The unwasted life

"The unwasted life is the life that puts 

the infinite value of Jesus on display 

in everything you do." 

John Piper

Yesterday afternoon, as I ploughed through a mountain of ironing, I started watching John Piper's sermon from the 'One' conference held in Sydney in August last year. I haven't had a chance to finish it yet, so I've still got more of it to look forward to. He starts by flipping our question of "why does God allow suffering?" on its head by pointing out that it is only by God's infinite sustaining grace that we will even get to take our next breath! We don't deserve life, and to presume that we are entitled to be spared from the death and suffering that we rightly deserve is folly. 

Piper then goes on to discuss what an unwasted life looks like. It involves magnifying the Lord - like with a telescope to show how 'big' he is. It is our life's purpose to point to Him and demonstrate through our words, our actions, our thoughts, our decisions, how awesome He is and how much we need Him. I think to be honest, the vast majority of us forget this. We don't fear God, as we are commanded in Proverbs 9:10, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." Instead we slot God into a 'comfortable' compartment of our lives, only talking to others about him in a manner and at a time that suits us. What if, for example, I were open to hear the Holy Spirit's prompting as I spoke to my non-christian friends? Would the conversation look any different to what it does presently? Would I be more bold about telling the truth of the gospel in its entirety, rather than emphasising all of the 'God loves you' parts over the bits about God's wrath and condemnation? Would I be more urgent in expressing that we only have two paths to choose from, and only one of them leads to life? 

I'm not advocating that we necessarily start using a 'turn or burn' methodology, but just wondering if there are enough Christians out there presenting the gospel in its entirety, expressing the full extent of its powerful message, not just relying on 'evangelism-by-living-by-example'? I guess the perfect model of this would be Jesus - tough but tender. He knows exactly how to use tough words to produce soft hearts, and love is in everything he says and does even when it may seem harsh. 

I pray that God gives us the wisdom to discern how to do this, and the faith to trust that by his Spirit he will give us the words we need when we need them.