More Than Medicine
More Than Medicine
DWDP: I Thought You Girls Were Christians!!
What if living up to Christian standards could transform not only your life but also those around you? In this heartwarming episode, I share a touching story from the 1990s featuring my young son, Rob, whose innocent observations challenged his older sisters' behavior and highlighted a child's innate grasp of Christian values. We examine the sometimes glaring gap between what believers profess and how they act, a dissonance that often draws criticism from both inside and outside the faith community. Through personal reflections and eye-opening anecdotes, this episode encourages us to live lives that truly reflect the teachings of Jesus Christ, embodying compassion, kindness, humility, and patience.
Embrace the soul-stirring message of choosing love and forgiveness as we explore the transformative power of living rooted in Christ's teachings. Reflect on how the virtues of compassion and unity, nurtured by the Holy Spirit, can dispel anxiety and foster peace. Let the Word of Christ dwell richly within you, nurturing wisdom and thankfulness. In closing, I invite you to connect with the Jackson Family Ministry for an uplifting spiritual journey that continues to inspire and awaken hearts to their true purpose. Discover how to ensure your life testifies to your Christian faith with unwavering devotion, leaving no room for doubt about your commitment to the path of righteousness.
https://www.jacksonfamilyministry.com
https://bobslone.com/home/podcast-production/
Welcome to More Than Medicine, where Jesus is more than enough for the ills that plague our culture and our country. Hosted by author and physician, Dr Robert Jackson.
Speaker 2:Papa, can you tell me a story? Do you really want me to tell you a story? Well, you go, get your brother and your sisters and I will tell you a story. Well, you go, get your brother and your sisters and I will tell you a story. Welcome to Devotions with Dr Papa. Grab your Bibles, gather around and let's look into the written word, which reveals to us the living word, which is our Lord Jesus Christ. Well, I'm going to switch gears now and I'm going to leave the lessons in life that I learned from my patients and I'm going to switch gears and we're going to look at some of the lessons the biblical lessons in life that I learned from my children.
Speaker 2:Back in the 1990s, my wife and I lived in a two-story house and at that time I had four daughters and one son, and at that time, my son Rob my namesake Robert Edward Jackson III was about four years old. He had four older sisters and they loved to literally run up and down the stairs in that two-story house and then out the back door into the backyard. Well, my four-year-old son Rob tried his best to keep up with those fleet-footed girls, but he simply could not. They would fly up and down the stairs and then out of the house into the backyard and just leave him in the dust. And I would see him being so exasperated, trying to keep up with his older sisters. And I remember on one particular occasion the four older girls flew down the stairs, grabbed the spindle at the bottom of the stairs, turned the corner and flew through the den and out the back door. And then his little stubby four-year-old legs came running down the stairs and he was just red in the face and sweating. He had dirt caked under his neck and he just stopped and stomped his foot caked under his neck, and he just stopped and stomped his foot and he said in complete exasperation I thought you girls were Christians and he was so upset that they wouldn't wait on him. Now his little four-year-old brain intuitively understand that there was a standard by which Christians should live. He was not yet a believer, but still he intuitively understood that there was a standard by which Christians should live and that his older sisters, who claimed to be believers and who were mercilessly jerking him around, were obviously not living up to that kind and compassionate Christian standard. Now you have uttered similar statements in your life when you observe some Christian behaving in substandard fashion and you looked at your spouse and you said I thought so-and-so was a Christian. How can they say that? Or how can they do that? Now, tell the truth. You've said that very thing at some time or other, haven't you?
Speaker 2:When I was in college, I ran around with a bunch of young college boys that were baby Christians, who were struggling to put off the old man and put on the new man. We had an older college boy who was discipling us and he would often admonish us when we messed up by saying that wasn't very Christian of you, implying that we weren't living up to a higher biblical standard. When I was in grade school, whenever the pastor of our small town Baptist church was absent, one of the deacons would often fill in for him, especially on Sunday nights, and whenever these deacons were introduced, usually whomever introduced him would say a little bit about who he was and what he did, as if everybody in our small town of 3,500 people didn't already know everything about this individual. And then they would conclude by saying brother so-and-so, he really loves the Lord, and that was the standard. Well, there was one particular deacon who was chairman of our deacon board about every other year and I recall him being introduced on numerous occasions with that standard introduction he really loves the Lord. The only thing that stuck in my craw was that every time I went by his business in our small town he was guilty of racist, bigoted joking.
Speaker 2:Now, when I was a small boy, that was such a common thing in our small rural South Carolina town that I never really paid any attention to it. But I went off to college and the Spirit of God began to work in my life. I began to grow as a Christian and suddenly I became very sensitive to such behavior. So after my freshman year in college I go back to my hometown. I visited his business as a sophomore in college and all of a sudden I was highly offended by this deacon in my church who had been routinely introduced as a man who really loves the Lord. And there he stands in his business sharing racist and bigoted jokes with his clientele Well, I'll have you know. And bigoted jokes with his clientele, well I'll have you know. I never visited his business ever again, because you see, the introduction he really loves the Lord implied to me that he would live by a higher standard, Just like my four-year-old son expected his older sisters to live like Christians, to live by a merciful and compassionate higher standard. Well now here's an interesting twist on all of that Lost folks also expect Christians to live by that higher standard, even though they don't hold themselves to that standard.
