One of the biggest problems I see in some of my brothers and sisters today is the tendency to be over-righteous and play God. They carry this spirit if judgement, and they lack humility and openness to the true love of God. This really bothers me because we have so many people in our church seeking the Lord, in need of fellow brothers and sisters who can lead and guide them. If these types of people are the first to mentor them in any way, it's going to spread like an epidemic.
I feel like they have reached a dead end in their walk with God. They don't know how to proceed any further because they've closed their hearts to God's direction. They've taken what they've already accumulated, and use it to impose on others in a condemning way, making it seem like they are actually progressing in their walk with God. They have lost the most important thing of all... a real connection with the Holy Spirit. If I ever had the chance to confront these people in the right way, I would do it. When I say "the right way," I mean with the discernment of the Holy Spirit, with love, and without condemnation.
I have heard that their biggest defense would be truth. They would say, "God wants us to tell the truth to people... the truth is what sets us free." And yes, that's correct. But they're missing another huge part of the equation: Love. Love is like the sugar IN a cake. Note the difference between the sugar IN the cake, and the sugar on TOP of it. Sugar on TOP would be "sugar-coating." Sugar IN it is simply necessary, and without it, we would be purposeless, and no longer have a "cake." I have witnessed women so torn and broken, that after consulting with one of these "truth-tellers," they would walk away even more torn and broken than they were. This angers me, because I have witnessed one woman who was, again, told the same truth, but this time with love, and it had made a world of a difference to this woman. Had the Holy Spirit been allowed to lead, the timing and the words would have been perfect and purposeful.
Sometimes, with these types of brothers and sisters, the "truth" becomes anything but. I can count on a number of two occasions where An and I have been offended by something that was given either as advice or through a discussion as a mere opinion. The advice that was given to us deeply threatened our relationship, right as it began. It was based on judgments placed on An as a new believer at the time, and it involved using labels such as "baby Christian" (we're strongly against this term). At the same time, I also received other advice in relation to An's new walk with Christ, but they were just different... they were helpful... and they were still biblical. No sugar-coating necessary. I thank God, being as impressionable as I was, that I didn't take heed to what was said. Instead, we allowed God and our spiritual leaders to guide us with their wisdom and truth.
I understand that these types of people are inevitable. In fact, they're one of the groups of Christians that give fellow Christians a bad name. However, when the problem occurs so close to home, it aches my heart even more. Witnessing the direct effect of this on people you know, makes you see things in a different light. All of me wants to take action now, but it's the Holy Spirit that I need to heed to, not my own flesh. When He gives me an opportunity, I will be ready... because I know His timing is right, and I will be equipped with His wisdom and discernment.
To all my brothers and sisters, having God in our lives is a right, but having the opportunity to minister to others and change lives is a privilege. What we say and the way we say things can be the difference between conviction and condemnation... between life and death. Are the messages we send truly pleasing to God, or is it blasphemy? Are we heeding to our own flesh, or are we letting the Holy Spirit lead the way? And what is our purpose? To put others down in order for us to move up... or lifting others up, even if it means humbling ourselves down to Jesus' feet?
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Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Reassessment
One of the biggest problems I see in some of my brothers and sisters today is the tendency to be over-righteous and play God. They carry this spirit if judgement, and they lack humility and openness to the true love of God. This really bothers me because we have so many people in our church seeking the Lord, in need of fellow brothers and sisters who can lead and guide them. If these types of people are the first to mentor them in any way, it's going to spread like an epidemic.
I feel like they have reached a dead end in their walk with God. They don't know how to proceed any further because they've closed their hearts to God's direction. They've taken what they've already accumulated, and use it to impose on others in a condemning way, making it seem like they are actually progressing in their walk with God. They have lost the most important thing of all... a real connection with the Holy Spirit. If I ever had the chance to confront these people in the right way, I would do it. When I say "the right way," I mean with the discernment of the Holy Spirit, with love, and without condemnation.
I have heard that their biggest defense would be truth. They would say, "God wants us to tell the truth to people... the truth is what sets us free." And yes, that's correct. But they're missing another huge part of the equation: Love. Love is like the sugar IN a cake. Note the difference between the sugar IN the cake, and the sugar on TOP of it. Sugar on TOP would be "sugar-coating." Sugar IN it is simply necessary, and without it, we would be purposeless, and no longer have a "cake." I have witnessed women so torn and broken, that after consulting with one of these "truth-tellers," they would walk away even more torn and broken than they were. This angers me, because I have witnessed one woman who was, again, told the same truth, but this time with love, and it had made a world of a difference to this woman. Had the Holy Spirit been allowed to lead, the timing and the words would have been perfect and purposeful.
