Don't Judge Me! (Even Though I'm Secretly a Wolf!)

Who are you afraid of offending more? God or man?

Most of us would automatically answer God. But, would that be the right answer according to how we live our lives? How would someone close to us answer for us? Would they testify to the fact that we live our lives to please God rather than man?

I believe if most of us examined ourselves carefully, and if we were truthful with ourselves, we would have to admit that we struggle in this area. More often than not, it’s man’s approval we are yearning for.

Maybe it’s being on social media that makes this more obvious. We see many things that we shouldn’t see, read many things we shouldn’t read. For some reason, people don’t think when they post on these sites. They allow their tempers to flare and being on the other side of a computer screen gives them courage they’d never have otherwise. Then again, when a nation who calls itself “Christian” elects a man that blatantly supports the murder of millions of babies and publicly congratulates a famous basketball player on his “coming out” I’d say it is a whole lot worse than seeing our “bad” sides. We look more like the world each and every day.

As a matter of fact, if you compared some “Christians” with non-believers it would be difficult to tell them apart. What happened to “knowing them by their fruit” as told to us by Jesus in Matthew 7:16? I mean, this is Jesus saying “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruit. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”

Most Christians and non-Christians alike can quote Matthew 7:1. “Judge not, that you be not judged.” What I’d like to know is why we don’t hear more about the verses farther down the page, the ones I quoted above? Well, that question is rhetorical, of course. The answer is, who wants to be held accountable? Who wants to answer for their sin? It’s not fun, but taking responsibility will make you a better person and more like Christ.

What troubles me most? The churches’ tendency to succumb to this trend. Today’s church no longer calls sin, sin. They no longer preach truth. They don’t want to offend, even if that means sacrificing the church. I have found whole portions of scripture, warnings to believers and sinners alike that are wholly forgotten passages. I can’t remember the last time I heard holiness preached. Has God changed his mind? Are we no longer called to holiness? Is everything about the love? Or is there something sinister and destructive going on?

Does this frighten you too? Does it make you sad? I’d love to know your thoughts.

Serving God Out of the Box!

We left off last time at making a list of our natural talents. Mine consisted of singing, writing, cooking, hosting and organizing/leading. Those are what I came up with without putting a whole lot of effort into it. How does your list look?

Since God is a God or order, we can safely say most of the time He wants us to use our talents to honor Him. There will be times that He calls us to step out of our comfort zone and serve Him in ways that make no sense to us. Uh…what if He calls us to serve Him out of the box?

During those times, the Holy Spirit will lead us. He will give us direction. How do we know it is Him? Well, first off, John 10:27 tells us “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

Those of us, who are His children, know his voice. It is recognizable. He speaks to us through His Word, the Bible. He speaks to us in our heart of hearts and he speaks to us through others and our world. Nothing He leads us to do will contradict His Word. In fact, His Word will support what He tells us to do.

For example, a few weeks ago, both my husband and I felt the Holy Spirit give us specific direction to share some instruction with a couple who had some authority over us. Both of us were dreading the conversation that was destined to happen. For the first time in my life I was on my way to Tarshish.

(Rembrandt)

One thing I have noticed is when God is the one telling me what to do, He doesn’t let it go. He keeps prompting me, prodding me and down right threatening me when I refuse to obey. In the above example, my husband and I knew the outcome would not be pleasant. We were fearful of the reaction of man until I heard God whisper to me “Who do you fear more? Mortal man…or me, the God that created the heavens and the earth?”

Needless to say that prompted action. And yes, the aftermath was less than desirable. But I knew the threats that were attached to us by not obeying; in fact I should call them promises because God does not make idle threats. We would not walk in the blessings God has set aside for us had we not obeyed.

To calm our stomachs afterward, the Lord did something amazing just for us. We visited a friend’s church and when her priest went to the give the message, he told us all that while he had a complete other message prepared, the Holy Spirit would not let him deliver that message. Instead the Holy Spirit had put the story of Naaman on his heart. He then proceeded to tell the story of a man who was in great authority with a high position that humbles himself and takes instruction from his servants. Wow! Exactly what our doubting hearts needed, confirmation that could only come from God!

That is how good our God is. He will comfort us, cradle us and confirm to us when we have been obedient to His calling. In fact, He sends us confirmation again and again and again, if that is what is needed.

Tune in next time when we tackle: What if my calling is so far out of the box I have to lay on my left side for 390 days and bake my bread with human feces? Ewww………!