Thursday, August
24, 2017
When people commend themselves, it doesn’t count for much. The important thing is for the Lord to commend
them. 2 Corinthians 10:18(NLT)
Paul had a
public relations problem. Wherever he
went and established a new church there was a group who came after he left,
trying to discredit the apostle’s emphasis on grace, and get the new believers
to follow their rules. Basically they
relied on throwing the weight of their relationships with powerful people
behind whatever they said. In short –
they bragged and boasted when simple statements weren’t enough.
There are
times when you’ve got to just come out and admit failure; so, OK, I admit that
I watch too much news with political commentary. Hi, I’m Russell; I’m a CNN addict! And, unfortunately for me, I only admit this
when I get really sick and tired of watching the public haranguing of the
politicians by the news people, and castigating of the news people by
politicians. It’s like a food fight on
steroids! You remember the old adage: Never
get in a mud-slinging contest with a pig; you both get dirty and the pig loves
it! The problem in our 21st
century culture is that people in public life do not understand that, or care
about it, and they jump in the mud fest with both feet; pigs on both sides!
There are
those who are a little more subtle. They
rarely sling mud, but they brag and boast until the only reality they actually
have is the hollow, inflated-balloon public image they’ve created of their
incredible wonderfulness;
the person has vanished and only pride remains.
A church I
served many years ago was without a music director. Of all things, I (who cannot even carry
someone else’s tune) was leading the singing.
A group of a dozen visitors showed up one Sunday morning.
After the
service, Carl, a very distinguished looking member of that group invited me to
visit him and his wife at their home the next evening. I showed up, and was treated to two hours of
Carl showcasing his musical talents, complete with solo and framed music course
certificates. The evening ended with
Carl’s statement: Preacher, me and those other families want to join your church…if
you’ll make me the song leader. I
told him I thought he and those other folks would probably be happier in
another church.
Boasting is
a form of manipulation. When a person
feels a need to wear all his medals on display for the purpose of getting
others to think he is something he knows he really isn’t, the effect is
two-fold:
1.
The
listener believes it or not, depending on the listener’s baloney-detecting
skills, and…
2.
Heaven
groans – because God not only knows how many hairs you have on your head (or don’t
have); there is also that thing about Him being an omniscient God, the One who
knows everything:
People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7b(NLT)
For You Today
If you’ve
been tempted recently to build your resume’ with stuff about how great you are,
remember that bit of history about an unsinkable
ship named Titanic!
Boast if
you will, but make your boast about God, not you.
You chew on
that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!
I had not heard that story, my friend. Praying for you and Queen Elizabeth.
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