Growing as a Christian, it can be damaging to your faith to realize that some trusted Christian (even leader) you know turns out to be a fraud. It might make you feel stupid, like you were tricked, and it might also make you think that the leadership was also foolish.
Satan is all about damaging your faith. Be vigilant, but realize in Matthew 13:24-30, God told you to EXPECT this trick by Satan. In fact, He flat-out warned us that there is a harvest, and the good wheat will have a lookalike weed (called a tare) among it. That weed is sown by Satan himself! So how can you be on the lookout so that you're not so hurt? Simple! "But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also." (v26)
Look at the fruit that people produce. It can be good, bad, or non-existent. But don't be discouraged. That's what Satan wants.
"For the entire Law is fulfilled in in this one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."—Gal 5:14
Should we ever discourage anyone?
Should we ever discourage a brother or sister? Encouragement is great, but if the shoe fits, sometimes we need to wear it. Even God, for example, Who is perfect, discouraged Cain by confronting him and telling him that he was going astray.
With each other, we need to encourage good behavior while discouraging bad behavior. It's tempting to never admonish or rebuke, but to instead just set good examples and encourage and exhort, hoping that it'll be good enough! Yet God tells us to "admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone." (1 Thessalonians 5:14)
Sometimes some loving confrontation is what kills sin. Be careful about your attitude though, and check your own eye first.
How should we choose leaders?
A young Christian I know was very upset when a person who was known to party it up was put in a leadership role for children by church leadership. This distraught person said it was highly discouraging and also stated, "It is hypocritical to put someone in leadership when they are not acting like leaders."
Perhaps that is so. While we should not shoot our wounded, we probably should not put them on the front lines, either. But primarily, if we put people who don't have their own lives even vaguely in order into leadership roles for young people, we give our own youth horrible examples to shoot for. Note this passage, "Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us." (Phil 3:17)
The personal lives of those in leadership should be something for our youth to shoot for. We damage the already hurt person more and put others at risk if we are not wise in such matters.
What do you serve?
Atheism ultimately submits to biology and amoral laws of nature, thought it dresses the idea up in fancy clothes. Without objective morality or truly free will, the impulse of the moment and the desires of the flesh are the ruling guide. God explained, "For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator." (Rom 1:25)
As Christians, we need to check ourselves, too. Sometimes we can be indulging in some fleshly behavior, and we can get defensive when exposed—but when confronted with the truth, we've got to take it, even if we don't like how it's delivered. Otherwise, we ourselves exchange truth for a lie. Let's take the truth even if it knocks us down a peg or two.
What is morality?
Without God, we are mere biologic machines. One consequence of a Godless existence is that there is no such thing as objective good or evil. Michael Ruse, an agnostic philosopher of science, observed:
“Morality is a biological adaptation no less than are hands and feet and teeth. Considered as a rationally justifiable set of claims about an objective something, ethics is illusory. Morality is just an aid to survival and reproduction...and any deeper meaning is illusory.”
In Isaiah 5:20, our God said, "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness!" With utter atheism, mankind has gone one logical step further to the final conclusion: that there is no such thing as good or evil; there is only what pleases us or doesn't.
Do we have free will?
Have you ever thought about the implications that atheism would have on free will? Many prominent atheists have. Consider the logical conclusions of a world without God.
Francis Crick, co-discoverer of DNA, concluded, “You, your joys and your sorrows, your memories and ambitions, your sense of personal identity and free will, are in fact no more than the behaviour of a vast assembly of nerve cells and their associated molecules.”
Stephen Hawking likewise said, “Given the state of the universe at one time, a complete set of laws fully determines both the future and the past. That would exclude the possibility of miracles or an active role for God....It is hard to see how free will can operate if our behaviour is determined by physical law, so it seems we are no more than biological machines and that free will is just an illusion.”
Isn't it so much nicer that God created a world where we have free will! "And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve." (Josh 24:15) It is a privilege to serve such a Creator!
When should I encourage my brother?
When Paul wrote to Timothy, he said something that I love. It was simply, "Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses." (1 Tim 6:12)
When brothers and sisters are going through tough times spiritually, we need to remind them to FIGHT that good fight, to TAKE HOLD OF that eternal life. Let's help each other out, have each other over for studies and dinners; be there to pray with each other in tough times! As spiritual battle buddies, let's have each other's backs!
What if I've already sinned so much that it's impossible to change?
Many Christians let their past failures accumulate to the point where they have a hard time resisting temptation. They think, "What difference would one more sin make?"
There's a way to beat that. 2 Cor 5:17 says, "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." That's a beautiful statement, but God alsosays, "you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus." (Rom 6:11)
We ARE new creations. We ARE dead to sin. But we have to actually believe it—we have to consider it, buy into it, and act in faith on that. Do you really consider yourself as dead to sin? If not, start today.
When should I stop getting drunk?
Boy oh boy, God is a heavy hitter when it comes to His people. Take a look at this gauntlet that He throws down in front of us and tell me if ya like it! I know that I thought it was flat-out impossible and insane for a while:
"For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries. In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, and they malign you." (1 Pet 4:3-4)
So God just tells it like it is, huh? There are no excuses! Time's up, now move on into Godliness! By the way, my main point for this is actually that, if you have bad habits and stop, you might see your old party/sin buddies get kinda mean. Guess what! That's a good thing. Time to make new buddies! And it's a sign that you're growing. If the old crew doesn't see a change in you, you've got a problem! :)
Is slavery ok or: are you a slave, too?
