We had a ton of fun last night in the service. The worship went really well and we had a great time in the jr. high service learning what it means to become a depolarized Christian, along with taking the depolarized Christ follower quiz. I have placed the quiz in the middle of this message posting. The answers are at the end, so if you want to have a little fun, then go ahead and take the quiz and see if you can get the correct answers. It is not as easy as you might think. Making a good grade or poor grade on the quiz does not mean anything. It is simply here to help clarify what it means to transform from a polarized Christian to a depolarized Christian.
THE MESSAGE
Last week we talked about polarized Christianity. I began the message by going over a short review of what a polarized Christian was. I reemphasized that God doesn’t go up to heaven after Church or your quiet time then go to sleep while you go to school, dance practice, or football. But He goes with you to class. He sits at your lunch table and is talking to you at football. Therefore, what we must do is find God in everything we do; find out what he is trying to show us and what he is speaking to us. The polarized Christian fails to do this. He separates God from his regular activities.
I then explained that this week we were going to talk about how to depolarize ourselves and become the young men and women that God has called us to be. I used a white board and drew diagrams to help clarify the difference between polarized and depolarized and what it takes to become depolarized. Through the diagrams that I drew I explained that to depolarize ourselves we must use God’s Word.
What we often tend to do is use God’s word for only our spiritual lives and not apply it to our regular lives as well. What God wants us to do is apply God’s Word to both our spiritual lives and our other daily activities. When we do this God’s Word pushes and connects our regular and spiritual lives together depolarizing us. When this happens we find true joy and success as Christians.
To help clarify what it means to be depolarized I gave your children this quiz:
1. What is the most important day of the week to read your Bible? ________________
2. When are all the times God speaks to us?
A. When we read our Bibles
B. When we go to Church
C. When we pray
D. All of the above
E. Other
3. When should you read your Bible?
A. When you feel like it
B. When you finish your homework
C. As soon as you find time read it
D. After watching TV
E. None of the above
4. True or False: The Bible is only the spoken words of God.
5. True or False: When you read your Bible and obey it, it makes you smarter than your teachers at school?
6. True or False: Just about everything in the Bible is true.
7. The Bible was written for
A. our spiritual lives
B. our physical lives
C. for Christians
D. for Muslims
E. Both A and C
F. All the Above
8. True or False: The Bible teaches you best how to succeed in your spiritual life, while classes at school teach you best at how to be successful in the real world, such as your future job.
After this quiz each person graded his or her own quiz and I explained these answers:
1. The most important day to read the Bible is everyday
2. Ans. OTHER. God doesn’t just speak to us through our Bibles, prayer and Church. HE speaks to us all the time through our situations, authorities, parents, etc.
3. Ans. E. You must make time to read your Bible. The depolarized Christian makes time. He places God’s Word before his regular duties such as t.v. and football practice.
4. False, The Bible is not only the spoken words of God but is also the speaking words of God.
- (ROMANS 4:12) “The Word of God is living and Active”
5. True, when you apply God’s Word to your life it makes you smarter than your teachers.
- Therefore, you can apply it to your homework, to football, dance..
NOTE: This answer could go both ways so either answer is correct. David in Psalms does talk about how God’s Word makes him wiser than his teachers though. The important thing is God wants us to use His Word for everything in life—even becoming smarter and more successful.
6. False. Everything
7. F. All the above. The Bible is for every person. It is for you. For every area of your life. It is to reach your lost friends. It is for bringing life to your schools to those who are dying…
8. False. The Bible is the single most important thing to make you successful in life.
Finally, I said that the person that can apply God’s Word to both his spiritual life and regular life will combine his spiritual life with his regular life and be able to hear God in everything he does instead of just at church and when he reads his Bible in the morning.
Bring God into every area of your life. Let His Voice speak to you in your hall way at school, in practice, as you study, during cleaning and your life will be transformed!
WHAT YOU CAN DO
It was encouraging to read Mrs. Bird’s comment how she encouraged her son Bailey during a trial he faced last week by asking him what he thought God was trying to show him through the trial that he was going through. This is what it means to be a depolarized Christian. As parents, Simply asking questions like this is the first step to your child being transformed into a depolarized Christian and finding God in every area of their lives. If they face a trial or even have a joyful day refer to what they are reading in the Bible. Or ask them what the Bible says about the situation they are going through. because this is what Jesus is saying to them. we just have to help them hear better.
