I'm a Christian, But......

Before I start this post I want to put out this disclaimer. I do not claim now and have never claimed to be a shining light of Christian purity. I would willingly admit that I often get things wrong and that I have made many mistakes past, present and likely in the future too. I also know that I myself am far from sinless despite my best efforts to be what I should be as a Christian.

Ok now I have said that I feel an awful lot happier about the rant I am about to go on. The thing I want to talk about is Christians who push themselves into positions of influence and set themselves up as supposed good examples who knowingly live in unchristian ways.

I doubt it is only me who has trouble with people who seek out positions of influence and power in the Church for their own means and then go on to act in thoroughly unchristian ways. I can't help but think that a at least part of the problems we have in the Church are in some way connected to the bad examples of leaders who are not there for God. In this I mean the people who need to be in these positions of power and influence for their own gratification and own purposes. These people who then go on to continue to act in worldly ways with inappropriate behaviour, gossiping and spreading rumours. This poison then permeates its way through Churches, in fact The Church infecting people further setting poor examples to those young or weak in the faith who perhaps then see this as acceptable behaviour.

As I said in the disclaimer, I do not believe myself to be an example of what a Christian should be, far from it. To be honest I would be willing to admit I fall far short of where I should be as a Christian many times. But without then trying to make myself sound any better, I do not claim to be a perfect example, I do not pretend to be anything but a sinful man daily asking the Lord for forgiveness. I pray that Christians would see the sin in their own lives, the gossiping, rumour spreading and general sinful behaviour and acknowledge it. By acknowledging it they can not only confront it and attempt to drive it from their lives but also show others that while sin is not ok or acceptable it is going to happen. Show that by having a relationship with Jesus and asking for forgiveness we can grow as Christians and in faith.

These people know that what they are doing is wrong, unchristian and hurtful, they know they are causing pain to those they wrong and who they gossip about. Rumours based on idle speculation, conjuncture and wild fantasy that they spread cause a level of hurt that is known only to the individual and the Father. When friends turn on friends and say things that are hurtful or cause situations where the truth is either veiled or hidden purposely for their own gain. When friends manipulate circumstances to gain an advantage over friends all of these things are a source of the pain that Christ felt upon the cross.

Paul's letters to the early Church talk about situations we still see today, brothers and sisters in Christ are still acting in ways that are far from Christlike and in ways we have be warned and instructed not to act. We are all going to sin, we are all going to make mistakes but I can't help but think that these people are claiming to be followers of Christ but have not accepted the Spirit, have not accepted Christ's forgiveness and are not following the two greatest commandments.

Matthew 22:36-40
When the Pharisees heard how he had bested the Sadducees, they gathered their forces for an assault. One of their religion scholars spoke for them, posing a question they hoped would show him up: "Teacher, which command in God's Law is the most important?"
Jesus said, "'Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.' This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: 'Love others as well as you love yourself.' These two commands are pegs; everything in God's Law and the Prophets hangs from them."

Love

1 Corinthians 13:1-7 (NIV)
     If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
     Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Letters

2 Corinthians 3:4-6

     We couldn't be more sure of ourselves in this-that you, written by Christ himself for God, are our letter of recommendation. We wouldn't think of writing this kind of letter about ourselves. Only God can write such a letter. His letter authorizes us to help carry out this new plan of action. The plan wasn't written out with ink on paper, with pages and pages of legal footnotes, killing your spirit. It's written with Spirit on spirit, his life on our lives!

I got a letter this morning, it is not something that happens much any more. Almost everything people send me comes electronically so when the postman drops something through the door with my name on it it is a little bit of a surprise. The letter that came was not really anything too important and but there is still that moment of excitement that accompanies the arrival of a letter.

Letters are something that are common in the New Testament, letters were one of the few ways of communicating long distances back then. If you were wanting to send a message or let people know something without personally going yourself then you sent a letter.

In this passage Paul is talking about the letters of recommendation that travelling preachers and evangelists would carry so that people would know who they were and with who's authority they preached with.

But Paul says in this passage that true Christians do not need letters of recommendation as it should be evident if we have been sent by God as He will write it on our hearts and people will know because the Spirit will be working through us. The letter that God writes on us, if His life is on our life then we need no physical ink and paper letter as His power will be evident through our actions.

I would like to think that God can be seen in the actions I perform and in the work that I do, that I have God's words written on my soul by the Spirit. I would hope that I can show God in all of the things that I do and that I can bring in some small way a ray of His light in to corners that may be dim and dark. 

Two sides to every story

I was discussing blogs with a friend on Saturday and we both expressed how interesting we have found it reading each others posts. It has been a way of seeing each other in a new light we otherwise may not be aware of. Through this discussion we decided an interesting thing to try would be a linked blog. That is to say we would both blog on the same thing and see how they compare. I would invite you to read the other blog here and hope it turns out to be as interesting as it sounded when we first thought of it.

So here it goes; Ephesians 5:21-33, in this passage Paul is writing giving instruction on how to submit and whom should submit to whom. For me this passage is one that can be and is often misunderstood. And by its misinterpretation some very unchristian actions and behaviours could be justified. It is what gives credence to the old adage that a man is the head of his household and all shall do as he commands. However in the passage it does give clear guidance, if you are head of the household you should act the way that Christ acts as head of the Church. Jesus told us clearly that if we wished to be first we must first make ourselves last, that we should serve others and not seek to be served. After all we do call Jesus the servant king. For me though it is not just about the Biblical aspect or the Christ like nature that we should take from this. At the end of the day this passage could be a very helpful secular piece of marriage advice. Having experienced a couple of serious long term relationships in the past I can see that the times that were happiest we followed the advice given very closely. Though the times which were bad we were as far from it as we could be. In a relationship there will always be a dominant partner and a submissive partner and as such one will naturally take charge. Both roles are important and both partners should know which place they are in because their roles will be very different. The role of head of the household is not one of obey me or else, it is a position that requires respect from both parties. Respect should be given to the head but then also he should act in a respectful way or why else should he be respected. As with all aspects of life we should lead by example, we should act in the way we wish to see others act. We should seek to make the world a better place not just for ourselves but for those around us and those in the wider world. The Biblical teaching is that a wife must submit to her husband the way we submit to Christ, but that therefore requires that a man serves his wife in the same way that Christ serves us. This is not a passage seeking to subjugate women or to press home a patriarchal agenda it is a guide on how to live in a Christian partnership. Paul is not telling women to be a door mat any more than he is telling men to tread all over their wives. The message is that we should love and respect each other in the same way that Christ does. So should a wife submit to her husband? In my opinion yes, it is as the Bible commands and if we hold the Bible to be true and holy then that means the whole Bible not just the parts we like. But when we follow the scriptures it is very important to understand them and not take them out of context otherwise we do not end up living in a Christ like manner.