Acceptable
It bothers me when people lie to me. Especially if they "say" they are "christian". I find these sorts of people around me all of the time. All I have to do is watch them and their "character flaws" start to pour through like water through the cracks of a substandard damn inspected by the rejects of the engineering department of some fourth world country.
"Little things". Sinful men looking to justify their own actions seem to always want to defend themselves by attacking the thing that they are doing instead of the paying attention to the one that I or others am attempting to remind them that they are doing the thing against. This world is littered with disgustingly self righteous men and women who would rather get angry at me for "judging" them then getting angry or repulsed by their own sin. Just a reminder that "self righteousness" means to find righteousness from within one self. You can hear it every time someone says "I'm not that bad" or "everybody has done it [tell little white lies, stolen something small, etc]". "Self Righteousness", which is married with Pride, is that thing that attempts to find justification in oneself. "Have you ever lied?"; "Sure everyone has." --> translation "I'm not so bad based on the standards that I, or I believe other people, would believe in".
In any case they don't want to think of themselves as disgusting and unacceptable before God. However this is something that all followers of Christ understand about themselves. And in regard to others, all believers understand that until someone realizes (daily) that they are disgustingly unacceptable before God then they can not fully come to terms with how they are spiritually sick and need more than just improvement, they need a savior to rescue them from their body of death !
But then what about me? I want to be transparent and honest with myself. Is grace missing from my life? Am I not full of grace in the way that I deal with others? Am I missing out on something because I am reminded of my own sin as I look at the sin of others and vice-versa? Or am I seeing sin and being repulsed by it the way the early followers would be repulsed by the disgusting views held by the Pharisees and Sadducees. I try to examine myself often. I do this because I'm scared. I'm scared of being wrong, of following something that's wrong, of being led astray by some twisted teaching that I might come to believe based on a inward desire that would leave me susceptible to such a teaching. So I look to God, I say God please help me; don't withhold your discipline from me no matter what the cost to me.
To compare and contrast my views, I never feel this way toward people that don't claim to be followers of Christ. I never feel repelled by murderers, thieves, prostitutes, or wife beaters. As far as I can tell I'm not bothered by them in nearly the same way and all and I simply want them to know is that Jesus Christ died for the things that they did wrong and if they are willing to believe this then they too can be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins and receive the promise of eternal life.
It's only if/when talking to one of these aforementioned people that I would find out that they go to "worship" every Sunday and believe that Jesus has already forgiven them for what they continue to do. If the Spirit led me to correct them and they were repeatedly unaccepting of that correction; that is when I would become repulsed and repelled by them. In fact the standard is even higher than that for believers. If I found out that they say they are followers of Christ and they are ok with the little white lies that they tell in order to pursue their careers and advance in their profession, then I would be just as repelled by them as I would be repelled by a murderer. Because in fact they are the ones that have murdered the innocent one [Jesus] that was slain for what they so lightly say is acceptable.
This view doesn't make me a good person. This view that I have doesn't make me better than anyone. I know about ways that I am twisted and corrupted that they don't even know about. I've discussed my twists and corruptions in other places that you can find in my on-line journals. This view of what I understand doesn't belong to me. These ideas didn't come from me. This understanding is only possible because the Holy Spirit, whose instruction is not limited to me at all, has taught me.
This teaching of the Holy Spirit is just as available to me as it is to anyone who might be reading this. All you/they have to do is admit they are pitiful, poor, blind, and naked and understand the implications of that. This is a 'part' of Humility; and humility is necessary to be instructed by God. It is acceptance and belief in Jesus the Son of God that gives us this opportunity. No amount of good we could do will ever be enough. You see, we are not "good" and will never be good. Only God is good.
"Little things". Sinful men looking to justify their own actions seem to always want to defend themselves by attacking the thing that they are doing instead of the paying attention to the one that I or others am attempting to remind them that they are doing the thing against. This world is littered with disgustingly self righteous men and women who would rather get angry at me for "judging" them then getting angry or repulsed by their own sin. Just a reminder that "self righteousness" means to find righteousness from within one self. You can hear it every time someone says "I'm not that bad" or "everybody has done it [tell little white lies, stolen something small, etc]". "Self Righteousness", which is married with Pride, is that thing that attempts to find justification in oneself. "Have you ever lied?"; "Sure everyone has." --> translation "I'm not so bad based on the standards that I, or I believe other people, would believe in".
In any case they don't want to think of themselves as disgusting and unacceptable before God. However this is something that all followers of Christ understand about themselves. And in regard to others, all believers understand that until someone realizes (daily) that they are disgustingly unacceptable before God then they can not fully come to terms with how they are spiritually sick and need more than just improvement, they need a savior to rescue them from their body of death !
But then what about me? I want to be transparent and honest with myself. Is grace missing from my life? Am I not full of grace in the way that I deal with others? Am I missing out on something because I am reminded of my own sin as I look at the sin of others and vice-versa? Or am I seeing sin and being repulsed by it the way the early followers would be repulsed by the disgusting views held by the Pharisees and Sadducees. I try to examine myself often. I do this because I'm scared. I'm scared of being wrong, of following something that's wrong, of being led astray by some twisted teaching that I might come to believe based on a inward desire that would leave me susceptible to such a teaching. So I look to God, I say God please help me; don't withhold your discipline from me no matter what the cost to me.
To compare and contrast my views, I never feel this way toward people that don't claim to be followers of Christ. I never feel repelled by murderers, thieves, prostitutes, or wife beaters. As far as I can tell I'm not bothered by them in nearly the same way and all and I simply want them to know is that Jesus Christ died for the things that they did wrong and if they are willing to believe this then they too can be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins and receive the promise of eternal life.
It's only if/when talking to one of these aforementioned people that I would find out that they go to "worship" every Sunday and believe that Jesus has already forgiven them for what they continue to do. If the Spirit led me to correct them and they were repeatedly unaccepting of that correction; that is when I would become repulsed and repelled by them. In fact the standard is even higher than that for believers. If I found out that they say they are followers of Christ and they are ok with the little white lies that they tell in order to pursue their careers and advance in their profession, then I would be just as repelled by them as I would be repelled by a murderer. Because in fact they are the ones that have murdered the innocent one [Jesus] that was slain for what they so lightly say is acceptable.This view doesn't make me a good person. This view that I have doesn't make me better than anyone. I know about ways that I am twisted and corrupted that they don't even know about. I've discussed my twists and corruptions in other places that you can find in my on-line journals. This view of what I understand doesn't belong to me. These ideas didn't come from me. This understanding is only possible because the Holy Spirit, whose instruction is not limited to me at all, has taught me.
This teaching of the Holy Spirit is just as available to me as it is to anyone who might be reading this. All you/they have to do is admit they are pitiful, poor, blind, and naked and understand the implications of that. This is a 'part' of Humility; and humility is necessary to be instructed by God. It is acceptance and belief in Jesus the Son of God that gives us this opportunity. No amount of good we could do will ever be enough. You see, we are not "good" and will never be good. Only God is good.
Labels: Culture and Contrast, Evil of Man, Faith, Money, Philippines, Self-Esteem, Spiritual Milk
posted by Timothy at 11/02/2010 03:27:00 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home