Gentleness and Respect

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect (I Peter 3:15 NIV).

We must always be ready to defend the Gospel of Christ, but that does not give us the right to be harsh or disrespectful of people with different beliefs than ours.

He is another one of those Moonies I said to myself with disdain.  An Asian looking man had approached me in a parking lot and started to tell me what he believed.  His literature indicated that he was a follower of Sun Myung Moon, who founded the Unification Church whose beliefs were not consistent with orthodox Christian doctrine.  Most Christians considered this group cultist.  I impatiently waited for him to finish his spiel and then I let him have it.  I told him in no uncertain terms that he was a part of a cult and I used scriptural proofs to validate my case.  I walked away thinking, I guess I got him told.  I was pretty sure I had defended the Gospel, but for some reason, I had a sense of unrest in my spirit.  I pondered as to why I felt this way and it became apparent that I had not even come close to dealing with this man with gentleness and respect.

I knew what I had to do.  I searched the parking lot for this man.  As I approached him, he must have been thinking, not this guy again.  I simply told him that I had talked to him in a way that Jesus would never have spoken.  I asked him to forgive me for my attitude.  In our first encounter, it is interesting that all my theological arguments were like water off of a duck’s back.  They are trained to counter these kinds of responses.  But in our second interaction, he was visibly shaken. He had no comeback to a little bit of humility.  We should share the truth with people, but our theological truths need to be validated by the love and respect we show to those to whom we speak.  In my first little diatribe, it was all about me exposing my thoughts and beliefs.  In the latter, I brought Jesus into the conversation which always speaks of the worth and value of the individual.  I think, just maybe, this man saw past my words and saw my heart.

I learned two things that day.  First, God can use our flaws for his good, if we are willing to own up to them.  Second, I realized the Christianity is more readily catch than taught. Yes, we need a proclamation of the good news, but without a corresponding demonstration of it, it becomes mere words. As the poet, Emerson once said, “What you do speaks so loud, that I cannot hear what you say.”  Are we intent on just winning an argument or showing a little gentleness and respect when discussing the claims of the Gospel?

Image used with permission by Microsoft.

Ken Barnes the author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: https://sites.google.com/site/kenbarnesbooksite/

Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com

            http://gleanings757.blogspot.com

Podcasts: http://kensblogpodcast.blogspot.com

                http://gleaningspodcast.blogspot.com

God's Chosen Servants

For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; (I Corinthians 1:26 NASB)

We all want to be significant, and we are all important in the eyes of our Creator.  The problem is that we often seek our worth through the eyes of man.  God uses ordinary people with hearts inclined toward His.

One Sunday I was asked to speak at a small church near my home in Virginia.  A man greeted me upon arrival at the Church who then let me into the building. In small churches, you often have a pastor who does the preaching and the teaching and then an elder or deacon who does everything else.  I sat down at the back of the church to review my notes for my sermon. The man busily went about making the coffee and setting out the snacks.  He then took a small broom and a dustpan and proceeded to sweep-up between the rows of chairs setup for the service.  As I watched this man, a question came into my mind. Lord, who is more valuable today for this service, him or me?  As I pondered this thought, the answer became clear to me. Neither, we had equal value just a different function.  I asked the Lord a second question.  Lord, who is most pleasing to you?  The answer to the second question came quicker than the first.  The one who does their part of the service with the greatest amount of love in their heart for God. 

Sometimes we confuse value and function.  We do not get value from what we do; we bring value to our work.  Each individual has intrinsic value before God.  Billy Graham and Pat Roberson have a greater function in the Body of Christ than I do.  Therefore, in some areas they have greater privilege.  Jesus gave Peter, James, and John greater access to Himself, not because he valued them more, but that they would have a more significant role in the Kingdom of God.  He loved all his disciples equally. 

We often make the mistake of trying to win the Lord’s approval by how we preform before man.  People pleasers never end up as God pleasers. This is an exercise in futility. We don’t need to strive for what we already have. What does impress the Lord?  It’s not the height or even the breath of our task, but the depth of our love, that motivates us to serve that catches the eye of the Father.  It is not how we serve but why that gets His attention.  Is it done out of a motivation of love?  Those who serve around a church in roles that do not bring a lot of public applause just may be God’s heroes. Remember there are not many wise, mighty, or noble.  The next time you walk past one setting up chairs in you Church without taking notice, you may have missed an opportunity to interact with one of God’s chosen servants.  That day when I spoke in that Church the most honored servant may not have been the one in the pulpit but the one sweeping the floor.

Image used with permission by Microsoft.

Ken Barnes the author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: https://sites.google.com/site/kenbarnesbooksite/

Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com

            http://gleanings757.blogspot.com

Podcasts: http://kensblogpodcast.blogspot.com

                http://gleaningspodcast.blogspot.com

Can You See The Wind?

He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind, and who reveals his thoughts to mankind, who turns dawn to darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth—the Lord God Almighty is his name. (Amos 4:13 NIV).

 

In many of our spiritual struggles it often seems like our pleas with God go unheeded. The movement of God’s Spirit, like the wind, though unobservable, always accomplishes its intended purpose.

One day this fall the pressures of life seem to be encroaching increasingly upon me, and God appeared to be a bit hearing impaired.  The wind was blowing briskly that day, and the leaves were swirling around.  I looked up, and I said, God you control the wind, can you not control my circumstances. A few minutes later t in my mind's eye I imagined a conversation between the Lord and myself.  The Lord started the conversation. He said, did you see the wind?  I answered yes; I saw the leaves blowing.   Curiously, He asked the same question again.  Did you see the wind?  I answered yes; I saw the tree limbs swinging. A third time the Lord started to speak, and it's as if he was saying, listen carefully! He repeated the same question, but this time I began to get the message. It was one of those aha moments.

When we place our petitions before God, and we don't observe anything or the circumstances get worse, we assume that God is not answering our prayers. Often things need to get worse before they can get better.  Like the wind, the moving of God’s Spirit is discerned by its effects, not by direct observation.  The Holy Spirit can be active yet still be unseen and silent.

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When I questioned the Lord's management of my problems, I was treading on shaky ground. I was saying that either he didn't care, or if he did he was not able to do anything about it. I was questioning two of the character traits of God, namely his goodness and his omnipotence.  We are finite, and he (God) is infinite and we with clay feet should never be judging one without any flaws.

There was one further exchange between the Lord and myself. The Lord's final retort was, you the finite might want to be a little more careful in talking about one who is infinite. He was very graciously saying, maybe you shouldn't talk about what you don't understand.  My reply was short. Yes, Sir. 

God hears and answers all our prayers.  Sometimes he says yes or no, or more often, wait.  If he says no, he has a better plan than the one we have requested.  Remember, the Bible tells us that we live by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5: 7 NIV).  When things look the worst, God is often most at work. The Lord sees and cares. The Spirit of God is always active on our behalf, but like the wind is in many cases beyond the comprehension of our temporal vision.

Image used with permission by Microsoft.

Ken Barnes the author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: https://sites.google.com/site/kenbarnesbooksite/

Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com

            http://gleanings757.blogspot.com

Podcasts: http://kensblogpodcast.blogspot.com

                http://gleaningspodcast.blogspot.com