Word Of Encouragement for 9-25-11
Colossians 3:12 - 17: Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and
patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
I have to leave early today for an important meeting, but I wanted to give you a word of encouragement from these verses. This is something we have looked at before, but I think it’s important to remind ourselves about: When first read, many people find these words to be really “big” statements or “tall orders.” I mean, we are called to engage in a lot of things here, aren’t we?
Sometimes all the warnings and instructions and commands we’re given in the Bible can be intimidating or feel overwhelming. And, I’ve heard speakers/ preachers take them even further – from being intimidating to being very guilt producing…to the point where they discourage people more than anything else.
Here are some examples: “Do you think you read your Bible enough?” “Do you pray enough?” Listen to some questions from the verses I just read: “Are you as compassionate as you could/should be? Do you practice ‘true’ humility? Are you as patient as you could/should be? Do you really forgive others? Do you love others as you could/should? Are you as thankful/ grateful to God as you could/should be? Do you really DO EVERYTHING in the Name of and for the glory of Christ?”
See what I mean? And it gets even worse; because with some people – even some Christians – you KNOW that you don’t dare answer or even THINK, “Well, I…I THINK I’ve been growing a little in these areas…” Because, if you do – if you think or SAY that you think you may be growing and making progress as a Christian – you’ll be guilty in their eyes of the sin of pride…and everyone knows that pride is the sin of SATAN!!
You see what I’m getting at? People like this have “got” you coming and going: You’re either a lousy Christian, who should feel guilty for being so lousy, or, if you think you might be growing some, you’re guilty of being prideful.
Let me remind you of something (because we’ve talked about this before): That is not preaching; that is manipulation. And you need to be able to tell the difference between the two to keep from becoming a manipulated, neurotic Christian. Oh yes – there are such people… My question is – How is anybody supposed to grow or make any progress as a Christian with that kind of dynamic going on – either coming to them from outside sources (other people), or coming from within their own minds? I think we should be more encouraging.
Let’s try an exercise this morning that we’ve done before, but you seem to enjoy it: Let’s get “liturgical.” I want you to respond to this: “The LORD be with you!” (Response: “And also with you!”) Good! Now, let me give you a new liturgy for this morning: Your part – and remember, you have to say it all together like good liturgists, goes like this: “No, and neither have you!” Try that once.
Okay, here’s the new liturgy – you respond to what I say: Have you done all you can; have you done enough for Christ? “No, and neither have you!” Felt good, didn’t it? Okay, so much for self-examination. Let’s move on…
Listen to it again: Colossians 3:12 - 17: Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
Every so often, I ask you to engage in some reflection/self-examination to see how you’re doing as Christians. There’s nothing wrong with that – reflection is a good thing….providing you reflect on the right things…in the right way. So, let me give you something to reflect on this morning:
I want you to know, this is not original to me, but I believe it is one of the working principles of the universe. This is something that is true as true can be; it is just as true as anything I or anyone will tell you today or ever. I invite and encourage you write this down, because it just might save you from becoming a neurotic Christian:
Here is the principle: When you see a dog playing checkers, you don’t criticize his game; you’re just pleased and surprised that he’s playing at all.
Now…Here’s what that means: Your parents, your kids, your friends, your co-workers, your teachers, your spouse, your church, your pastor and YOU are not EVER going to be totally perfect in this life. Once you really realize and understand and remember that, it’s amazing how appreciative you become of little things going right.
The Bible says that we live on a fallen planet. That means, among other things, there will be ants at picnics, thorns on roses, imperfections in all things and people, and if you get 51% of anything right or good, you might want to think about filing that under “Success”.
Here’s the lesson/application: In a fallen world, dogs playing checkers and Christians actually GROWING in love and obedience, and becoming more like Jesus – even a little bit – are objects for praise, not criticism.
Am I all that I should be? No! And neither are you! But…Given who I am, and given what I am capable of doing…...I’m not doing half bad…thanks to Jesus!
Maybe you’re not either.
You think about that. Amen.
