Christian Living

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Equipping, Encouraging or Enabling

12His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints (His consecrated people), [that they should do] the work of ministering toward building up Christ's body (the church) –Ephesians 4:12 (AMP)

It is 2012! A New Year! A fresh start and a clean slate await our renewed energies focused on tasks and accomplishments. Every year we receive and look forward to a supportive environment where everyone around us seems determined to finally get it right. We feel ready, equipped and enabled.
Who are you though? What will your life be this year? Are you a proclaimed Christian? Are you contributing to the equipping of the saints, are you encouraging or are you enabling?

I would like to share a headline with you and hopefully you will read the article in its entirety. “Sexting: Youth Pastors Deal With New Challenge”.

This is not some “bad neighborhood” with drugs and hookers that you can avoid by taking a different route. This is not some movie of the week based on some poor lost soul. This is not the five o’clock news headline that is referring you to the neighbor down the street that you always knew was “trash”.

Wake up people. These are your sons and daughters. These are our churches. This sexual sin is inside OUR churches. The question is why? Now what I am going to say will probably not make me any friends, but I am going to say it anyway.

Let me start out by sharing with you that years ago, my husband and I made the choice to not allow any sort of internet, picture texts or data services on any of our family’s phones. We actually had to change providers several times. The funny thing was, each provider assured us that they could block internet, picture texts and data, but still allow regular texting.

Apparently, they didn’t know their service very well and we spent hours with tech support. Only one cellphone service provider was able to do this: Sprint, although it is not available with Nextel.

Now, you may choose at this point to say that I am trying to shelter my family, go right ahead. You may also venture to say I am radical when I inform you that we do not watch television. We have them; we do not however have cable. We also do not watch network television. We watch movies, and if it would be something that we couldn’t sit down with Jesus and watch, we don’t have it.

Our children are very aware of society and what goes on. They are also aware of guarding their hearts and spirit to remain pure for their spouse as much as humanely possible. They know the world we live in. We just don’t make excuses for it.
Why are our children dealing with these things: because we as parents have failed them. You don’t have to agree with me. The fruit speaks for itself.

Parents aren’t living it out in front of their children. Mothers are shopping with their daughters at Victoria Secret, Abercrombie and Hollister. Then they are walking out the door into society, taking one last glance in the mirror wondering if they look sexy. Why? Being beautiful has nothing to do with being a stumbling block!

Husbands, fathers and sons are being lambasted with images, every time they step into the mall or grocery store. They can avoid it by choosing to not look or not going there in the first place. But do they even really believe they should do that if they can walk into the kitchen and see your women’s magazines lying on the counter?

What in heaven’s name would drive a man to want his wife or daughter to be ogled? What drives a man to want other men to view his wife as sexy? There is something twisted about that.

It is easy to point the finger at other people, their crimes, their perversions and their sins, but this is inside of the church.

What drives someone to have “Faith” plastered across their chest on a tee shirt that is two sizes too small? And what makes a Christian parent think that it is ok? Is it really because you can blame society and say “That’s just the world we live in”?

Then you, my dear brother or sister are no longer equipping the saints, you are an enabler.

Let me ask you a simple question. If you knew, that someone was coming to attack your children, your marriage, your husband or wife, what would you do? Would you not do everything in your power to stop it? Even to the point of laying down your life? Why is this any different?

How can you expect radical results in your walk with Christ, in your Church, in your marriage or even your relationship with your children if you are just offering mediocre commitment?

It’s easier to stand in a crowd, even in Church, than to stand alone and be labeled, isn’t it? Acceptance by man, whether inside or outside of the Church still seems to carry more weight than what is acceptable to God the Father.

Commitment to a cause, albeit good or evil, will drive ahead. Things that have become acceptable in society and churches have gained that status because someone was willing to push forward more than someone was willing to resist.

How are you contributing? Are you equipping your children? You make sure they have all the proper protective gear to play sports don’t you? Why are you relying on the Youth Pastor to equip them for their walk with Christ?

What are you equipping yourself to do as you walk out of the door in the morning? Are you equipping or contributing? Can you honestly answer that question and say it will glorify God?

What exactly are you encouraging? Does your encouragement come from a pure heart that, in all honesty, drives someone closer to their highest and best in their walk with Christ Jesus?

Or when you take a deeper look, do you find that all of your “equipping and encouraging” is nothing more than enabling the one you love continue on the same destructive path?

Jesus Christ gave His life that we may be free, that includes freedom from excuses. Are you willing to lay them down, check yourself with Him and determine this year, exactly what it is that you will be, “Equipping, Encouraging or Enabling”?

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