I got back to my apartment tonight and I had a little "disagreement" with my suitemate whom I love dearly. I had left some dishes in the sink because I'd rushed last night to make a dish for our staff meeting potluck today and hadn't washed the dishes from it yet.
So even though she knew that I'm generally consistent with cleaning my dishes directly after I use them, since she came back from a weekend at home to find dishes there, she had to doubt my consistency a little bit. It's understandable.
Isn't that how people see us as the church? Okay, generally we're consistent but when we do even one thing inconsistently (no matter the reasoning or excuse that we may have), they have to doubt our character a little bit.
The Pharisees even TRIED to find Jesus doing something that was inconsistent with the message He preached...multiple times. Now, I'm not saying that people are TRYING to find faults in us. Some people are looking but it's a natural tendency of humanity to observe others. We ALL do that in some capacity.
People are watching us...wondering what we're gonna do next. Are they going to see something that's consistent with the message of Christ that we believe or are we going to make excuses for little inconsistencies?
Matthew 5:13-14 says, "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden."
WE ARE NOT HIDDEN FROM THE VIEW OF THE WORLD! I know that we often quote this verse as an exciting reminder that if we are consistently preaching the message of the gospel of Christ, people will hear it....which is a wonderful and exciting promise. However, it should also be seen as a caution that you CANNOT hide the inconsistency. You are a city set on a hill and whether you are consistent or inconsistent, that will be the testimony you show to all the world.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Sunday, August 9, 2009
I've got ten friends and a crowbar that says you ain't gonna do jack.
I love underoath. They are controversial among Christians but their lyrics are like pure gold. There's one song that is called "I've got ten friends and a crowbar that says you ain't gonna do jack". Sounds weird but it just reminds me of how relationships really are.
"Did you think that this was all an excuse for hospitality? I know you think its all because of me." Do we not ever think or wonder if people are friends with us because it's what's expected? Okay, maybe not so much until you're a Christian. We are nice and friendly to people because we feel like it's what we have to do or because it's what WE WANT to do. You know what I'm talking about. That's not what friendship (or love for that matter) is all about. We are so fake. I'm so fake a lot of the time. "A fake, a fraud, forked tongue and I am nervous. At least I can say I made it out this time. I'm just fine where you have left me." I try to be real. I try to love people like Jesus but I fail...a lot. I struggle with trying to cover things up once I do something wrong. Then I get angry and frustrated that people don't like the same things I do and then I get jealous when other people do like the same things as them and decide to be their friend closer than I am. It's really ridiculous and I can tell myself that as much as I want but it doesn't change how I think. My flesh and my mind trying to tell me to stop something does absolutely nothing but when I walk in the Spirit, God empowers me to do things His way...not my own. He shows me how to love like this: "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers." That's 1 John 3:16.
Another thing is popularity. I struggled to be popular in high school, especially among my church friends. It was a constant struggle for me...wanting to be liked. It led to an immature Christian life. In high school, I never walked in true love or understanding. I wasted that four year mission field that God had given me. I wish I had not. Now, in my junior year of college, I'm still not there but I'm working on it. I've got a handful of close friends who I know would fight for me and for whom I know I would go to war. It's not about how many friends you have but the quality of those friends. Now I've got some friends of substance, of purpose, of high quality.
Jesus is my crowbar...my weapon. My friends are my phalanx, fighting beside me and pushing me forward into the battle when I'd rather retreat. That's all I need to be a mighty warrior and show the enemy a force that brings him to the place where he "ain't gonna do jack".
"Did you think that this was all an excuse for hospitality? I know you think its all because of me." Do we not ever think or wonder if people are friends with us because it's what's expected? Okay, maybe not so much until you're a Christian. We are nice and friendly to people because we feel like it's what we have to do or because it's what WE WANT to do. You know what I'm talking about. That's not what friendship (or love for that matter) is all about. We are so fake. I'm so fake a lot of the time. "A fake, a fraud, forked tongue and I am nervous. At least I can say I made it out this time. I'm just fine where you have left me." I try to be real. I try to love people like Jesus but I fail...a lot. I struggle with trying to cover things up once I do something wrong. Then I get angry and frustrated that people don't like the same things I do and then I get jealous when other people do like the same things as them and decide to be their friend closer than I am. It's really ridiculous and I can tell myself that as much as I want but it doesn't change how I think. My flesh and my mind trying to tell me to stop something does absolutely nothing but when I walk in the Spirit, God empowers me to do things His way...not my own. He shows me how to love like this: "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers." That's 1 John 3:16.
Another thing is popularity. I struggled to be popular in high school, especially among my church friends. It was a constant struggle for me...wanting to be liked. It led to an immature Christian life. In high school, I never walked in true love or understanding. I wasted that four year mission field that God had given me. I wish I had not. Now, in my junior year of college, I'm still not there but I'm working on it. I've got a handful of close friends who I know would fight for me and for whom I know I would go to war. It's not about how many friends you have but the quality of those friends. Now I've got some friends of substance, of purpose, of high quality.
Jesus is my crowbar...my weapon. My friends are my phalanx, fighting beside me and pushing me forward into the battle when I'd rather retreat. That's all I need to be a mighty warrior and show the enemy a force that brings him to the place where he "ain't gonna do jack".
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