Rick Warren and the Paradox of the "Committed" Christian Life (Part 4)

TEXT: 2 Corinthians 6:1-10

Sunday Evening Evangelistic Message #117

Today, we come to the final message in our series on the paradoxes of the committed Christian life. As you know, I began this series after we all heard the sad news of Rick Warren's son committing suicide. We are all surprised and saddened by this occurrence, and many of us began to wonder how could such a thing happen in the life of a believer?

Well, as we have learned over these past three weeks, the life of the believer is not a bed of roses. There are difficulties, problems, and even tragedies, that come in the life of those who are the true followers of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul wrote about some of these things which we are calling "paradoxes" in the fourth and sixth chapters of Second Corinthians. By way of remembrance, a paradox is "a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is true."

These difficulties sometimes threaten to knock us down and overwhelm us. But we have to remember that through each of these difficulties, God is with us. He never leaves us nor forsakes us. This past week, Rick Warren posted this message on his Twitter page: "Oysters tenaciously attach to a ROCK larger than themselves. Then no punishing wave or violent storm can sweep them away." During the difficult times that will certainly come during our Christian walk, we must cling tenaciously to the rock of ages, Jesus Christ, never giving up, never despairing, knowing that He will carry us through the seemingly unfair and uncalled for trials of the Christian life.

Today, we are going to look at the final three paradoxes of the committed Christian life:

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