Mirror, Mirror on the wall....pt. 2

' This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel says; Reform your ways and your actions and I will let you live in this place.' (Jer. 7:3) Jeremiah saw all kinds of sin infiltrating the church in his day and no one showed remorse. It seems that even today as a church not only do we not show remorse, but we justify, defend, and with greater purpose continue in that sin. 

Matthew 7:1-2 is where Jesus is teaching the sermon on the mount. A vast majority of his listeners were Pharisees who created their own laws and regulations and strayed from the scriptures and rejected the teachings of Christ. "Do not judge or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Perhaps the Pharisees used even great standards (or so they thought) than what was given in the scriptures.

From what I've heard, and learned, we can and should be judging or speaking the truth according to the absolute truths presented in scripture, nothing else. Yes, there is a lot of stuff that can be interpreted differently so maybe those interpretations are not the absolute truths? 

Here are a few questions the authors brought up in Moments With You, emphasis mine because it hurt:

- Why is the divorce rate inside the Church nearly identical to the divorce rate outside the Church?

- Why do so many Christian men perform aggressively at work yet remain disengaged and passive at home?

- Why do so many Christians say their secular job is their ministry but then show so little fruit for their efforts?

- Why do Christians talk about family values while their lifestyles are virtually identical to the average non-Christian?

- Why do so few Christians possess confidence that they are on a divine mission?

- Why do less than 10 percent of all Christians regularly tell others about God’s forgiveness through Christ?

- If Jesus really changes lives, why do 50 million Americans claiming to be born again have such a marginal impact on society?

Why are we so afraid to hold each other to the standard God has laid out for us? Aren't we to be fulfilling the Great Commission? Yes we need to offer compassion and grace so that should be incorporated within sharing the truth. People are not going to notice us, more importantly Jesus in us, if we don't live to the standards of the Bible. Church, let's grow up, get out of our comfort zones, and allow Jesus to change lives through us!

Are you looking in the mirror? What truth do you need to hear? What truth do you need to share with someone else? 

Mirror, Mirror on the wall....pt. 1

Our life group (aka bible study group) is going through a couples devotional book, Moments with You. I have to admit some of it is a bit cheesy and includes your classical "churchese" topics but I will say it has held the couples in our group accountable to spend time with their spouse discussing, reading and praying about what God has in store for their lives and marriage, DAILY.

One topic that was recently discussed in the book is speaking the truth to friends, or holding a mirror to them. This one has really stuck with me as I've been convicted the more I grow in my faith we are to hold each other accountable for our thoughts and actions as Christians. I don't mean passing judgement as I feel judgement is followed by a consequence and condemnation. Being truthful to your friends requires love, patience, and gentleness, but it also requires a certain strength. The motivations of speaking the truth is to bring about transformation so the other is brought closer to God. Although after I write those last few sentences I wonder, "are we too afraid of judgement to allow ourselves to judge each other (within the church)?" Yes God is the ultimate judge, but aren't we the children of God, the heirs to his throne? Should we not be keeping each other in line so as not to bring ruin to the family, especially (and only if) those standards are clearly biblical? This is a place I need to explore more scripture on.

I've always been afraid to speak the truth to others for fear of rejection and offending them. However, as I've grown in my knowledge of who God is, who he wants his children to be, and the revolution he wants to see started by his kingdom I've learned a few things. God wants us to care about each other and help each other grow, offense is the bait of Satan, defensiveness is immature, love knows no bounds, grace is sufficient, change is good, being uncomfortable is great, relying on God to work through us is even better.

I haven't always been good at listening and acting upon the truth others have brought to light in my life. I feel like I'm getting better and hope that my friends and family present the truth to me in areas where I might need to work on. I always hope their motives are to bring me closer to God and not just to point out the annoyances so I work to do the same for others. I certainly have learned becoming defensive or angry about what they say makes me a worse person and if I'm confident I'm following scripture what is there to defend?

Where are you in your journey to speak the truth to yourself and to others? What about others speaking the truth to you?

More to come tomorrow.....