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An Elder Speaks
The Church and
the Community
by Jack Smith
6/20/04
This is a very important topic; for, people within the
community judge the church by the individual members of the
church, and by the lives they live. The Christian is to so
live in his community that he will “give none occasion to
adversary to speak reproachfully.” ( 1st time. 5:14). Let us
join in with the children and sing, All around the
neighborhood, I’m gonna let it shine. Man is a social being;
as such, the Christian is part of the community in which he
lives. If a person is normal, he will live with and among
people. A Christian cannot afford to go out of the world, or
excuse himself from society, and live like a hermit. (John
17:15; 1 Cor. 5:9,10; 10:25-33; 15:33).
The Christian must live his religion and practice what he
professes.
A man who operated a service station would not close it on
Sundays. One Sun-day he tried to talk to one of his customers
about church. After listening, as the operator spoke so
eloquently about the church, the customer responded, “ If (the
church) means so much to you, why aren’t you there now?” Yes
we must live what we advocate. We must practice what we
preach. (Acts 1:1; Rom. 2:21; Matt. 5:19). We must prove the
profession that we are Christians by our performance.
Is not what we eat, but what we digest that makes us strong.
Ad it is not what we say, but what we live that makes us
genuine Christians.
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