I’m still trying to put this off. I haven’t written anything intelligent or coherent for days. I just keep examining the church and the believers and I do not like what I see. I don’t like the picture it paints. I don’t like the mirror I stand before. I don’t even like the excuses which I offer up in my mind. It is quite clear right now as to why the Apostle Paul called the Christians at Corinth “Saints”. In spite of all their sin and errors, compared to us, they were certainly living much more like Saints aught to be living.
Aught to be, means should be. Aught or ought is an interesting word. Depending strictly on context it can mean anything whatever or nothing at all. It is very much like many “Christian” places or people. There are everywhere organizations which profess to be be Christian in origin or values. Yet many of them are Christian in name only.
When compared to the actual book upon which Christianity is established they often have but a single tenet of the faith upon which they are founded. Love is promoted to the expense of judgment, fairness is declared as superior to rightness, and peace far more than justice. My personal experience has been that truth is supplanted by convenience in the name of coexistence.
Sometimes truth is divisive. Sometimes it causes a battle between what is desired and what is right. Avoiding truth never ends well. The best that can be hoped for is delayed consequences. At its worst it brings unbridled shame, lack of respect and mistrust. It is often our desire to blunt the impact of truth. The Bible is true. It is the living word of Jesus. He said “I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes unto the Father but by me”.
Those who do not accept that truth have a myriad of ways to circumvent acknowledging it. None of which will end well. The Bible declares two destinations for the souls of men, Heaven or Hell. Our physical lives are mortal and of limited duration, our spiritual existence is infinite.
When we tell others that their ways or means are acceptable when they are not, we pile upon their error the injury of false expectation. There will come a day when it must be clearly stated that they have failed to understand what is right and it will fly in the face of the phony acceptance they have been trained to believe in. When we accept their erroneous teachings, perhaps like that of “infant baptism is founded in Scripture and provides eternal salvation for the soul”, we build a wall of conflict which they may not be able to scale when truth demands to be heard. We miss the mark when our desire to avoid conflict replaces the love of righteousness found in truth.
Humility is not a weakness nor is it a cloak for our sin. We cannot say the devil made me do it when Satan is only a spectator to our choices. Feigned love is not the power of God but rather the weak mind of a timid soul not recognizing the victory which has been given. “Resist the devil” is an imperative with a promised outcome but resisting myself is far more difficult. So very little of what I deem important in my life has any lasting value in the kingdom of God. The treasures which I desire to see purified and accepted before His judgment seat are liable to be a precious small pile. I want to be right and often choose not to be. I am a slave to my thoughts before I even consider His.
The wisdom which I need is not from within some boundless knowledge gained through my own experience. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be in-treated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
Truth is not what I have or what I am led by continually but it is what I need. It is all I need. I will not be the example nor the executor of true faith any other way. My hypocrisy destroys any benefit when I seek to be the standard by which others are called upon to exercise their faith. If my love does not see His sacrifice as its origin then I fail. If His wisdom does not replace mine then I fail.
The conflict between accepting the mediocrity of man’s efforts and the immeasurable victory in Christ Jesus demand a choice. If a man is willing to accept an employee stealing from him because it is such a small thing then it is not a grace but a mortal stab to trust and love. Neither can exist without truth. Grace acknowledges the short coming and demands a recompense. Grace is not a get out of jail free card. Rather it is an expression of love that takes the penalty upon itself. But it is not blindly given. It is not a universal pass from judgment.
You will not help another to be free from the curse and penalty by fearing to hurt their self esteem or reputation. You will not be the only Jesus others may see if you cloak Him in a sugary kindness that hides His true goodness and justice. Advising someone that they are just fine when they are falling through the rotten cover boards into the deep abyss is treason.
You who claim to be the child of the King are the enemy of all who seek Him when you are willing to allow their ignorance and selfishness to race down the broad way to destruction. You who are unwilling to rise from your comfort zone to struggle against their path to perdition do not favor them for you have the power of God unto salvation and refuse to step into their chariot when they are seeking the very gift you own.
Truth is not subjective to your understanding or desire. Truth is. It stands alone waiting to be used as the healing salve for the mortal wound it has struck. It depends not on your clever application nor your choice of moment. Truth is God the Holy Spirit proclaiming God the Son as Salvation for all which God the Creator has established. The Jews had it almost right when they declared before Pilate in saying “We have a law and by our law He ought to die…”. Truth says God has a law and by His law they ought to die. Yet in His great love for them, He took their place and died for them. Not excusing their sin but paying the price for it. When we as holders of that faith and love in any way deceive others by excusing their shortcomings, we make His sacrifice of no effect and replace it with the condemnation of self assurance. This does not establish love.
Jesus told His disciples that they would not understand what he did now but one day they would. I know that even now we do not understand it all. We are called to walk in the light He has given and to pursue it more and more. So when we have the knowledge of truth that will help another draw closer to a right understanding of Him and do not share it we fail. We who should be proclaiming His doctrine instead teach our own thoughts thinking we are building up but we are not. Truth is. It does not need our help or concurrence to be truth. It is.