Confession: I am not a good Christian - Purity 903
Purity 903 12/01/2022 Purity 903 Podcast
Purity 903 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of a sidewalk pathway lined with park
benches and street lamps, on the shore of the Oswego River, under the cover of
darkness, and the light of a full moon comes to us from yours truly as I
captured this scene during my “night walk” around the west side of Oswego NY back
on my November 9th.
Well, It’s Thursday again and as is my habit, I
share a picture of a pathway as an encouragement to anyone reading or hearing
this message to get on or to stay on the path of Christian Discipleship with a
warning that if you should choose to pick up your cross and follow Jesus, you
will be condemned or persecuted for your faith.
You would think that when we choose to turn from our
sinful, selfish, or worldly ways that our family, friends, and acquaintances
would applaud our decision to “get right with God” but if you think that you
haven’t read or listened to the word of God that tells us quite a different
story.
Jesus warned his disciples:
John 15:18-20 (NKJV)
18 "If
the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.
19 If
you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of
the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
20 Remember
the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If
they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. …
Paul wrote:
2 Timothy 3:12 (NKJV)
12 Yes, and all who desire to
live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
Peter wrote:
1 Peter 4:12-13 (NKJV)
12 Beloved, do not think it strange
concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing
happened to you;
13 but rejoice to the extent
that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you
may also be glad with exceeding joy.
So, it shouldn’t be surprising when you lose
relationships after you come to faith in Christ. Following Jesus divides us
from the world. Even family ties will be torn apart by the gospel that leads us
to faith in Christ and repentance. Christ said:
Matthew 10:21-22 (NKJV)
21 Now
brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and
children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.
22 And
you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But he who endures to the end will
be saved.
So this reveals
that the world really is under the sway of the evil one and that we will have
to endure in our faith even if it costs us the good opinion of others.
Now that we
know that we will be persecuted for our
faith and that Christ also commanded that we love our enemies, and love our
neighbors as our self, that we wouldn’t do or saying anything to provoke persecution.
After all Paul
said in Romans
Romans
12:18 (NKJV)
18 If it is possible, as much
as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
So
you would think that we should walk humbly before men and not say or do
anything to offend anyone, right?
So
how did meek and mild Jesus address those who disagreed with Him? What did Paul say when faced with
opposition. How about Peter who told us
to take persecution joyfully?
Jesus
said:
Matthew
23:33 (NKJV)
33 Serpents,
brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?
John
8:44 (NKJV)
44 You
are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to
do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the
truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from
his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
Rather than turning the other cheek, when Paul was hit by the
order of the high priest Ananiss said:
Acts
23:3 (NKJV)
3 … "God will strike
you, you whitewashed wall! For you sit to judge me according to the law,
and do you command me to be struck contrary to the law?"
And,
Peter said, to Simon who wanted the Holy Spirit bad enough to
pay for it,:
Acts
8:20-23 (NKJV)
20 … "Your money perish
with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with
money! 21 You have neither
part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of
God. 22 Repent therefore of
this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be
forgiven you. 23 For I see
that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity."
I point these passages out to not encourage open
rebuke to our unsaved contemporaries but would like to discourage the caricature
of the silent, peaceful Christian that dare not say anything that may offend
anyone.
I am hyper sensitive to this issue today because in
an exchange with someone from my past yesterday, that was admittedly a little contentious,
I was told that I was “not a good Christian” and that I was “a hypocrite”. This person would claim to Christian as well
I am sure, although they would perhaps openly admit to being of the “nonpracticing”
sect of Christianity for most of the year.
Although if I were a betting man, I might put money against it, they may
actually visit a church Christmas service this month, but I doubt it.
So why does someone who doesn’t have a robust and
rich relationship, evidenced by fruit in their character or practice, feel
comfortable calling me a hypocrite and not a good Christian?
Because their spiritually blind of course, but
because their also exists this false view that Christians are “perfect people”
that never would say anything that would offend anyone regardless of how they
live or what they say. Admittedly, I was
pointing out a matter in which this condemner was not being responsible in, and
so they lashed out with what they thought would be the worst thing that could
say about me.
I consider my relationship with the Lord and my
intention to live out my faith authentically to be very important to me. I seek to do the Lords will in how I live my
life and continually repent to be more in line with God’s ways.
