As I said, the other very sad thing I see the Church doing in this day is using worldly formulas to reach the lost. Not all these ideas are bad, and I do believe God gives mankind creative approaches, but when these take the place of relationship with God and others, something is very wrong!
I have been part of churches where the congregation was being led to focus on formulas to build relationship. The problem with this is that there is no formula! Every relationship is different because every individual is different and therefore, every connection is different. You cannot apply A, B, and C and get the same result every time. It works in math, but not when dealing with souls!
I have watched leaders try to train people in how to “connect” with others. Not all the ideas were bad, but when those ideas became the specific goals on a specific time schedule, people became very uncomfortable…both the person trying to follow the “rules” and the person being “targeted” for “relationship.”
I do believe the intention is good. These approaches were formulated to get people moving instead of being stagnant. But, these ways have taken something God made so simple and complicated it greatly! The Word says that if God be lifted up, HE will draw all men unto Himself.
The only “formula” we need to remember is this: exalt Him, then He draws others.
True worship comes out of a person who CHOOSES to humble themselves because they fear the Lord (tremble at His Word enough to obey Him). Their worship…their outward expression of their inner love and adoration…honors God. He, in turn, draws other people’s attention to this and they come to know Him because HE is the reason.
It all comes down to our personal relationship with Him. That is what we were created for. That is what Adam and Eve lost in the garden…and what Jesus died to gain back for us. We were not created for ministry. Ministry is the by-product of our communion with Him.
Not until we humble ourselves can we truly honor Him and others.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Tearing Down the Brethren
I am an observer. I watch people. Last year, I read a book called How We Love. It taught me why I watch the way I do. It all stems from what was going on around me when I was growing up. My family had issues like every other family. My oldest brother struggled with maintaining control of his temper. It made things difficult for me growing up. I never knew when he was going to launch into a rampage. I learned to watch for the signs. I learned to read people. It was a method of coping…a way to try to avoid the explosion.
I realized while reading the book that I still operate like this. I still watch, observe, and try to read people. I do believe there is a gift from God to discern situations. I do believe I have this gift to an extent, but I also know that I have to be completely reliant upon Him, at all times, to know when He is revealing something and when it is just my flesh trying to ward off danger! If I am not careful and diligent to pray and ask Him, I can fall into malicious judging quickly! I believe we all can.
Nevertheless, I do find myself observing things that I have now come to understand most people overlook. I can tell when people are aching, hurting, and wounded. I can tell when people are mad and just plain bitter. I truly believe God has allowed me to see what He has just so I can pray for most of these people. A responsibility comes with the gift. Sometimes, He will speak forth something specific I am to say to them, but usually it is just to lift them up before Him or encourage them in some small way.
The reason I am saying this is to draw attention to this point: there are many hurting people in the Church today…and most don’t even give thought to each other! They are bound up in their hurt, which somehow seems greater than anyone else’s hurt.
I heard once that hurting people hurt people. I think there is a lot of truth in that statement! But, I also believe that most people don’t mean to hurt others. I think they don’t realize what their words and actions bring for others.
I have worked hard at disciplining myself to become more of a listener than a talker. I can tell a lot about people in just a few conversations with them. We all could if we just shut up long enough! In the past year, I have really asked God to tune my ear to hear people’s hearts and their hurts. I have found that so many are held captive by offenses WITHIN the Body.
I believe most of this is because of something I learned from John Bevere. He shared once that we tend to hold Christians to a higher standard than we do our friends who are not believers. The outcome is that they have further to fall when they let us down!
I am over and over again being amazed at Christians talking so hatefully about other Christians…usually those within their own church family. Please don’t misunderstand here! There are times we need counsel in how to cope with situations. We should have a handful of people close to us that have fruit that we can trust them and have fruit that they are mature in the Lord. We should be able to talk with them and have them pray with us or show us what to do according to the Word. BUT, we should not be just chatting away to anyone and everyone about our offenses…especially when we aren’t really willing to let those offenses go!
I have actually had people (adults mind you) come to me and “warn” me about kids in my church! They will bring up things these young people have done in their past so that I can watch out! Seriously…is this really doing anything good? What they are really asking me to do is to take on the offense they carry toward that person. Sure, they may have some good intention and truly not want to see anyone else hurt by that person, but they could simply pray that for me and never have to mention a word that would cause me to fight judgment against that person in my mind!
I certainly don’t want to be held hostage to my past sins. When I look back (and I believe most of us would say this), I don’t see that much of any sin I committed was done with premeditated thought to hurt someone. Of course I did it in selfishness, but it was also in stupidity or ignorance of what actions would follow! I don’t want that held against me for all time! Why would I want to do that to someone else?
But, I see it happening over and over again in the Body today. People even say, “I know I shouldn’t think this, but” or “I know I shouldn’t say this, but…” or “I know I should be over this, but…” And then they just go on and let it roll out of their mouth! Before you know it, they have dumped their load right onto you and caused you to have to deal with this “knowledge” of a brother or sister!
This has to stop! We MUST get the right kind of help for our offenses, deal with them the way God says, and move on, letting the Blood of Jesus (Love) cover the sins. If we don’t get this…if we don’t learn and choose to humble ourselves, we will not honor others and therefore, not honor the Lord.