BQ: It's a great thing to want to be Christian, but it's a greater thing to know what that entails. What some don't realize is that being a Christian costs a lot. In fact, God says,
"Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?" (Rom 6)
Wait! Slaves? Obedience? What? God works hard for us—in fact, He worked Himself to death. It is therefore no surprise that he expresses some incredulity and says, "You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin." (Heb 12:4) That may be a lot to take in, but God also gives us the power to live up to it—He is both King and Comforter! Let's go for it!
Deceit and backsliding...they're just like, the best friends ever, man.
Have you considered what happens when Christians start to fall away, or when they start to backslide and regress? God expressed his frustration in Jer 8:5 saying,
"Why then has this people turned away
in perpetual backsliding?
They hold fast to deceit;
they refuse to return. (Jer 8:5)"
Deceit is almost always present when Christians start to regress. In fact, it's deceit that allows backsliders to get around the pain of leaving God. And like a child taking a piece of duct tape off his skin, it's often done a little bit at a time. As Christians, let's pray that we don't deceive ourselves, and that if we start to, we realize it quickly and return humbly!
I can watch as much porn as I want!
Something awesome about being a Christian is that I can do home and watch as much porn as I want. I can drink as much alcohol as I want! Wait, are you confused? Is this some grace-type post? Nope! It's even better.
The Psalmist pleaded, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me!" (51:10) So beautifully, God promised in Ezekiel, "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." (36:26)
That new heart is invaluable. 20 years after starting in AA, an alcoholic will introduce himself as still being an alcoholic—the desire is still there. As Christians, God's power can change our very desires, if we embrace it. We can go home and think, "There is no way that I'd want to drink. There's no way I'd want to ever watch porn!" Our heart can feel sick at the very thought. And that is a huge blessing.
What difference will one more sin make?
Many Christians let their past failures accumulate to the point where they have a hard time resisting temptation. They think, "What difference would one more sin make?"
There's a way to beat that. 2 Cor 5:17 says, "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." That's a beautiful statement, but God alsosays, "you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus." (Rom 6:11)
We ARE new creations. We ARE dead to sin. But we have to actually believe it—we have to consider it, buy into it, and act in faith on that. Do you really consider yourself as dead to sin? If not, start today.
How I want to forgive.
Micah 7:18 says, "Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love."
Man, I want to be more like that. I want to truly delight in having steadfast love. Praise the God of second chances who delights in forgiveness!
Samson's undoing.
Solomon was the wisest man ever, and yet he failed. Samson was strong beyond what we can ever be, and yet he failed. The common denominator was those that they let close to their hearts. Judges 14 records the beginning of Samson's fall. Ol' Sammy saw a hottie and told his parents to get her for him, and they replied, "“Is there no woman... all our people, that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?”
But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she looks good to me.”
"Looks good to me," is like, "if it feels good, do it," or, "if it makes you happy, go for it." Let's not make the mistake that Samson and Solomon made. Let's aim for holiness first, and God's strength. The wisest man and the strongest man will both fall if they reject God's plan.
Shrapnel.
When people get hurt, they won't hesitate to have shrapnel and debris removed for their wounds. Sin is debris in the soul, and like the physical type, if left untreated it can fester and spread infection. God reminds us, "for sin will not rule over you, for you are not under law, but under grace." (Romans 6:14)
Let's live up to that and scrub out the sin.
An entirely different culture.
Christianity in its true form, is really at heart an entirely different culture—and that's what can make it so hard to actually embrace. Jesus even said that He did not come to bring peace, but a sword, in that,
"I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me." (Mt 10:36-38)
We have to leave culture behind, including the culture of our families. That's a tough thing to do—almost like boot camp.
A funny picture about drinking.
"Half the day I wonder if it's too late for coffee. The other half, if it's too early for alcohol." (From a FB picture.) Even many Christians use alcohol as an escape from their worries. That escape accomplishes nothing, though, and Luke 21 explains,
“Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life...But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (34;36)
Instead of going to a drug for escape, let's go to our Father in prayer!
A personal reminder about patience.
A personal reminder to me, today. Sometimes it's easy to wonder how in the world I can have patience with some super-bad sinner, but then I have to remember how much patience God has with me. I must "bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation." (2 Pet 3:15)
Dr. Wilson or: Cancer's Bad!
A doctor can't assist or help someone with cancer unless he confronts his patient with the unwelcome reality of the disease. Christians can't assist someone with sin (spiritual cancer) unless they have an initial confrontation; but at the same time, we have to keep in mind that we're not adversaries. In fact, we are required by God to admonish one another. 1 Thessalonians 5:14 says,
“We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”
The word for "admonish" means to offer instruction through warning. "You do have cancer, but we can fix it." Would you? Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words says of admonishment, "The difference between 'admonish' and 'teach' seems to be that, whereas the former has mainly in view the things that are wrong and call for warning, the latter has to do chiefly with the impartation of positive truth."
Cancer's ugly. Doctors don't like telling people that they have it. But it's the first step to assistance.