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2004-04-19 - Vicar of Bray
Galatians 5:16,17 "But I say, walk in the Spirit, and
you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire
against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition
to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please."
We all know people who act a certain way with one group and another way with
another group. It is much like the old phrase, "When in Rome, do as the Romans,"
or today's modern-day equivalent, "Everything done in Vegas, stays in Vegas."
Many people will behave one way with 'church folk' and a completely different
way with coworkers or those not connected to the church. They are people
who we often call two-faced. If it is hot outside, this person loves heat.
If it is cold, then cold is the best weather. If a decision needs to be made,
this person will wet his finger, hold it up, and determine which way the
wind of public opinion is blowing. Rather than have convictions and principles
to determine decisions and conduct, this pragmatic person simply follows
whatever view or action that will be to his advantage.
The Vicar of Bray provides us an example of this kind of reasoning. When
Henry VIII was king, the Vicar was a Roman Catholic. Then when the Protestants
came to power after Henry VIII, he was a Protestant. When Mary was the ruler,
he became a Roman Catholic again. Then when Queen Elizabeth came to the throne,
he became a Protestant again. He declared that he had always been consistent
with his principles. This is a true statement, because his principle was
to continue being the Vicar of Bray.
A true Christian cannot live with such a mindset. The Christian cannot sing
songs with the saints on Sunday and engage in shady business practices
Monday-Friday. We might think that either the Sunday person or the weekday
person is not the real person. In truth, there is no real person there. The
real person only comes forward when it is an advantage to him, and that is
the real person. Remember Haman, in the book of Esther. He was duplicitous
in trying to advance his own cause. His reward was that he was humiliated
while exalting his rival, and then hung on the very gallows he had built
for the same person. We must be mindful that God knows our hearts. He sees
our actions. He is aware of our hidden plans to make ourselves look good.
Others may not be savvy enough to see through us, but God misses nothing,
and we can ill afford His displeasure.
The remedy for this struggle is found perfectly in the example of Christ.
I would be the first to say that it is hard to not compromise principles
and seek our advantage in this life. But think of the advantages that Christ
could have rightly have asserted, and yet He did not, because in humility,
He set aside His rights to offer a perfect sacrifice for the sins of all
those who come to Him in faith. We are told to have the same attitude that
Christ had (Ephesians 2:5-8). Christ never deviated from His mission, nor
should we.
We know what Christ's mission was, but what is our mission? Our mission is
to reflect glory upon Christ. We do this out of love for what He has done
for us. We are to seek to live consistently and not waver from this mission.
As Christians, we are Christ's living and breathing representation to others.
It is our mission, Sunday-Saturday, in business and pleasure, to reflect
glory back to Christ. It is to be our desire that people see Christ in us
and are drawn to Christ. We do not seek anything for ourselves, because apart
from Christ, we have nothing.
Soli Deo Gloria,
T-
godrulestb@aol.com
http://www.cfdevotionals.org
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