careful

We have to be oh so careful about justifying our fractured relationships because of the fact that people left Jesus too. 

Even when Jesus acknowledged the reality that one within their group would betray Him, He still washed his feet.

And when people left Jesus, it was because of hard teachings about His identity. It was not because of His politics or because He was a jerk. In fact, when they tried to defend Him with violence or stir up political action, He refused them.

And His heart for those who wouldn’t come to Him was that He longed to gather them to His arms. He looked out on the multitudes who were without a shepherd and had compassion on them. We must remember that it is the Lord’s kindness that leads us to repentance. 

I’ve been thinking about shame a good bit lately. It is not God’s heart for us, and it is not what transforms us to be more whole, healthy people. It is not what wins people to our causes, or even what is good. We can be right about so much, but be a noisy gong that profits nothing in the end. 

I hear a lot of people excited about being “bold” these days. But when I look at the fruit, it looks a lot like the fruit of the flesh…

It’s not my job to decide what God has or has not called someone else to be or do. But we can look at the fruit of what we say and how we say it and see either the fruit of the Spirit or the fruit of the flesh. We can walk in a wide variety of callings, contexts, flavors and varieties, in the fruit of the Spirit… or in the fruit of the flesh. We do not need to demand uniformity. We can have unity in our diversity.

Again, if you justify division simply because people left Jesus too, you have to be so very cautious. Are people leaving because of issues of the identity of Jesus Christ? Or you causing factions and divisions because of a stand on something else? Are you leading and loving in the fruit of the Spirit or in the fruit of the flesh? 

Yes, God honors His name and even if by a crazy means (a donkey or those with some whack theology, just to name a couple Scriptural examples) truth is going out, then we can praise God for that. But we cannot justify perpetuating teaching that attaches anything else as essential except the simple gospel. As a friend so wisely summed it up, Philippians must be paired with Galatians. We must interpret Scripture with Scripture and with God’s heartbeat through all. We cannot cherrypick to prove our point or justify ourselves… one way or the other.

And yet, even if we are walking with the Prince of Peace, in the fruit of the Spirit (which includes peace), there will be times when it’s not possible for us to have peace with everyone because they are not peaceable. We aren’t responsible for this. But we are responsible to be at peace with others are far as it depends on us. Pleasing people is an impossible goal. But we are to be understanding. Do you see how we can fall into one ditch or another if we only pull from one set of principles? 

I have to believe that God is greater than us! That He is not conflicted in Himself. And that some of these ideas that divide us so easily can be held within the same heart and mind when our anchor is deeper in Him.