Christian: Go to the ROOT of the Problem!

Have you ever gone to a Dr. with some sort of specific pain? I think many of us have had to do that at some point in our lives. Probably the scenario went something like this…”Dr. I have a this pain that will not go away.” Now imagine with me if the Dr. responded in this manner…”Alright, here are some pain pills, take them for 2 weeks and if the pain is still there come back.” Well, now imagine that 2 weeks go by and the pain is still there, so you go back to see the Dr. again. Again you tell the Dr. you this pain and once again the Dr. prescribed another, stronger pain medication and sends you off. Now repeat this scenario several times with no improvement in your pain. After several weeks/months you finally go see another Dr. who now runs some tests and determines that you have some specific problem. But, unfortunately since it has been left untreated for so long, he can no longer cure you and tells you the issue will only get worse.

Now, obviously this is a fake scenario...none of us would allow a Dr. to not “investigate” what the root problem was that was causing our pain...or would we?

How often do we follow this same pattern in our daily lives. We experience pain, suffering, hurt, etc. and then find some way to “deaden the pain of what we are feeling. For some it might be alcohol, others may choose drugs, you might turn to food, exercise, music, etc. You get the point...when we feel hurt our natural reaction is to lessen the pain or the hurt in some fashion. But what if that pain is an indication of some deep rooted problem you have. Some issue that could even take your life if left untreated.

Now, if like the original issue, we refused to treat our “root” problem” we obviously know we will get worse. The same holds true for our spiritual lives. God speaks to us many times in the midst of our sufferings. In many (not all mind you) instances, the pain and suffering we are experiencing is there to get us to dig deeper into our lives and discover the “ROOT” problem that has led us to our issue.

This is where many people fall flat on their face...they never go into the Bible or in heartfelt prayer seeking God’s answers to why they are hurting.  How often does the Bible speak about people that are suffering strictly because they have refused to acknowledge and then deal with their sins in a godly manner.

When ever we look into scripture and see people who deny their sins and seek the things of this world to distract them, it always ends up in a disaster. Look at the examples in the OT of people like, Abraham, Moses, Aaron, or David. In the NT we see this scenario played out in the lives of the Apostles, Paul, and many others. Every time they refuse to deal with the root problem it ends up bad.

So what about you? Are you ready to discover where your “root” problems are? Let me make this plain and simple...The root problem is always the same. You have drifted from God, walked away from your time with Him each day in His Word, and decided instead to do what you want and desire...to ease your suffering. But God says you are to do something different. God is telling you today…

Come back to Me, and I will heal your pain!”

  

Three Directions or Three Ways

Three directions, three ways, or perhaps you might say three foundations. No matter how you call, the basic premise is still the same. Every believer, every person who acknowledges Jesus as their Lord and Master must come to that point that they apply these three elements in every aspect of their lives.

So what three aspects might I be referring to? Simply this...we must be intently focused on maintaining an upward, an inward, and a outward relational focus.

First we must have a upward relationship. There can be no other focus without this critical element. One must have a growing and vibrant relationship with God as their Father, Lord, and Savior. Daily connection with God is critical to every aspect of our lives. Without it we are deficient and lack the basic understanding of what to do, where to go, and how to do anything else in our lives.

The second relational aspect is inward. By that I mean we all are commanded by God to develop connection and fellowship with our local body of believers, i.e. your local church. This is the area that many in the church are most familiar with. It is in this realm where discipleship, bible study, Sunday School, as well as many other areas take place. It is here where we learn to grown individually closer to God and to each other.

The final area we must stay connected with is outward. This is where the local church assumes a missional mindset. When believers get outside the walls of their church building and by their actions show the love of Jesus in a practical way.

Every one of these three areas is critical to a believers development. Think of it like a triangle...if you remove one of the sides the whole structure will come crashing down. Without a God-centeredness believers will tend to promote a selfish “me-first” attitude or strictly a social gospel mentality. If we center on the in and out, but leave out God we lose our central core and will drift off into a gospel-centeredness that focuses on what we believe or want to believe. Lastly, if one has a God and outward focus, but fail to develop theologically, one can just imagine the messed up beliefs that can result. This in turn to promote a luke-warm Christianity that nobody is ever drawn toward. 

So we see, for a believer to truly be a child of God we must stay connected in all three areas of life, the up, in, and out. Or we might say it like this...a believer must be focused on 1)worship, 2)discipleship, and 3)missions.

It is with this in mind that we, Friendship Baptist Church, will seek to incorporate this three-fold concept into all elements of what we do as a church.

1. Worship...As we gather on Sundays may we always seek to remain God-centered with our singing and praise.

2. Discipleship...As we seek to grow individually, may we daily seek to be more Christ-like in all that we do and learn.

3. Missions...As we go out into the world, may we seek to find new ways to demonstrate God’s love for everyone in everyplace, and anytime.

May God bless us as we grow stronger in His love daily.