Outside -- July 16, 2009

"Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come."
Hebrews 13:12-14

Part of the discipline we talked about last time in this blog is to separate ourselves from this world. We have to get outside of the world system before we can truly appreciate how sinful it really is. Most of us aren’t as aware of how sexually exploitive our culture is. None of us appreciate it fully. The same could be said of violence, racism and all kinds of deviations from God’s kingdom plan for mankind. Since the fall sin has grown worse. (2 Timothy 3:13) That is why we have to get outside even when it causes us to be strange and those around to look upon us as disgraced.

It was this going outside that allowed Jesus to minister to others and it is what will allow us to do the same. Not only will going outside help us see the sinfulness of our cultures, it will make it possible to minister to those caught up in it. The people in our world don’t have a chance without us calling to them from outside. We cannot do that if we look exactly like them. I am not calling for weird or bizarre behavior. I am calling for us to be clean and different. That way we have something potent to say.

We are able to position ourselves this way because we recognize the temporal nature of this world and the permanent nature of the one to come. We position ourselves outside not only for our sakes but for the sake of those who we know and those who will come after us. They need someone to share the gospel with them just like we did. Who are you calling out of the camp of man’s system? Like Jerusalem in their day our world will one day be destroyed and only those who have born the reproach that Christ did and gone outside to wait for the eternal city will be saved.

Seeking the City to Come,

Pastor Jason