Speaker 2:In fact, they despise Christians who are hypocritical, ie they don't adhere to the standard faithfully and they bring reproach on the name of Jesus Christ and on the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. For example, if a Christian lies, cheats, steals, smokes, drinks booze or commits adultery, it's a high crime and a shame. But for non-Christians to do these very same things, it's perfectly fine. Why? Because they don't claim to be Christians and therefore don't have to adhere to the high standard of morality. After I share the gospel with some of my patients, I often ask them what prevents them from committing their life to Christ. Their response is this I know, doc, I can't give up drugs or booze or carousing. You see, they understand the standard to which they will be held and at the same time, they don't comprehend that Holy Spirit gives supernatural power to enable them to adhere to the standard and that he will change all of their desires. So let me ask you this what exactly is the standard.
Speaker 2:Before we get into that, let me say that I have patients that live in a constant environment of lying, cheating, stealing, violence, profanity, physical abuse, emotional abuse, alcohol and drug abuse and sexual abuse. So these next verses that I'm going to share with you from Colossians are totally alien to them and require supernatural intervention before they could become reality in their lives. So let me read to you from the book of Colossians what the Bible considers to be the standard for Christian behavior. This is Colossians 3, verse 12. Paul tells the Colossian believers, so as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness. You see, that's what my four-year-old son, rob, was expecting from his sisters who claimed to be Christians. Put on a heart of compassion and kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving each other Whoever has a complaint against anyone. Just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you, beyond all these things, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body, and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you with all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God, the Father. Oh now, goodness, gracious, is that a high standard? You better believe it is.
Speaker 2:Let's go back and rehearse some of this together. First of all, in verse 12, he says to us, as those who have been chosen of God, understand, brothers and sisters, that you and I were chosen before the foundation of the world, chosen in the Lord Jesus Christ. And then he calls us holy and beloved. And we're only holy because of the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, a righteousness that is given to you and me as a free gift, so that when we stand before God, we are wrapped up in a snow-white robe of the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't stand there in my own righteousness, which is nothing more than filthy rags, but I stand there. You stand there in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And then he calls us beloved. Listen, we're loved with an everlasting love. And then he tells us to put on, to put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, and you realize that that's a choice. We have to choose to put on these things. And these things are the opposite of the corruption in which many of my patients constantly live. In fact, it's the opposite of where most of us lived before we became believers. And these characteristics represent the fruit of the Holy Spirit love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. There's no law that says you and I cannot demonstrate or exhibit these characteristics, these fruits of the Spirit, which only come by you and me abiding in the Word and allowing Holy Spirit to rule over our souls.
Speaker 2:Verse 13 says bearing with one another and forgiving each other Whoever has a complaint against anyone. Just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you Listen, forgiveness is the hallmark of a genuine Christian. We forgive because God first forgave us, and forgiveness is only possible because of the work of Holy Spirit in our lives. And if we don't forgive our brother, whom we have seen, how can we forgive and be forgiven by the God whom we have not seen? How can we love our brother? Because God loves us, we love and we forgive because of the activity of Holy Spirit in our lives.
Speaker 2:Verse 14, of Holy Spirit in our lives. Verse 14, love covers a multitude of sin. Verse 14 says beyond all these things, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. You see, love covers a multitude of sin, and love is a thing that binds us all together, despite our differences, all together despite our differences, despite the irritation that we cause one another, and it covers up all of our rough spots, the things that drive us apart. It's love that binds us all together in one family.
Speaker 2:And then verse 15, let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which, indeed, you were called in one body, and be thankful. You see, jesus is the Prince of Peace, and when Jesus rules in our heart, he produces His own peace in us. Shalom, the peace of God. And when we let Him rule supreme, he drives away anxiety, he drives away strife and conflict and he allows us to live in harmony in one loving family. And then verse 16, let the Word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, and singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. When God's word richly dwells within us, we have wisdom and we have thankful hearts. And you see, a thankful heart is the opposite of a critical spirit. How often a critical spirit drives us away from each other. But you see, a thankful heart, which God alone can give us, is the opposite of a critical spirit. And then, lastly, in verse 17, it tells us that whatever we do in word or deed, we should do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God, the Father. Doing everything in Christ's name is the death of selfishness. It's the death of self-centeredness, and because of that I'm able to stay thankful. Three times in this passage it tells us to be thankful, to stay thankful, to be thankful. Whenever God is at work in my heart, he creates in me a thankfulness of heart and spirit.
Speaker 2:This standard folks will be able to introduce us by honestly saying he or she really loves the Lord, and everybody around will nod and smile and they'll say Amen. And nobody will ever say I thought he was a Christian. You see, you don't want folks around you to have a question mark about your testimony or about your Christian behavior. You don't want anybody speculating and questioning and saying I thought he was a Christian. You want everybody affirming when someone introduces you and says he really loves the Lord, when someone introduces you and says he really loves the Lord. You want everybody in the audience to smile and nod and give a hearty amen. You're listening to Devotions with Dr Papa. If you like what you hear, I hope you'll follow, like share or download, and we'll be back again with you next week. In between now and then, I pray that the Lord will bless you real good.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to this edition of More Than Medicine. For more information about the Jackson Family Ministry, dr Jackson's books or to schedule a speaking engagement, go to their Facebook page, instagram or their webpage at jacksonfamilyministrycom. This podcast is produced by Bob Sloan Audio Production at bobsloancom. This podcast is produced by Bob Sloan audio production at bobsloancom.