Sometimes, with these types of brothers and sisters, the "truth" becomes anything but. I can count on a number of two occasions where An and I have been offended by something that was given either as advice or through a discussion as a mere opinion. The advice that was given to us deeply threatened our relationship, right as it began. It was based on judgments placed on An as a new believer at the time, and it involved using labels such as "baby Christian" (we're strongly against this term). At the same time, I also received other advice in relation to An's new walk with Christ, but they were just different... they were helpful... and they were still biblical. No sugar-coating necessary. I thank God, being as impressionable as I was, that I didn't take heed to what was said. Instead, we allowed God and our spiritual leaders to guide us with their wisdom and truth.
I understand that these types of people are inevitable. In fact, they're one of the groups of Christians that give fellow Christians a bad name. However, when the problem occurs so close to home, it aches my heart even more. Witnessing the direct effect of this on people you know, makes you see things in a different light. All of me wants to take action now, but it's the Holy Spirit that I need to heed to, not my own flesh. When He gives me an opportunity, I will be ready... because I know His timing is right, and I will be equipped with His wisdom and discernment.
To all my brothers and sisters, having God in our lives is a right, but having the opportunity to minister to others and change lives is a privilege. What we say and the way we say things can be the difference between conviction and condemnation... between life and death. Are the messages we send truly pleasing to God, or is it blasphemy? Are we heeding to our own flesh, or are we letting the Holy Spirit lead the way? And what is our purpose? To put others down in order for us to move up... or lifting others up, even if it means humbling ourselves down to Jesus' feet?
I feel like they have reached a dead end in their walk with God. They don't know how to proceed any further because they've closed their hearts to God's direction. They've taken what they've already accumulated, and use it to impose on others in a condemning way, making it seem like they are actually progressing in their walk with God. They have lost the most important thing of all... a real connection with the Holy Spirit. If I ever had the chance to confront these people in the right way, I would do it. When I say "the right way," I mean with the discernment of the Holy Spirit, with love, and without condemnation.
I have heard that their biggest defense would be truth. They would say, "God wants us to tell the truth to people... the truth is what sets us free." And yes, that's correct. But they're missing another huge part of the equation: Love. Love is like the sugar IN a cake. Note the difference between the sugar IN the cake, and the sugar on TOP of it. Sugar on TOP would be "sugar-coating." Sugar IN it is simply necessary, and without it, we would be purposeless, and no longer have a "cake." I have witnessed women so torn and broken, that after consulting with one of these "truth-tellers," they would walk away even more torn and broken than they were. This angers me, because I have witnessed one woman who was, again, told the same truth, but this time with love, and it had made a world of a difference to this woman. Had the Holy Spirit been allowed to lead, the timing and the words would have been perfect and purposeful.
Sometimes, with these types of brothers and sisters, the "truth" becomes anything but. I can count on a number of two occasions where An and I have been offended by something that was given either as advice or through a discussion as a mere opinion. The advice that was given to us deeply threatened our relationship, right as it began. It was based on judgments placed on An as a new believer at the time, and it involved using labels such as "baby Christian" (we're strongly against this term). At the same time, I also received other advice in relation to An's new walk with Christ, but they were just different... they were helpful... and they were still biblical. No sugar-coating necessary. I thank God, being as impressionable as I was, that I didn't take heed to what was said. Instead, we allowed God and our spiritual leaders to guide us with their wisdom and truth.
I understand that these types of people are inevitable. In fact, they're one of the groups of Christians that give fellow Christians a bad name. However, when the problem occurs so close to home, it aches my heart even more. Witnessing the direct effect of this on people you know, makes you see things in a different light. All of me wants to take action now, but it's the Holy Spirit that I need to heed to, not my own flesh. When He gives me an opportunity, I will be ready... because I know His timing is right, and I will be equipped with His wisdom and discernment.
To all my brothers and sisters, having God in our lives is a right, but having the opportunity to minister to others and change lives is a privilege. What we say and the way we say things can be the difference between conviction and condemnation... between life and death. Are the messages we send truly pleasing to God, or is it blasphemy? Are we heeding to our own flesh, or are we letting the Holy Spirit lead the way? And what is our purpose? To put others down in order for us to move up... or lifting others up, even if it means humbling ourselves down to Jesus' feet?
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Very good post. Reminds me of a song I heard that said "we killled in the name of Christianity, but the sword was never ours to swing."
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