So being sarcastic and unkind in my “encouragements”
to be responsible were definitely not Christ like… or were they? Jesus and the Apostles didn’t always say nice
things. So in the Spirit of Christ and
the Apostles, I tried to provoke repentance, I guess. My choice of words were
born out of frustration. You see I have had this “encouraging” talk before. It’s
an ongoing thing, and proves to get worse apparently.
Previously, I encouraged in general terms without
the sarcasm and unkind words and was condemned as “not a good Christian” then
too! So when the situation came up AGAIN, I was short on patience and wisdom,
and by the way things look I will require much of each in the days, weeks,
months, and possibly years until this situation is resolved.
Currently there is no end date on this drama. There
is no promise of a good end. There may be sizable negative consequences because
of it. So, I will have to deal with it,
either through legal action or by endurance and letting things resolve themselves
with or without suffering. I will deal with it, eventually, and accept what
ever comes.
But my issue in this situation, is not the highlight
here. Our Christian response is.
We are forgive. We are repent. But we don’t let the words of others allow us
to doubt who we are in Christ.
Romans 8:1 (NKJV)
1 There is therefore
now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according
to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
So, I’m going to live in the Spirit. I need the
forgiveness that comes through Christ alone, and I got it. So forgive me Lord for my unwise and unkind
words, and help me to do your will.
I am not a good Christian. But the thing is, none of us are good.
Romans 3:10-12 (NKJV)
10 As it is written: "There
is none righteous, no, not one;
11 There is none who
understands; There is none who seeks after God.
12 They have all turned
aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who
does good, no, not one."
So don’t believe the myth of the “good Christian”. We are trying to be more like Christ but there is only one Jesus. Until we see Him face to face, we will struggle and fail at times. But nothing, will separate us from His love.
So take the hits, but keep on walking and talking with God.
___________________________________________
As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I
always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to
assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.
Today we continue sharing from Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s
“Discipleship”, also known as “The Cost of Discipleship”
As always, I share this information for educational
purposes and encourage all to purchase Bonhoeffer’s books for your own
private study and to support his work. This resource is available on
many websites for less than $20.00.
The Messengers
(An Interpretation of Matthew 10)
The Fruit
“Whoever
welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.
Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s
reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous
person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup
of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I
tell you, none of these will lose their reward” (Matt. 10:40–42).
Those who carry
Jesus’ word receive one last promise for their work. They have become Christ’s
coworkers and helpmates. They are to be like Christ in all things. Thus, for
the people to whom they go, they are also to be “like Christ.” With them, Jesus
Christ himself enters the house that takes them in. They are bearers of his
presence. They bring the people the most valuable gift, Jesus Christ, and with
him, God, the Father, and that means forgiveness, salvation, life, blessedness.
That is the reward and the fruit of their work and their suffering. Every
service done to them is done to Jesus Christ himself. In the same way, that is
grace for both the community and the messengers. The community will be all the
more willing to treat the messengers well, to honor them and serve them, for
with them the Lord himself has entered their house. And the disciples may know
that their entry into a house will not be in vain and empty, but that they
bring an incomparable gift. It is a law in the realm of God that everyone comes
to participate in the gift, when they willingly receive it as a gift from God.
Those who take the prophets in, knowing what they are doing, shall come to
participate in their cause, their gift, and their reward. Those who take in the
righteous shall receive the reward of the righteous, for they have participated
in their righteousness who give a cup of water to one of the least, the
poorest, who bear no honorable name, to one of these messengers of Jesus
Christ; they have served Jesus Christ himself and the reward of Jesus Christ
shall be given them.
In this way, the
final thought of the messengers is guided, not to their own way or their own
suffering or their own reward, but to the purpose of their work: the salvation
of the faith-community.[1]
---------------------------more
tomorrow------------------------
Join our “Victory over the Darkness”, “The Bondage
Breaker”, "Freedom in Christ" series of Discipleship Classes via the
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Podbean (https://feed.podbean.com/tammalyn78/feed.xml)
Encouragement
for the Path of Christian Discipleship
[1]
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Discipleship,
ed. Martin Kuske et al., trans. Barbara Green and Reinhard Krauss, vol. 4,
Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2003), 197–198.