Relationships of a Christ Centred Person

Intro:
We’ve been studying the various aspects of a Christ centred person. We looked at his finances, his work, his spirituality, the way he handles sensuality and the way a woman ought to be. Today we want to take a look at his relationships. Now although we are half way through the series it’s important to understand what we mean when we say Christ centred. We don’t just mean that you say you believe in Jesus claims or that you attend church regularly. When we understand this word centred it will define our understanding of Christ centred living. We understand what makes up our solar system by what revolves around the sun in the solar system. Similarly a Christ centred life can be identified by how everything about it revolves around Christ. When we strive for that kind of life it becomes one which is dripping with purpose. God not only breathes life into our spirit when we come to Him, he offers to breathe a living purpose into every aspect of us and our life. Today we want to understand how he does that to our relationships.

We will be looking at 3 books in scripture to understand this concept and will be looking at 3 areas of relationships for a believer in Christ.

1. Relationships at home: Genesis 2:18-24

Now I realise a lot of you are not married but I also know that most of you have the desire to be married. We want to understand it means to be Christ centred in marriage as well. I have spoken on this topic before and so if you’re hearing it for the 2nd time maybe God really wants to get a point across to you. If we look at the story of creation we see how God creates everything and at the end He creates Adam. Scripture goes on to say that for every living thing a partner was found but for Adam there was none. In verse 18 Genesis teaches us that God thought it was not good for man to be alone. All my growing up years I misread this story and I grew up thinking Adam was lonely and out of pity for his loneliness God created Eve. This messed up my reasons for romantic relationships and marriage itself. I was under the misguided impression that love and marriage were to satisfy my problem with loneliness. Please note the word used there - ALONE! The bible did not teach that Adam was lonely and depressed. For all we know he was enjoying his time with God and nature. After all he must have been talking and walking with God of all creation in a perfect relationship with Him and so must have been satisfied. But through all this he was alone. God had created him, and given him a mandate. Basically God had a purpose for Adam’s life and God saw the purpose and the man and said it is not good for him to be alone. So God made a suitable helper. Suitable to allow Adam to be who God wanted him to be. Young people, what are your reasons for wanting to get married? If your answer is she’s hot, or cute you have to grow up. If your answer is because your lonely, or he will complete you then you have to grow out of yourself. If you are in marriage or seeking it with a selfish reason that tops your list of “why’s” then you got to change. Take a good look at your marital or potentially marital relationships. Are they intentional or are you just going with the flow of things? Do you see your spouse as someone who helps you become who God wants you to be. In his book The Sacred Marriage, Gary Thomas keeps returning to the refrain – What if marriage was intended by God not to make you happy but holy? We have to be ok with the fact that marriage is not about, not even about our spouse it is eventually all about God and His purposes. A Christ centred marriage revolves around Him.

2. Relationships in Church: Hebrews3:12,13 ; 10:24

We’ve been coming to church for ages… some of us. We’ve grown up with friends in church… some of us. What does it mean to build relationships in church? I have friends who always talk to me about football and Manchester united. I have others who only talk to me about Basketball and the Boston Celtics. I have others who talk to me about photography alone and few others who always enter a conversation expecting some funny anecdote or joke. But these are merely starting points to any friendship or relationship. We need to be intentional in our relationships within the body of Christ. Hebrews teaches to encourage one another while it is called today. Are we intentional in how we relate with those around. We are to Encourage each other. In church we are quick to let people know that they are weak or they struggling. A common complaint against church is that it is a judgmental place. But the truth is if we spent time encouraging each other we would ensure that our hearts didn’t get hardened. The bible has lots to say about fighting sin. One of the ways is this that we continue to encourage each other lest we grow a heart that’s hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Please note encourage is not merely pointing out that someone is in sin. They already know that!! Encourage means whether someone is struggling or not we come alongside and in the manner of our friendship and conversation we build courage into them. This courage is not from us and from God and hence it is a courage that they can depend on when the times of testing occur in their lives.

We are also to Spur each other towards love and good deeds. So encourage each other so that we don’t land up doing the things we are not to and we spur each other on so that we do the things we ought to. If we didn’t get busy doing the things God has in store for us to do then we’d be busy not doing the wrong things and basically not doing much at all. God did not save me to be busy fighting off sin and saying no to everything around me. He saved me to be busy saying yes to all the incredible things He has in store for me so that I couldn’t be bothered with what I I ought to be saying to no to in the first place. But this doesn’t happen easily. It takes effort and accountability. That’s where intentional relationships in church come into play. We open ourselves up – yes even at the risk of being judged. We do so because for us Christ centeredness is of upmost importance and accountability is a much needed component in fostering this centeredness. We do so not based on how nice the people around us are. So ask yourself - How many friendships have intentionally sought out in church for this purpose? To how many people are you intentionally and productively being this kind of friend? In the life of Daniel we see how he kept returning to his friends. We often find him in prayer together with his friends and together they made some very bold and decisive stands for God.

3. Relationships with the world. 1Pet 2:11,12 ; Matt 28:19,20 ; 2 Cor 5:17-20

We all relate with the world. We have houses in the world, we have jobs in the world, we have friends in the world outside the church. God has intended it exactly that way. It is not by some divine accident that He saved us and left us here on earth. A Christ centred person has everything about him revolving around God and His purposes. When we are that we see the potential of becoming intentional even in the relationships we have outside. God never does stuff just to while time away. He is intentional and on the move in all He does. This doesn’t mean we are stressed out and burned out because we are constantly working. But it does mean we bring in a dimension of intentionality to our relationships. The way we relate with people and the way we live among them ought to cause them to both glorify God and ask us questions. What governs our relationship with the world outside is the love of God for them. We use whatever necessary – sports, movies, music etc to build the bridges but when we have the bridge in place we capitalize on it by using every opportunity to make disciples, to be ambassadors. God has gifted us with these bridges/relationships at work and at study. Don’t for a moment think He will not hold us accountable to how we used them. There are many times when I could have spoken about Jesus, I got the opportunity as a conversation went along. Yet I refrained and I substituted talking about the grandeur of heaven and the incredible grace of God that could save the person in front of me for a topic as cheap as football, food or even the weather. Is work just a place you go and the people at work just corporate buddies who make up that time between one Sunday in the presence of God and the next? Or do you see that as the mission field, the relationships as the bridges and the gospel of God as your weapon? Ask yourself - How are you intentionally effecting your relationships with those who don’t know Jesus so that they will know Him? Have you made friends with anyone lately by the prompting of God so as to be able to walk with them into the Kingdom of God?

Conclusion:

God has saved you and wants to use your life. Not Saturday evening or home group evening alone but your whole life. He wants to breathe meaning and purpose into all your relationships. Relationships with a meaning and purpose have vitality they come alive. These kind of friendships become deep and meaningful and that depth lasts for eternity. These are the kinds of relationships – intentional ones that God loves to go to work through. So as we close ask yourself Do you see your home, romance and marriage the way God sees it? Do you see church and the people there as God sees them? Do you see your world the way God sees it? Do you dare to?