These are challenging times for Christians right now. As a result, they are defining times and unprecedented during my lifetime. Clarity is being brought to our priorities as pastors and followers of Christ. What we view as non-essential is being eradicated from our lives and ministries. Our actions are confirming what we view as primary and most important.
This past Sunday, Crawford Loritts, the incomparable theologian, bible teacher, conference speaker and pastor of Fellowship Bible Church in Roswell, GA, brought a defining message for our times. Teaching from the Book of Daniel, he unpacked the subject of identity and who we should be as Christians during this time in human history.
It is as important and relevant a message as I have heard. Click HERE to listen.
The following are 41 quotes and lessons from Crawford’s message Living Above The Fray: How To Survive In Babylon from Daniel 1. This is the message Christians need to hear right now.
- “Preaching is not speech-making and it’s not giving a talk… Preaching is in a different category. Preaching is a word from God for the people at a moment in history.”
- “We forget as Jesus said, we are in the world but not of the world. Christians run into problems when they don’t understand the difference between those two prepositions. We’re in it but not of it. Our worldview, the way we look at life, the way we respond to life, the way we respond to issues in life, the way we respond to everything in life, does not come from our moment in history or our context or our culture, or our from our background, or from our neighborhood. That does not frame or form our thinking. Our thinking is framed and formed by what God says in this Book (the Bible).”
- “We don’t look for the culture or society to tell us who we are. We bring a sense of identity and hope to the culture and to society.”
- “The key to thriving in this world, paradoxically, is to understand we are not of it. The key to impacting it is to understand we’re not a member of it. But we’re members of another Kingdom. We’re pilgrims and strangers down here and the vision is to impact the moment in history and to not absorb what’s going on around us and become like it.”
- “We will always be tested.”
- “If we don’t get this identity thing right we will succumb to idolatry. We will violate and integrity and we will not stand being alone… Who am I? That is the big issue in Daniel 1.”
- “Don’t abandon who you are and allow the environment to shape and determine your identity and behavior.”
- “There is a corresponding relationship between who we are and our behavior.”
- “Your character will feed your behavior no matter what your circumstances may be… That is the power of identity. Who you think you are will inform your behavior. And if you’re confused about who you are, somebody else will tell you who you are and how to behave.”
- “Where you are is not who you are. The Pilgrim Motif – we’re pilgrims and strangers. We’re going to a country. We’re foreigners down here. This is not who we are. This is not where we belong.”
- “Authentic followers of Jesus Christ are the most relevant people at any moment in human history. Because we bring refreshing nobility and definition to our times. And we live out what the rest of the culture was born to be.”
- “One of the greatest gifts we can give to our children is to point them to God as the source of their identity.”
- “What’s core is God, not your experiences.”
- “As Christians we have this dastardly habit and tendency to assume that all the bad things that’s happening in our culture, COVID-19, racial unrest and all this other stuff that’s happening, really has to do with the fact that our country and society is sinful and going to hell in a hand basket. Well, all of that may be true but be very careful with that. Some of that judgment may be on us (the church)… Some of that may be because the church of Jesus Christ has not been faithful. Some of the issues we may own, that we’ve been cultural Christians and not really salt and light in the world in which we live, that we too have been living duplicitous lives.”
- “God’s people had been taken into captivity because they had not listened to God.”
- “Daniel could not have been any older than 16… These were young boys in chapter 1.”
- “Stop selling young people short… We have a self-fulfilling prophecy. They rise to the level of our expectations.”
- “The devil and the flesh wishes to wear you down so you believe your favorite newscaster is the 67th book of the Bible… We get more passionate about certain issues than we are about God, erode who you really are.”
- “The devil seeks to change our name. This culture and this world is not neutral.”
- “Daniel makes a decision in verse 8 that would chart the trajectory of his very life. This was a dealbreaker. If he did not make this decision, you would not be reading the book of Daniel… They would have just been absorbed.”
- “It wasn’t just a decision. It was a resolution. A resolution is that which cannot be changed.”
- “There is a difference between convictions and beliefs.”
- “Convictions are resolutions. They are heart-resolutions. They are the things you will die for if you have to.”
- “We don’t feel our way or explore our way into being faithful. This is a big problem we have in our walk with God. Too many of us will only respond to God if there is some type of emotional wooing or if the externals are appropriate and right… You decide. And the decision does not arise out fo a favorable environment.”
- “They made decisions despite what other people were saying.”
- “Stop giving flimsy excuses… When are you going to decide to walk with God?”
- “If you’re going to thrive in Babylon, if you’re going to live above the fray, you’re going to have to make some hard choices and decisions. You can’t keep too many options open. There comes a point when too many options erode what is necessary… It cannabalizes commitment.”
- “When you disagree with leadership don’t just go in there and blow them up and tell them you disagree. Go in there with an alternative. Go in there with another solution.”
- “God said if you will decide for Me, I’ll make the plain clear for you.”
- “Daniel trusted his situation to God who moved on the king’s heart to show him favor.”
- “God protects and preserves those who obey Him.”
- “There will come times in your life if you are a follower of Christ when God will orchestrate the choice. Oh yes He will. Are you going to compromise or are you going to obey Him?”
- “How you handle opposition and pressure will either erode our character or attract God’s pleasure and favor.”
- “These four guys never forgot what God did when they were teenagers… And because they never forgot it, they remained faithful. Too many of us have forgotten… You forgot how God came through for you when you were fearful.”
- “Daniel was an old man in chapter 6 faithful to end.”
- “Our problem is we idolize our moment and we forget our history.”
- “Against all odds God positioned them to thrive in Babylon because they remembered who they were.”
- “The key to your impact is not trying to get another persona. The key to your impact is not trying to be like somebody else. The key to your impact is being who God made you to be and never walk away from that. Never apologize for that. It’s Chris in us, the hope of glory. We have been crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, we live. Not I but Christ lives within me and the life we now live in the flesh we through the Son of God who loves us and gave Himself. How can we be ashamed of that.”
- “The world wants who we are though they fight it every day.”
- “You were born to glorify God and there’s a purpose and plan He has for everyone of us. But we cannot discover that until we surrender ourselves to Him. And that’s why Jesus came.”
- “I’m going to allow this book (the Bible) to and what this book says to frame my heart and the trajectory of my life and to fuel my convictions no matter what. No matter what. You can’t do it incrementally. You’ve got to do it by decision and resolve.”
I close this post by asking this question on Crawford’s behalf. What is your decision today? Will you choose to walk with God and follow what the Bible says? Or will you follow the world and culture? You cannot be neutral. The decision is yours.
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