Radiance: Interactive
All scripture marked NKJV: The New King James Version. 1996, c1982 . Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
All scripture marked NLT: Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 1997. Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House.
One of the buzz-words of our society is the word “interactive”. To be up to date in any area, you must be “interactive” in some way.
“American Idol” is interactive because the viewers can vote on the winner.
Talk Radio is interactive because you can talk to the host.
Message Boards are interactive as they encourage others to participate in the conversation.
Video games are constantly looking for new ways to be more interactive—one example being Sony’s Eye Toy.
There is even the “Interactive Refrigerator.” The world’s first interactive refrigerator is to debut in North America this month. It has a satellite uplink to provide real-time weather forecasts. It has a 15 inch LCD screen for digital photos, digital memos, displaying up to 50 preloaded recipes, or connect it to a DVD player, USB drive, TV Cable or FM radio. It will even keep your food cold or frozen—after all it is a refrigerator.(www.cybernoon.com)
Everything seams to be interactive. Human interaction is the key to success in media and marketing.
Over the past several weeks we have discussed what it means to add light to our world. Radiation. Most of what we talked about was how to live your life differently, so that others will see and you will gain credibility to share the gospel.
But we must do more than just behave ourselves. We must become interactive.
It seems tat we are interested with being interactive in the culture, but it when comes to Christianity, all of a sudden Christianity becomes a private thing. Christianity is something that we don’t bring up in conversation with others.
If we are going to Radiate the light of Christ—we must interact with the world around us.
In Colossians 4:5-6, Paul gives us some instruction on how to interact with the society around you. Colossians 4 is found on page 1047 in the Red Bibles underneath your chairs.
As Paul was concluding his letters, he often added some instructions and encouragements to the people listening. In Colossians 4, he is doing just that and he gives us an understanding of how we should be interactive.
Colossians 4:5-6;
5 Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.
6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. (Col. 4:5-6, NKJV)
As we look to become interactive with those around us Paul teaches us to first;
1. Walk in wisdom.
The first part of verse 5 says to: “Walk is wisdom toward those who are in the outside.” Paul brings attention to his focus by adding the words “to those on the outside.” We should always walk in wisdom in all that we do—whether we are with Christians or just by ourselves—but Paul teaches us to pay special attention to walking in wisdom to those who are on the outside of the faith.
We are on display when we are with non-Christians. They are watching how we react, how we make decisions, and how we speak. We must walk in wisdom. We must live our lives seeking to make good decisions.
But, I think Paul is taking this a step further. We must live our lives seeking to make good decisions in our interaction with others. We need to use wisdom in how we communicate the gospel to those around us.
President George Bush is well known for his poor choices of words:
In 2005, Bush said;
"Those who enter the country illegally violate the law."
In 2004, He said;
"I believe that, as quickly as possible, young cows ought to be allowed to go across our border."
Then back in 2000,
"One of the great things about books is sometimes there are some fantastic pictures."
(www.about.com)
We all say things that we regret later, in every situation and with anybody. Some however hurt us and others. Sometimes they are said in anger. Sometimes they are said because we meant to say something else. My biggest problem comes when I say the first thing that comes to mind. It is amazing that I even got married.
When we are talking to those around us that are not Christians we must be careful to walk in wisdom and speak in wisdom.
This is not that we do not offend with the truth of the gospel, but that we ourselves do not become offensive, lest we make the gospel offensive by our own attitude and behavior.
So where do we find wisdom? Ho can we become wise?
John Piper says that
There are four sources of wisdom.
1) Meditation on the Scriptures.
2. Prayer
3. Sound counselors.
4. The practice of principles in real life experience. (www.desiringgod.org)
When we follow the advice of the four sources of wisdom, we can become a light to those who are around us. We can help them become open to hearing the glorious message of salvation and grace that God gives.
And as we walk in wisdom, we are able to
2. Redeem the time.
Colossians 4: 5 says;
5 Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. (Col. 4:5, NKJV)
I remember when I was little; I remember that Sunday Paper was huge. It was stacked full of advertisements and flyers. The flyers include coupons to take to the store. Sometimes it would be for large amounts like a dollar—sometimes for small amounts like 25 cents. But the point was you would save money if you took the coupon and redeemed it at the store.
Paul wants the people to save our time and cash it in for real benefit.
The New Living Translation translates the verse;
5 Live wisely among those who are not Christians, and make the most of every opportunity. (Col. 4:5, NLT)
Paul is teaching that while you are walking in wisdom, redeem the time—make the most of every opportunity.
There are many people who think that oil is the most important commodity.
