credibility

P 2612 Where are our empowered lives?

/ DVH

In our world, we learnt – some of us from the cradle, to be polite and watch what we say. However, the latest younger generations have stomped all over that idea. I think they see manners as a kind of hypocrisy, and I honestly think I agree with them. I wish they were nicer about how angry they are, and that grace might abound in them more, but I think that older generations try to keep things the same, because ‘the same’ is comforting as we get older. However, the reality is the Body of Christ is not living Holy Spirit inspired, empowered lives. And who we are behind closed doors is daily disproving what we say and act out at church!

There is no more room to continue to hide our old ideas under excuses, traditions, and made up theology. Our stranglehold on what we call reality is not the only one. The thing is, I’m pretty sure that younger people scare the pants off people my age, because they’ve taken all our manmade rules and torn them up. Us oldies are guilty of living concealed lives, mainly because we do not want to be vilified by our peers. Sometimes we’ve simply hidden what we really feel;  because the old way, the polite society way, said it isn’t nice to blurt out your thoughts and feelings all over other people. After all, maybe those other people will judge us! In other words, we’ve been afraid. And fear and love can’t occupy the same space.

It is hard to believe for the best in people today – without pretending at least some of the time. We’ve been a powerless people who refused to talk about reality for way too long. In a world that says whatever it likes, I honestly think I’d have gone down the proverbial plug hole if it wasn’t for Jesus helping me. He has helped me to see the blessing in truth, openness, and facing what is really going on. And traditions, old and new, suck the life out of true faith. Our generational hypocrisy is now showing. It is much too easy to dismiss any messenger because they don’t say something nicely, or respectfully. Or maybe we feel superior because of age. However, if we don’t take what Jesus said seriously, there is a possibility we will continue to lose our God-given ability to change.  

My question is this: ‘how can we repent from stuff we’ve done, if we refuse to acknowledge it is there?‘ Many churches today are living cloistered lifestyles. However by shutting out what we think of as ‘bad things’ – we are turning away the very people the Lord wanted us to love on. Sadly, we can quite quickly draw up our robes and refuse to associate with anyone who doesn’t look like us. Many churches barely tolerate each other, instead they continue to live their own little autonomous lives, as if they were the only church in the world! If that isn’t hypocrisy I dunno what is! We all claim to have the same foundation but we’ve built all kinds of weird houses, with even weirder ideas and theologies on top of that foundation. It’s time to take down, or choose to tear up the stuff that cannot remain.

Maybe sometimes our kids don’t want to come to church because they are living their lives in a very harsh real world and they can see what we believe has no substance, it is hollow. We say we believe this and that, but the power to change is not present. These kids are sensible, they want something REAL from their faith, and our battered, bent and adjusted theology doesn’t do it for them.

I met someone recently who had been a missionary child, stationed overseas with their folks, and their parent had been powerfully used to evangelise the country they were sent into. The adults were successful in the eyes of their home church, because many people came to know Christ. But, their own children suffered all kinds of abuse at the parents’ hands and no-one else knew about it. Christians have been hooked on the devil’s crook that says we will undermine our credibility if we own up to our faults. It must stop.

It is a shame that others outside our walls are blowing the whistle on how far we’ve fallen from our glorious ideal, Jesus Christ. He didn’t preach church ideals and rules. He preached about a whole other kingdom that very few people know exists – thanks to us! We need to start thanking our children and grandchildren for saying out loud the things we’ve tried so hard to keep hidden from ourselves and others. “For the kingdom of God consists of and is based on, not talk but power – moral power and excellence of soul).” 1 Corinthians 4:20, and: “…God’s Way is not a matter of mere talk; it’s an empowered life.”  Bye.👋

P 2575 Part of witnessing is giving away the map!

/ DVH

Christianity can seem a bit obscure to the rest of the world from the outside. WE know that it is not a secret IN-club with special passwords, music, codes, actions, and rules! But the-people-who-don’t-know-Jesus think what we believe is simply another opinion in the many ideas and religious practices that exist today. They do not understand what makes our belief system different from any other.  It is like a foreign language to them.