I realized while reading the book that I still operate like this. I still watch, observe, and try to read people. I do believe there is a gift from God to discern situations. I do believe I have this gift to an extent, but I also know that I have to be completely reliant upon Him, at all times, to know when He is revealing something and when it is just my flesh trying to ward off danger! If I am not careful and diligent to pray and ask Him, I can fall into malicious judging quickly! I believe we all can.
Nevertheless, I do find myself observing things that I have now come to understand most people overlook. I can tell when people are aching, hurting, and wounded. I can tell when people are mad and just plain bitter. I truly believe God has allowed me to see what He has just so I can pray for most of these people. A responsibility comes with the gift. Sometimes, He will speak forth something specific I am to say to them, but usually it is just to lift them up before Him or encourage them in some small way.
The reason I am saying this is to draw attention to this point: there are many hurting people in the Church today…and most don’t even give thought to each other! They are bound up in their hurt, which somehow seems greater than anyone else’s hurt.
I heard once that hurting people hurt people. I think there is a lot of truth in that statement! But, I also believe that most people don’t mean to hurt others. I think they don’t realize what their words and actions bring for others.
I have worked hard at disciplining myself to become more of a listener than a talker. I can tell a lot about people in just a few conversations with them. We all could if we just shut up long enough! In the past year, I have really asked God to tune my ear to hear people’s hearts and their hurts. I have found that so many are held captive by offenses WITHIN the Body.
I believe most of this is because of something I learned from John Bevere. He shared once that we tend to hold Christians to a higher standard than we do our friends who are not believers. The outcome is that they have further to fall when they let us down!
I am over and over again being amazed at Christians talking so hatefully about other Christians…usually those within their own church family. Please don’t misunderstand here! There are times we need counsel in how to cope with situations. We should have a handful of people close to us that have fruit that we can trust them and have fruit that they are mature in the Lord. We should be able to talk with them and have them pray with us or show us what to do according to the Word. BUT, we should not be just chatting away to anyone and everyone about our offenses…especially when we aren’t really willing to let those offenses go!
I have actually had people (adults mind you) come to me and “warn” me about kids in my church! They will bring up things these young people have done in their past so that I can watch out! Seriously…is this really doing anything good? What they are really asking me to do is to take on the offense they carry toward that person. Sure, they may have some good intention and truly not want to see anyone else hurt by that person, but they could simply pray that for me and never have to mention a word that would cause me to fight judgment against that person in my mind!
I certainly don’t want to be held hostage to my past sins. When I look back (and I believe most of us would say this), I don’t see that much of any sin I committed was done with premeditated thought to hurt someone. Of course I did it in selfishness, but it was also in stupidity or ignorance of what actions would follow! I don’t want that held against me for all time! Why would I want to do that to someone else?
But, I see it happening over and over again in the Body today. People even say, “I know I shouldn’t think this, but” or “I know I shouldn’t say this, but…” or “I know I should be over this, but…” And then they just go on and let it roll out of their mouth! Before you know it, they have dumped their load right onto you and caused you to have to deal with this “knowledge” of a brother or sister!
This has to stop! We MUST get the right kind of help for our offenses, deal with them the way God says, and move on, letting the Blood of Jesus (Love) cover the sins. If we don’t get this…if we don’t learn and choose to humble ourselves, we will not honor others and therefore, not honor the Lord.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
No Honor without Humility (Part 1)
As I sat in church on Easter Sunday, this kept running through my head: without humility there can be no honor.
Throughout the Bible, many verses instruct us to humble ourselves. This is a command for action on our part. We cannot ask God for humility. We can ask Him for help in being humble, but He cannot just impart humility to us. He will not usurp the free will He gave us. But, I do believe, when we ask Him, He will impart the supernatural agape love that enables us to humble ourselves.
To be truly humble means to realize that we cannot do anything apart from God. We are nothing on our own. Humility is obeying Him…doing it His way…no matter what kind of fit our flesh is throwing about it!
Everything in us, as humans, bucks against this. We want everything in our way, when we want it. But God’s plans are usually far different from our own. Walking with the Lord requires a constant lying down of our life…our agenda. Walking with the Lord requires constant honor. Honor requires constant humility. Humility requires the fear of the Lord.
To fear the Lord does not mean to be afraid of Him, but rather to fear being without Him! It means to not want to be apart from Him…not just for eternity so that we believe and call upon Him for salvation, but also, that our sinful ways don’t keep us out of fellowship with Him. When we fear the Lord, we tremble at His Word. We believe every part of it, and therefore, we honor Him.
When we choose this way and honor Him, we are choosing to humble ourselves instead of exalting ourselves. The Lord says that when we humble ourselves, He will exalt us…and when we exalt Him (instead of ourselves or other people); He will draw all men unto Himself.
I see two very sad things happening in the Church today because the above hasn’t become revelation: 1) We are tearing our brothers and sisters down and 2) We are trying to use worldly formulas to reach the lost.
Neither of these things are coming from the heart of God and everyone loses when they are in operation.
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