One expert says;
Oil is the most important commodity of the present times. The importance of oil cannot be denied. Oil is the major source of energy…The demand for oil is increasing day by day. The world consumes 76 million barrels of oil a day. (www.wholesale-suppliers.net)
One article I read said that the “Cold War is over; (the) oil war has begun” (www.marketwatch.com). Which I think is pretty insightful. Nations are negotiating over it, some believe that we are at war over it. Gas prices back home are $2.65 in Hopkinsville. (www.gasbuddy.com)
Oil is on every mind in one form or another.
But I believe time I the most important commodity. Time is something that we can not replenish. Each opportunity represents a moment in time, once it is gone—it is gone. We have missed it. We have an incredible opportunity, while we are here in Iraq, to interact with other, to communicate the gospel, and to develop quality friendships—as we focus on the mission and putting that first.
We are to make the most of every opportunity. We are to look for ways that we can reach out to others.
It is not enough to simply act like a Christian; we need to be focused on sharing with others about Christ. One opportunity is inviting them to chapel. Another opportunity is to help them find Christ through particular issues in their lives. The most important opportunity is to be a friend to them, continually sharing the love of Christ with them.
And when we talk to them we are to
3. Speak with Grace.
Colossians 4:6 says;
6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. (Col. 4:6, NKJV)
Speaking with grace goes hand in hand with walking in wisdom and redeeming the time. It is the words that we say that have the message of grace.
The definition of grace as we know it is “the free and unmerited favor of God” (www.google.com) When I think of grace, I think of God sending his son to die on a cross—“that while (I was) yet a sinner; Christ died for (me).” (Romans 5:8, NKJV--personalized).
The challenge for the Christian is to extend that grace to others. We must be people to extend the grace—the free and unmerited favor of God—to others.
This is key. It doesn’t matter what we think of other people, because our response to them is free and unmerited—they do or do not deserve it. It really doesn’t matter…we are to speak gracefully to others.
Our goal in speaking grace is to lead others to Christ, that we may lead them to have a personal relationship with Him.
When we speak grace, we first understand the grace that was so generously extended toward us. Secondly, we understand that by extending grace to others we have a part to play in showing others truly what God looks like.
Paul then says that our words should be “seasoned with salt”. A boy was asked what salt was and he answered; “It’s what tastes bad when it’s not there”. (Adrian Rogers, 1980)
Our speech needs to add flavor to the world. People need to want to talk to us not run away.
Dale Carnegie, in his book How to Win Friends and Influence People, teaches 6 principles for making people like you.
Principle 1: Become genuinely interested in other people.
Principle 2: Smile.
Principle 3: Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
Principle 4: Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
Principle 5: Talk in terms of the other person’s interests.
Principle 6: Make the other person feel important—and do it sincerely. (Carnegie, Dale. Page 105)
We need to apply these principles to add salt to out speech to be effective in communicating the gospel to those who are around us.
Paul concludes verse 6 this way;
“that you may know how you ought to answer each one.” (Col. 4:6, NKJV)
We need to walk in wisdom, redeem the time, and speak with grace, so that we will know how to answer each person and each question that arises. We need to make it our mission to in light in this dark world.
A recent study by the Union of Concerned Scientists say that
“The average American is exposed to about 3000 advertising messages a day, and globally corporations spend over $620 billion each year to make their products seem desirable and to get us to buy them.” (www.ucsusa.org)
Being over here, we may not be exposed to as many messages a day, but we are still exposed to many different ideas and information to influence our understanding of life and of God.
We are in a unique position to speak of the love of Christ, where people may have never listened before. We can bring hope to the hopeless, and light to the darkened. We can make a difference in the final months of being here and help to change lives for Christ.
So how are you doing? Are you emitting light? Radiation means much more than just setting an example—it means sharing with others the love of Christ through your actions and your words always giving an answer for what you believe.
Maybe tonight, you were brought here with a friend and you may not know what this light is. You maybe wondering why Christ is so important that we need to give our lives over to him and even to change the way we interact with others so that they may know him. The answer is a simple one, yet not simplistic.
All of us are sinners. We have rebelled against God in some way. The Bible says that the wages, or the payment, of sin is death. And all of us, would be convicted if we stood on trial.
Jesus was sinless and paid the penalty for us. He didn’t have to—it was grace. He paid the penalty on the cross in our place.
All that we do is accept that payment. We then live for him and his glory.
You can make that decision tonight, right where you are.
After this service, I will be down at the front and would love to tell you how to accept this payment and begin a relationship with Him.
Let us pray.
