Avoiding the Crazy Label

 

Tuesday, February 1, 2022

So anyone who speaks in tongues should pray also for the ability to interpret what has been said.  For if I pray in tongues, my spirit is praying, but I don’t understand what I am saying.  Well then, what shall I do?  I will pray in the spirit, and I will also pray in words I understand.  I will sing in the spirit, and I will also sing in words I understand.  For if you praise God only in the spirit, how can those who don’t understand you praise God along with you?  How can they join you in giving thanks when they don’t understand what you are saying?  You will be giving thanks very well, but it won’t strengthen the people who hear you.  I thank God that I speak in tongues more than any of you.  But in a church meeting I would rather speak five understandable words to help others than ten thousand words in an unknown language.  Dear brothers and sisters, don’t be childish in your understanding of these things.  Be innocent as babies when it comes to evil, but be mature in understanding matters of this kind.  It is written in the Scriptures:  “I will speak to my own people through strange languages and through the lips of foreigners.  But even then, they will not listen to me,” says the Lord.  So you see that speaking in tongues is a sign, not for believers, but for unbelievers.  Prophecy, however, is for the benefit of believers, not unbelievers.  Even so, if unbelievers or people who don’t understand these things come into your church meeting and hear everyone speaking in an unknown language, they will think you are crazy.  But if all of you are prophesying, and unbelievers or people who don’t understand these things come into your meeting, they will be convicted of sin and judged by what you say.  As they listen, their secret thoughts will be exposed, and they will fall to their knees and worship God, declaring, “God is truly here among you.”   1 Corinthians 14:13-25

I’m not sure I’ve ever known anyone who claimed to be super-spiritual.  I have known several gossips who criticized others (behind their back, of course) that they were such.  The point about being super-spiritual or holier-than-thou (a phrase from another era), is that one who is truly so close to God that one gains the reputation of being something of a spiritual giant, well, that kind of person would never claim that status; humility would forbid it.  They would be denying attaining spiritual heights with pride.  Consider God’s Word on the matter:

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.  James 4:10

But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.  Matthew 23:12

And he gives grace generously.  As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”  James 4:6

Avoiding the “crazy label” is a matter of humility and truthfulness.  People who show-off with their so-called super-spirituality, or over-the-top-humility, are those who put-off others enough to derail a church’s entire ministry.  The apostle, Paul spoke of prophesying, or speaking the truth about God and humans in a way that exalts the LORD, and encourages people.  We can shirk that responsibility in more than one way:

1.    We can favor the appearance of super-spirituality, gaining the applause of men…a rather empty sense of accomplishment

2.    We can fade into the woodwork in feigned humility, a lie (at best) of the greatness of the Holy Spirit residing in your heart.

Either of those is not that to which God called any of us.  Rather, the body of Christ is to be a working force, every member using his or her gifts appropriately, respectfully, and humbly, so God gets the glory as unbelievers are converted.

For You Today

Our goal as a church is never to approach entertainment or satisfying someone’s opinion or preferences…or even just keeping peace.  It is to have the mission of Christ effective in our lives, declaring with power that God is truly among us.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title and Other Images:  Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©    

Stubborn To the Bitter End

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Tuesday, July 16, 2019

“I brought hunger to every city and famine to every town.  But still you would not return to me,” says the Lord.  “I kept the rain from falling when your crops needed it the most.  I sent rain on one town but withheld it from another.  Rain fell on one field, while another field withered away.  People staggered from town to town looking for water, but there was never enough.  But still you would not return to me,” says the Lord.  “I struck your farms and vineyards with blight and mildew.  Locusts devoured all your fig and olive trees.  But still you would not return to me,” says the Lord.  “I sent plagues on you like the plagues I sent on Egypt long ago.  I killed your young men in war and led all your horses away.  The stench of death filled the air!  But still you would not return to me,” says the Lord.  “I destroyed some of your cities, as I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.  Those of you who survived were like charred sticks pulled from a fire.  But still you would not return to me,” says the Lord.  “Therefore, I will bring upon you all the disasters I have announced.  Prepare to meet your God in judgment, you people of Israel!”  For the Lord is the one who shaped the mountains, stirs up the winds, and reveals his thoughts to mankind.  He turns the light of dawn into darkness and treads on the heights of the earth.  The Lord God of Heaven’s Armies is his name!  Amos 4:6–13

Over and over Amos uses that phrase of the parent whose child has been the tail trying to wag the dog, but still.  As if affixing the royal seal and signature to his letter, Amos finishes his warning with God’s powerful name, The Lord God of Heaven’s Armies.  Sometimes, with very stubborn people, a simple stating of the facts won’t do it; sometimes you must growl the bad news.  This particular judgment of God for Israel’s stubborn failure to worship their covenant Lord would be painful, but in the end, while facing the consequences of what we have done is always painful, it is also the loving way God redeems His people.  He makes them face the truth about sin and turns them back around to faith.

