Too Honest 4 Reality

Scripture tells us that God causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous (Matt. 5:45). Interestingly enough, it falls right in the middle of Christ telling us, it's not enough to love our neighbor, but to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. After the rain, Jesus goes on to ask, if you greet only your people, what are you doing more than the others? Pagans even do that!

In essence, Christ was asking, as you engage community, how will the world know that you are different, if you hate your enemies like everyone else does? If you only love those who love you, as tax collectors do? If you only greet like-minded people, such as the world does?

As I've stated before, I've been incredibly blessed with many friends and acquaintances, who are great people. And it's not because I'm a great guy. It's because I learned early on, by watching others, that people eventually get tired of hanging around jerks. So there is little to be gained by always being a mean-spirited, grumpy guy with a negative attitude that overflows into nearly every arena of life and relationship.

That said, I am truly grateful for the friends I have within the body of Christ. Yesterday might as well have a been a Monday, at least the first half of it, and sadly, my frustration level was through the roof. I was thankful and humbled to have a friend who could help cool me off through out the day as we texted back and forth, as I euphemistically talked about being on fire. I was not happy.

At some point in the morning, the Holy Spirit tapped me on the back of the head, so to speak... and I had to confess: I had an attitude that did not reflect well on the person of Jesus Christ.

It might not seem like much, but I had vented to a guy or two, who may or may not have a relationship with God and while they understood the frustration (and we all experience those moments), I had to consider if I came across in a way that I made my life more about me than about Him.

A little too honest for reality? Perhaps. But as it's been said, God loves people too much to leave them as they are, where they are. He has plans and purposes, above what we can imagine that go beyond who and what we are and have on this earth. Earth and its' stuff will pass; only what is God's and has been done for God will remain when all is said and done. So we have to be honest with who we are, honest about the realities of life and honest about our relationship with God. It's easier to work on that which has a pliable element to it. God can't do much with hearts that are rigid and cold. You know that working with such materials adds time, energy, frustration and work to the process, so if you are that way as person, what will God have to accomplish to get through to you what He desires for you?

Thus, a couple of things as we pray this #communitySaturday. Pray for pliable hearts and minds within the body of Christ, as we allow God, through the power of the Holy Spirit to help us become more like Christ and to display such to a lost and dying world who desperately needs God and needs to witness a church that loves differently from the world. Pray that even in difficult places with raw levels of honesty, that God's grace would abound and that we could short accounts with God, not allowing life to infiltrate our spirits to the point God can do little with us. Pray, as we engage community, that people will witness the love of Christ in our lives and that we would share and express Christ' love, no matter the frustration and difficulty of our day, regardless of whether it's a messed-up Monday or the farthest thing from a fun-filled Friday. May we keep the perspective, that eternity hangs in the balance; that only what is accomplished for the glory of God will last.

The honest truth, even in the raw moments of reality.
Through the love and grace of God.
By the power of the Holy Spirit.
For the cause of Jesus Christ.

- PNC

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