Meeting Jesus Christ can sound more like a mental exercise, rather than a spiritual encounter. I think that what we believe is often full of old-fashioned words that make no sense to other people. Think about it, what does ‘saved’ mean? ?? Talking to others or handing them a tract is good, but it is not enough.  It is up to us to take the time to digest His word by acting on it. Then the power of the Holy Spirit can speak through us, for Himself. Hubby and I have discovered something wonderful – they know HIS voice when they hear it.  We don’t need more knowledge WE need HIM to speak to them for Himself – through US.

In some countries in this world a mother chews up food for an infant and gives them the food she has chewed up — because infants can’t eat lumpy hard stuff, they can choke on it.  This is quite literally what Christians do when we witness. We hand others our own pre-digested spiritual food. (Chewing is part of digestion!!)  We tell them what we’ve seen, and what we personally know about Jesus. What we believe is not about knowledge, anybody can spout knowledge – it’s about our own personal relationship with Him. That’s what we share with others. That’s what a witness does, they tell what they’ve seen, from their own POV.

If someone asked me how to get to the city from my house I would say: “You can take a train, or a bus, or drive the car, or even walk.” You and I are the people who hand out the proverbial spiritual timetables and maps!  We are not the journey … JESUS is the journey. The bible is their Jesus’ map. Give them a map and talk about Jesus, as YOU know Him. Tell them what you’ve learnt from praying, reading, researching and digesting the map info. Brevity is helpful. This is their moment. Encourage them to ask questions. Say “I dunno” if you don’t know, and don’t be embarrassed by it. Forget about your credibility and reputation – take a risk. Witnessing is about taking risks.

Jesus’ disciples didn’t always understand Him and what He did, so not knowing everything shouldn’t stop us! There were some times that the Lord explained Himself, and other times that He didn’t. He loved to say things that turned what people thought, upside down .. it was actually right side up, but that’s a moot point! We need to translate what we read, into actions, and go on to act on it, in ordinary everyday situations. Then what we believe becomes current and alive. The bible is an action book, not just a study-’til-you’ve-memorised-it book. You don’t have to be articulate. I often ask the Lord – ‘how the heck do I say that?’ 

Our bible is a Holy book purely because the Holy Spirit kisses it for us, in ways we cannot comprehend. But we are the beneficiaries of His wisdom and power. He reveals our own road map, (the bible), so we can see the Lord Jesus in any situation. He translates the bible to us, every single day in such a way that it stops being fancy old-fashioned words on a page, and instead, it is the source of His life in us. We do this for others just like we would explain to them how to get to the shops! 

Doing what it says is simply the very best way of digesting the book. We are kind because the book says be kind. Even if we don’t feel like being kind, then we ask Him for His help! Living like that leads us into receiving fresh insight about God and His Ways. Simply analysing what we read aids comprehension, but it does not make the book part of you – your life and your experiences. Obedience does. Our lives become the witness.

Like I said before, the disciples asked questions. When what Jesus told them did not make sense they asked Him questions. Now, these men had prayed for the sick and seen them get well, they’d cast out demons, and seen all kinds of miracles —  but when they didn’t understand what Jesus said – they asked Him about it. We gotta stop long enough to ask questions and wait for His insight. “The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom.Though it cost all you have, get understanding.” Proverbs 4:7. We don’t just need to know what it says – we need to know how to become what it says! He will tell us how to apply what we are reading into our own lives. We must move from knowing into experiencing. Then we have something that is living to share with others. 

We can answer other people’s questions simply by drawing from what we’ve learnt from our own personal experiences — without any dry theology attached to the answer. Jesus is the Way to God. He’s the map, the journey and the destination. Tell them what happens to you when you take the map and follow it. It doesn’t rely upon human skill – just willingness. The Holy Spirit will help us, He will speak to their hearts – we just tell them what we’ve seen, heard and know about Jesus. And don’t forget to give them a map! Part of witnessing is giving away the map! The Holy Spirit will work on them even when we are not there. 👋