What is there about human nature that is inherently defiant, and insistent on having its’ own  way?  There is a current movement in the land called RESIST, ostensibly a defiance directed at those who presently are in governmental power.  We do, as free moral agents, have a duty to resist evil.  But, there is something of a blurry line between resisting and stubbornness…but the line exists, nonetheless!

It’s one thing to resist human government, it’s quite another to cross the line when the other side is the throne room of Heaven.  God gave Israel plenty of warning shots across the bow, famine, locusts, plagues, dwindling resources, and even wars that destroyed their young men, and most able leaders…but still they would not listen and return to their God.

I believe it’s safe to say that Israel was stubborn to the bitter end.

There is a time when all of us must realize that what we consider as righteous resistance is more a matter of pride, not holiness.  And when it comes to that God has His own resistance movement:

“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”  James 4:6b

For You Today

The stubbornness of sin is a common human malady.  Its handiwork is all over the pages of Scripture.  ^{(Note these other posts [2])}

Let’s let Billy Graham’s favorite verse teach us the gravity of what we face if we give in to stubbornness:

Whoever stubbornly refuses to accept criticism will suddenly be destroyed beyond recovery.  Proverbs 29:1

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  Pixabay.com        Unless otherwise noted, Scripture used from The New Living Translation©

[2] For other messages on stubbornness see A Sermon to the Stubborn & Another Sermon to the Stubborn

Bonhoeffer and the Peacock

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Wednesday, September 19, 2018

After the Lord has used the king of Assyria to accomplish his purposes on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, he will turn against the king of Assyria and punish him—for he is proud and arrogant.  He boasts, “By my own powerful arm I have done this.  With my own shrewd wisdom I planned it.  I have broken down the defenses of nations and carried off their treasures.  I have knocked down their kings like a bull.  I have robbed their nests of riches and gathered up kingdoms as a farmer gathers eggs.  No one can even flap a wing against me or utter a peep of protest.”  But can the ax boast greater power than the person who uses it?  Is the saw greater than the person who saws?  Can a rod strike unless a hand moves it?  Can a wooden cane walk by itself?  Therefore, the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, will send a plague among Assyria’s proud troops, and a flaming fire will consume its glory.  Isaiah 10:12-16(NLT)

Assyria’s world domination was a blip on history’s radar; the king just a footnote.  Sennacherib, king of Assyria had been like a peacock, strutting his accomplishments around like an arrogant gasbag!  That didn’t last long; God brought Sennacherib’s so-called power to nothing; actually, less-than-nothing, as God showed him what real power looked like.

In the mid-20^th century Adolph Hitler tried using Sennacherib’s playbook, but he fared no better than the Assyrian terrorist.  Germany’s self-aggrandizing dictator bragged that his leadership was going to bring Germany to power over the entire universe.  When all was said and done, the would-be ruler of the world committed suicide rather than being captured to face the trials (and probably execution) that were sure to come.  One thing he did NOT escape was standing before God with the blood of millions on his hands.

In the end it was the humility of a preacher named Bonhoeffer that played a pivotal role in bringing down the despot. 

Notwithstanding the tendency of some preachers to abuse or use politics in the pulpit, a preacher’s call from God includes looking-after the people over which politics rule.  When the politics are coming crossways against the Scripture, and leading the people astray, preachers are supposed to speak up.  In the late 1930’s some German pastors were speaking out, congratulating Germany on having Hitler as their Messiah:

"The time is fulfilled for the German people of Hitler. It is because of Hitler that Christ, God the helper and redeemer, has become effective among us. … Hitler is the way of the Spirit and the will of God for the German people to enter the Church of Christ." So spoke German pastor Hermann Gruner. Another pastor put it more succinctly: "Christ has come to us through Adolph Hitler."[2]

History told the story that a madman of no conscience, a sociopath at best, and a schizophrenic psychopath, or perhaps demon-possessed tool of Satan at worst, was not the Messiah.  Neither was Sennacherib.  Nor is any American president who acts with the same absence of moral compass.

Now, please save the cards, letters, emails, tweets and the like; I make no judgment on the policies of the current administration other than my own personal observation and opinion. 

But what I have tried to say is in direct response to those who have said explicitly, or implicitly that we don’t elect a pastor to the White House; we elect a President.  My response is that you cannot separate morality, conscience and ethical behavior from what a leader must be who leads a nation committed to ethical and moral behavior with good conscience.  To do so makes it permissible for the fox to rule the hen house.

I can say emphatically that this preacher is not without sin; I have apologized to God and my fellow humans more times than I care to remember for my trespasses.  We currently have a leader who has stated publicly he feels no such need to apologize…ever. 

Knowing a little about human nature, that makes me tremble.  And here’s why:

“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”  James 4:6(NLT)

If the leader of this nation will never humble himself before human beings, much less God, how can we expect a different result from that of Sennacherib or Hitler?

For You Today

Join me in praying for our leaders; they can use it, whether they know it or not.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image: Photo Courtesy of Pixabay.com

[2] Christian History, Issue 32, 1991, Christianity Today