Shining Like Stars

Philippians 2:14-15 states:

¹⁴ Do everything without complaining or arguing, ¹⁵ so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe 

These verses were best represented to me in a skit that my daughter Alison participated in when she was in 1st Grade (I could be wrong on this, but it's what I recall, and that would put the year at 1998-99). They did the skit in the chapel, and at the end, what was not in any way a quiet group of kids (and I speak from experience, having had ALL 17 girls in that class over for sleepovers at the house...twice), shouted at the top of their lungs "LET'S GET BUSY! LET'S SHINE LIKE STARS!"

Of course, it's Paul's exhortations as to what we should do that will allow us to shine like stars. As Christians, we should try to do everything without complaining or arguing--this doesn't  mean we won't have legitimate disagreements, but an honest difference of opinion is far removed from complaining, which is the act of moaning and groaning simply because we can. I'm a firm advocate that if we don't like something, take the time spent in complaining and channel it into effecting change--at least that has the possibility of achieving something. 

Since these verses speak for themselves, I'm going to comment on a verse I read yesterday but didn't have the opportunity to write on. The verse is Colossians 2:8:

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. 

As I've mentioned throughout the year, I participate in Bible Study Fellowship, and this year's study is the book of Acts, along with quite a few of Paul's epistles. We were reading Hebrews 11-13 last week, and one of the questions was:

Q: What are different ways people today think of "faith"?, to which my answer was:

A: I think faith is the same, but the difference comes from IN WHAT people place their faith

I don't think anyone in the world today is confused by what the word faith means, but I'll guarantee there's no shortage of confusion regarding what to put our faith in. Paul's words are simple--we need to place our faith in Christ, not in anything of this world, be it words, institutions or anything else.

For every instance where Paul is confusing in his writing, there are many more examples where his statements are crystal clear and easy to understand. In both of the verses today, Paul tells us what our response as Christians should be, since if we want to bear the name, we need to live up to all that the name requires. When we all meet the Lord, he won't be that interested in what we said or professed, but what we DID with those words.

Scott