an undefinite lie, but who's lie is it anyway?

If God could pray for us, what would He pray? What is it that we need more than anything? There are a lot of books written about the “main things” of the Christian life, but what does God have to say? If He could express His will for us, what few words would He use? John 17

I have been bothered recently because of some of the partial lies that are circulating through the “Christian arsenal of clichés.” One of these partial lies is that “people don’t care to know until they know we care.” The Bible says that this saying is true, but in a different way than it is used. This is often used in encouraging people to be timid and hesitant to share their faith. It is used to encourage people to wait until spiritually dead people become less spiritually dead and are ready to hear the hard truth that they are completely dead to the only source of true life. How can dead people become less spiritually dead without life? Where is their life apart from Christ? Where is the knowledge of Christ apart from His Words? How are His Words heard without a preacher? The reason I call this cliché a partial lie is because there is actually some truth to it. If I were to tell someone about the abundant life I have found in the love of Christ but at the same time I was taking a nap in a coffin, I wouldn’t be able to be convincing, even if I were Bill Clinton. The problem is that most of us are taking naps in spiritual coffins. We are living in the power of the flesh every day, wondering why the watching world thinks we are annoying gongs and clanging cymbals. Romans says that the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is righteousness, joy and peace. Galatians tells us that the outworking of the Holy Spirit in our life is life and joy and peace and righteousness. Where is their life apart from the Spirit? Where is the Spirit apart from the Word? The problem is where our obedience lies. Too many times it lies in the flesh, to the desires and hungers of the flesh. If we have any doubt about this, we can just compare the time we spend with God to the time we spend in gratifying the desires of the flesh. When we learn to love the Lord, when we learn to love His Word and His presence, than the world will know that we care. When we tell the world we love the Lord and His light and life, but we walk in the flesh and its death and darkness, we lie and the truth is not in us. This isn't really a post about preaching the Gospel, its just that the fruit of what we do reveals a whole bunch of what we are.