makes straight As in all his classes. He’s a musician and an athlete. He’s wildly popular at school. He wins every leadership office he runs for. Austin always has a positive attitude. I never heard him criticize or complain. He serves when anyone needs help. I found out that he also holds other Christians accountable for their actions. He will speak the truth in love and call other teenage Christian on the carpet for their poor conduct. Once I was questioning one of my classes (affectionately dubbed the ding-a-ling class by me) on their attitudes about school. The scoffed at all the hypocrites and said most of the students fall into that category. But not Austin Gentry. He’s the real deal. That kid encouraged me in my faith. He set the path that adults need to follow. Austin was and is a reliable witness and he encourages the faith of other believers.
A reliable witness also …
Repairs the damage of previous poor witness
This week at The Dispatch forums someone posted an interesting news article. David Wilkerson, the pastor or Times Square Church in NYC and author of the book, The Cross and the Switchblade which was later made into a movie starring Pat Boone, published a horrible vision he said he had:
“I am compelled by the Holy Spirit to send out an urgent message to all on our mailing list, and to friends and to bishops we have met all over the world.
“AN EARTH-SHATTERING CALAMITY IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN. IT IS GOING TO BE SO FRIGHTENING, WE ARE ALL GOING TO TREMBLE - EVEN THE GODLIEST AMONG US.
“For ten years I have been warning about a thousand fires coming to New York City. It will engulf the whole megaplex, including areas of New Jersey and Connecticut. Major cities all across America will experience riots and blazing fires—such as we saw in Watts, Los Angeles, years ago.
“There will be riots and fires in cities worldwide. There will be looting—including Times Square, New York City. What we are experiencing now is not a recession, not even a depression. We are under God’s wrath.”
http://davidwilkersontoday.blogspot.com/2009/03/urgent-message.html
He goes on to give some scriptural warrant for what will happen and some advice on how to prepare.
At The Dispatch online forums, Wilkerson was immediately lumped into the category of greedy televangelist. Posters compared him to Oral Roberts who claimed in the 1980s that God was going to take him home if he didn’t receive a million bucks by a certain date. I though it was amazing that one Christian’s greed and stupidity back in the 1980s still being discredits believers today.
We need reliable witnesses like Joseph who can repair such damage. Remember that at this point in history Jacob and his family represented the LORD God. As far as we know, they alone had faith in the one true God. Their actions reflected the God they claimed to follow. Imagine what Pharaoh and other Egyptian officials must have thought about Joseph’s family. What kind of God would lead his people to sell their brother into slavery? Thankfully, God’s reputation and the reputation of His people were salvaged by Joseph’s reliable witness. It wasn’t just Joseph’s character and verbal witness that mattered. When Joseph demonstrated forgiveness and love for his no-account brothers, Pharaoh was impressed:
When the news reached Pharaoh’s palace that Joseph’s brothers had come, Pharaoh and all his officials were pleased. Genesis 45:16
Pharaoh then proceeded to invite the whole family to Egypt and pay their way. He eventually gave them the best pasture land for their livestock, free food for their families, and promoted some to be his official shepherds. This was a big deal for two reasons. First, Pharaoh trusted men who’d previously shown themselves to be untrustworthy. Second, at that time Egyptians mistrusted and despised all shepherds because waves people known as the Hyksos, whose leaders called themselves shepherd kings, invaded the land and threatened governmental stability. Joseph’s reliable witness repaired the damaged reputation of his family and gave the people of God a position of influence with Pharaoh and the Egyptians.
Another far reaching effect of a faithful witness …
Leaves a legacy for future generations
You may have noticed that we skipped verses 8 through 25 in chapter 46. It’s a strange genealogical table which says it’s a list of all of Jacob’s family who went down to Egypt. The problem with the genealogy is that two of the people on the list died in Canaan, two weren’t yet born, and Benjamin, if you read it literally, took his 10 sons along though he was only 23 or 24 at the time. The genealogy is symbolic of the community that developed in Egypt from the house of Israel. We know this because the author neatly placed the number of people at 70 which you get by multiplying two symbolic Hebrew numbers, 7 and 10. The list would have been more significant to the people who exited Egypt 430 years later.
These families established in Egypt were impacted by Joseph’s witness. He left a lasting example for them to follow. How do we know this? Someone remembered the story and eventually wrote it down. It’s highly likely that all of the stories from the creation account to Joseph were passed on by oral tradition. That is, parents told children these stories without actually writing them down. Eventually Moses and other editors wrote it all down. Joseph’s story evidently made a huge impact on the house of Israel because he gets more space in Genesis than any of the other characters in the book. Not once is Joseph portrayed as sinning. He was more faithful than any of the Patriarch’s yet he never saw God in a vision or heard His voice, not once. Joseph’s witness, however, lived on.
Think how his example would have influence the generation to whom Genesis was originally written. It was to the Israelites who escaped Egyptian slavery and lived through 40 years wandering in the wilderness. God was no longer thundering His commands from Mt. Sinai. They had the character of the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), the Law of Moses, and the example of Joseph to guide them. His humility, faith, and love were needed by that generation to conquer the Promised Land and establish the kingdom of God on earth. They needed to be completely dependent on God like Joseph to conquer Canaan. They needed to exhibit the same love and forgiveness as Joseph to conquer themselves and establish a lasting community. Joseph’s reliable witness left a legacy for future generations. We still learn from his example today.
We’ve talked about leaving a legacy before in this series, so I’m not going to belabor the point. But I want to encourage you to leave a path of your descendants to follow. Live out your faith more than just on Sunday mornings so that your children see that Jesus Christ is not one of many religious systems to choose from. Demonstrate for them that biblical truths are meant to be lived out. Be the example of what it means to walk with God and love other people. Yes, you will make mistakes, but if you’ll concentrate on living out your faith you children will remember the big picture. The totality of your life of faith will be imprinted in their hearts and minds. Leave them stories of generosity and sacrifice and devotion and risk that can be passed on from generation to generation. Who knows, your legacy could influence and inspire someone 150 years from now. The splash of your godly life could make ripples for generations to come.
The final far reaching effect of a faithful witness is that it …
Brings high honor to God
The high point of the story comes when Jacob appears before Pharaoh. The 130 year old man totters in and blesses the most powerful man on earth at the time. Jacob demonstrated two things in this act. First, he took the position of authority over Pharaoh because the one who blesses is the superior. He also demonstrated the power of his God, the LORD God to bring about the blessing that he bestowed. Jacob revealed God’s faithfulness by fulfilling the original covenant promise of God which began with Abraham:
“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Genesis 12:2-3
God was honored. He was found to be faithful to His promise. Who made this possible? Joseph. It was his reliable witness that opened the door for Jacob to bless Pharaoh. It was Joseph’s faith on display that made a place for Israel to be protected and grow into a great nation in the land of Egypt. 430 years later that family of 70 increased to become a nation, some scholars estimate, at nearly 1 million. Joseph’s reliable witness brought high honor to God because through him God was able to fulfill His promise.
The same principle holds true for us. Living out our faith will bring high honor to God. Jesus said to His followers:
“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16
Faith believed is good, but not enough. Faith pronounced is good, but not enough. Faith demonstrated brings credibility to us and high honor to God.
When God wanted humanity to comprehend His love, did He sit back in the heavenly realm and think warm fuzzy thought about us? Did He shout down His mercy and grace from on high? Nope, He demonstrated it through the faithful life, death, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ.
But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. Romans 5:8-11 (NLT)
Let us follow the example of the One who brought greatest honor to the Father. Live out your faith so that your faith may gain credibility. Your reliable witness will have far reaching effects.
