THE SOAP OPERA SYNDROME AND THE CALL OF CHRIST

 

When Jesus said that he "came to seek and to save that which was lost," he came to save us not only from a future hell, he came to save us from what we are now ... to transform us now, in this life, into men and women who manifest the nature of God.... who are born of God, not in a theoretical sense, but in down-to-earth reality.

 

Salvation is much more than an escape from hell. Sal­vation is a new life,

    a new attitude,

    a new mind, new vision.    

Jesus gives us a concise description of this new life in the Sermon on the Mount ... Matthew 5, 6 and 7. And the core of that picture of new life is found in these verses at the end of Chapter 5.

 

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you salute only your brethren, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.                                                                    "Matthew 5:43-48

 

"That's not the way you were when you were born," Jesus says. "But that's the life I now give

you the power to live....

....a life of radical love,

....a life that finds its highest joy in pouring itself out for others to please the Father."

 

For the love of Christ controls us, because we are convinced that one had died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all, that those who live might live no longer for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once regarded Christ from a human point of view, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come.­

II Corinthians 5:14-17

 

He's a new creation because he is driven no longer by his fears and his ego and his hates, but by this indwelling love, which is Christ himself.

 

And he or she manifests this love not at certain high moments of spiritual ecstasy, but all the time.

 

This is what it means to be saved.....

 

If I'm saved by the blood of the Lamb from the curse of my sin, this means I've come into union with the Lamb.

I'm one with the Lamb.

And in him I'm a new creation.

Old things have passed away, the new has come.

 

I'm ruled by his love.

 

Maybe this new creation hasn't come to full bloom in me yet, but it better be evident. There better be substantial ongoing change in the direction of God. Otherwise, my Christianity is nothing but a game of pretend .... like the emperor who wore no clothes and everyone pretended he was beautifully dressed, yet everyone could see that the dummy had nothing on.

 

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you salute only your brethren, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."                                                                  Matthew 5:43-48

 

This is what it means to be a new creation.

 

Ah, but why isn't it happening? Why are our personal lives and our life together as a body of believers so far below this? We're supposed to be offering the world this tremendous hope that life can really be different, that Jesus can make all things new.... if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation .... yet the old sin-marred nature continues to stain our lives.... how come?

 

The only people who ever enter into this new creation and begin living this life of radical love are those…

 

- who answer the call of Jesus to the salvation of radical love,

 

- who believe him when he tells us that he will teach us ... he'll bring us into this life of

  radical love,

 

- who obey him when he commands us to love those enemies and pray for those

  persecutors.

 

The truth is, we hear Jesus talking, but when he commands this kind of love we simply tell ourselves it just can't be done. Instead of trusting him and stepping into this love, because he commands us to love that boss,

   love that impossible mate,

   love that ungrateful relative,

                           pray blessings on the one who keeps persecuting us.... instead of acting on this, we sink back into a form of unbelief which can best be called "the soap opera syndrome."

 

The soap opera gospel says that there are only two kinds of people in the world.

 

1. People with bad intentions who do what they intend.

 

2. People with good intentions who never do what they intend.

 

People with the bad intentions are the villains and they're strong. People with good intentions are the suckers and they're weak.

 

The outcome of this soap opera gospel is a total cynicism.

 

- Everybody's a rat,

- life is a pile of manure,

- we're all on our way to hell, there's no way out.

- So get whatever kicks you can before the curtain falls.

 

And the effect of this pervading disease which reaches out to us and attacks our spirit, even if we never saw Dallas or Dynasty, is the sick belief that integrity, genuine love, purity and holiness are beyond the reach of this human spirit.

 

The same devil who told our mother Eve that if she ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil she'd be like God, now tells her children they can never be anything but devils ... don't even try to do good because in the end you'll turn into a rat anyway.

 

And this cynicism has crippled the minds of numberless professing Christians. We'll believe God for pros­perity or for healing or for visions and revelations, but when Jesus says, "Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you. Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect," we mumble under our breath, "He's got to be kidding. He's asking for some kind of miracle!"

 

Miracle indeed! And in Jesus' command is the miracle power to accomplish the miracle:

 

Power - to make us into a new creation,

            - to transform us into his own likeness.

 

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you salute only your brethren, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

Matthew 5:43-48

 

In this command is all the power we need to obey the command.

 

But we have to decide which gospel were going to listen to:

- the soap opera gospel?

- or the call of Christ?

 

Am I going to believe Jesus when he tells me I can be different?

 

- I can be a new creation.

- I can love my enemy.

- I can pray for my persecutor.

- I can be pure in heart.

- I can be merciful.

 

But it's not just believing in our heads. It's action. It's renouncing the things in our lives, right now, which belong to the soap opera syndrome.

 

- The indecision.

- The weakness of soul.

- The self-indulgence.

- The tolerance of evil in our own hearts which should have been confessed and repented

  of long ago.

 

How many more years do we think we can go on flound­ering through life, clutching the excuse that we can never do the good we intend because we're just too weak? Jesus makes this weakness a lie! Re­nounce the lie, cast it away! His strength is made perfect in our weakness. And immediately when we've renounced the old way... and we need to do this today ... to take Jesus' high commands literally and do them.

 

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you...."

Matthew 5:43-44

 

I have an enemy, a person who wishes me evil. I am to love that person in Jesus' name .... by his power.

 

I have a persecutor, a person who does evil against me again and again .... I am to pray for that person.

 

We love our enemy because Jesus commands us to love our enemy. We pray for our persecutors because the evil coming from that persecutor will be conquered, not with evil, but with good. We do these things because Jesus calls us to be like the Father. And as we do these things the old passes away, all things become new.

And he died for all, that those who live might live no longer for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised .... Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come.

II Corinthians 5:15,17

 

We need to do two things today:

 

l. We need to repent of the old ... to cast away from us our little soap opera, spineless,

    petty lives.

 

2. We need to enter the new by doing the love and the holiness Jesus commands.

 

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  Old things have passed away, behold all things have become new.

 

 

 

 

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