If you haven’t read Jon Beaty’s article last week “One More Mistake We Must Avoid”, please go back and read it one more time. The implications are thunderous. I compare Jon’s upbringing using Kodak to my own. I grew up in the final days of vacuum tubes. Transistors were still in the laboratory being developed. My first introduction was a 3 transistor radio for Christmas. I opened the back of the little plastic box and absolutely marveled that there were all those tiny colorful parts all smashed together in there, and they could pull invisible radio waves out of thin air, and I could tune up and down and listen to hundreds of AM radio stations. I was hooked.
In those days, making a long distance phone call sounded really bad, because it was all sent using analog, which got worse and worse as it was relayed across the country. Finally the audio quality sounded like they were right there next to you because it was sent using digital, dependent only upon sending ones and zeros; foolproof. Our televisions are now all digital HD, our cell phones all upgraded from analog to digital; now everything is digital. But the end product needed for us to hear and see isn’t digital… it’s all analog. Go figure.
Digital communications impacts nearly everything we do every day. However, the Bible and life’s experiences prove that the next step beyond digital is Spiritual Communications. As Jon wrote: “As important as any of these outcomes may be, if they don’t result from the church delivering, and people receiving (spiritual communications), the image of Jesus-loving God, we’re not doing anything of lasting value.”
There’s incredible increasing clarity with each improvement in communications, especially to spiritual, but we will always be in control of the content that we tune into. Spiritual communications is no different. Many choose to tune into worldly content, many others choose to tune into content originating from the devil, but only a few choose to tune into content from God. There’s an old saying: “You become what you spend your time doing.” Direct spiritual connection utilizes the Holy Spirit, then God oversees the content, and Jesus guarantees it all comes from Him (the image of Jesus-Loving God).
So let me ask: When anyone walks into an SDA church, or meets an SDA Christian out in daily life, do they see Jesus-Loving God… or do they see something else? 1 Corinthians 13 makes it spiritually clear that you can go through all the motions perfectly, you can even have a faith that moves mountains, but without love, it doesn’t do anything of lasting value.
If all this sounds like a lot of aggravation and painful sacrifice, then it’s assuredly time to shed all of that at the foot of Jesus’ cross and put on the white robe of righteousness that Jesus wants you to wear. Then all of this will be the joyful call to reflect the love of Christ. Jesus said: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls…For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11: 29-30).