Machen Chapter 6

Machen talks at the end of chapter 6 by saying 

“… the Christian man may not simplify his problem by withdrawing from the business of the world, but must learn to apply the principles of Jesus evening to the complex problems of modern industrial life” (130). 

Through this, he explains the importance of combining our “modern” lives with our life of love. While I completely agree with the concept Machen telling his readers to do, I can’t say that it’s always easy to do. I think that it is really easy for us as Christians to separate our “modern” lives from our “church” lives. Something that is important to wrestle with is why we do this.

I’m not sure there is one correct answer to this, but I’m going to discuss and wrestle with why I might do this. At school, it is easy to combine the principles of Jesus with modern life because I attend a Christian bible college that forces me to do this without much effort. Even classes that aren’t Bible classes are engrained with spiritual principles and apply the teachings of Jesus in our lectures. However, I work in an agency that is not faith based, and very few strong believers work with me. Sadly, sometimes it is “easier” for me to go to work and not combine the teachings of Jesus with my work life. My sinful nature sometimes runs with the lies that people will not accept me or like me if I try to talk to them about my spiritual life and the fruit that comes with that.  

In contrast, I have found that when my heart turns away from those lies that people won’t accept me, I have been able to have fruitful conversations with people about Jesus and what he has done for my life. LBC has actually been a conversation starter for me as I discuss biblical principles and teachings of Christ. During my first week at my job, one of the caseworkers came up to me and said she heard that I go to Lancaster Bible College, and excitedly said “I’m a Christian too!!”. Through this quick conversation, we were able to go out together to do some work, and do a prayer walk together for the families we serve. We also attended a seminar together by circuit riders. If she wouldn’t have stepped out of her comfort zone and approached me on this topic, we would not have been able to create the relationship we have today.

Through this friendship that I have created at work, I have found that stepping out of my comfort zone and allowing God to do the talking and work for me. This friendship has allowed for me to do things that i wouldn’t have thought about or been comfortable doing before. for example, while we were driving to a home visit, we saw an Islamic sign stating something about the “messiah” coming, but not Jesus, an Islamic messiah. She asked to pray about the sign, not only that people would believe in Christ instead of this Islamic messiah, but that we could have hearts of understanding for people who might believe in it, so that we can have conversations about it. I have never prayed about a billboard that I saw while driving before, but this moment was so meaningful for me. this is a small example of combining my work life with my spiritual life.