Wednesday, June 29, 2011

It's What You Know That Matters

"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life - " 1 John 1:1 (NKJV)

The introduction to John's first letter gives us a really good standard for the things we share with others, something we know and understand. John says that what he is talking about is not just something he heard from someone else or something he read somewhere but this is something he has spent time with and has experience with. If we really do not fully understand something we are better off not saying too much about it but instead we should spend some time reading and studying God's Word to get the understanding we need about that subject.

There are many people you can see on television or on the Internet who are supposed to be "experts" in some area or even say they are Bible scholars. My question has always been why are they considered an expert or an authority on the subject? What I have seen is that often people who claim to be experts in some field or even people who claim to be Bible scholars are not at all what they claim to be. Recently I read an article on the Internet by someone who claimed to be a Bible scholar and after reading their article I wondered if that person had ever read the Bible!

In Acts 4, when Peter and John were arrested for teaching people about Jesus, Peter and John said in verse 20, "For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard". This is just like what John wrote later in 1 John 1:1, we need to speak about what WE have seen and heard. It is the truth from the Bible that we personally know and have experience with that we will do the best talking about.

This is why our own personal time with God and His Word are so important; if we don't know something we can't put it into action in our own life and we really can't help other people understand it. The things we do to help other people and teach other people start with and come out of our own relationship with God. Read and study the Bible for yourself; not just so you can check up on the things you hear to see if they are true but also so you have firsthand experience with biblical truth that you can then share with other people.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Walking In Love - Speaking The Truth In Love

Our words are very important. But, it is not only what we say that matters it is how we say it. You can say the right thing in the wrong way, or at the wrong time, and have a negative impact instead of a positive impact. The words we speak should be the kind of words that help and not hurt, words that build up and not words that tear down.

"but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head - Christ -" Ephesians 4:11 (NKJV)

Here in Ephesians 4 Paul is talking about spiritual growth and development. One way we can contribute to the growth and development of others is by speaking the right words, in love. It is when we speak the truth in an attitude of love with the goal of helping the other person that we will see the greatest results from our words.

So often we speak before we really consider what it is we are going to say. The problem is that once you say something you can never take those words back. As it has been said, it is better to put the mind in gear before the mouth goes into motion. I would take that a step further and say that as Christians we need to check our heart before we put our mouth into motion. Is what we have to say going to contribute in a positive way to the person or the situation?

This does not mean that we are always just saying gentle, flowery words that lack any real content or even correction. There may be times we need to help correct someone but we can do it in love and bring correction and guidance to the person instead of beating them down with words that harm instead of help. As Christians our goal should be to contribute to the overall growth and development of those around us and by speaking the truth in love we are taking a big step towards doing just that.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

What Do Othes Say About Us?

"And Joses, who was also named Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated Son of Encouragement), a Levite of the country of Cyprus," Acts 4:36 (NKJV)

In the Book of Acts we read about many great people from the early days of the Christian Church. One person who has always been interesting to me was Barnabas, whose real name was actually Joses. Barnabas is mentioned over twenty times in the Book of Acts but only once by his actual name of Joses. What I find interesting about "Barnabas", which means the son of encouragement, is that the name we know him by is really just a nickname that was given to him by the apostles.

This got me thinking about some other verses that show us this same principle of it being important how others see us and the reputation we have with others. In Acts 6:3 the apostles said that the people who would be chosen to serve needed to have a good reputation. In 1 Timothy 3:1-10 Paul said the same things were necessary for people who wanted to serve as bishops and deacons, they had to be "blameless" and have "a good testimony among those who are outside". While Christians should not live a life just to please other people or only do things to seek the approval of others, what others think about us is important.

If the lives of Christians are not meeting the standards of God's Word and they have a bad reputation with other people, then who will represent Jesus and Christianity to the lost world? What if Joses was a difficult person to get along with and the apostles decided to name him the son of discouragement? How about calling him, the son of sorrow, because he just made people miserable whenever he was around them? When we bring this into our lives, what terms do people use to describe us? How many of us would be called the son (or daughter) of encouragement today and how many of us might be called something else less flattering? Ouch!

In Titus 2:7, 8 Paul encouraged Titus to have a life style of good works so that people would have nothing evil to say about him. This is a pretty high standard to live up to but I believe it is God's standard and it is attainable. So when people talk about us, what name would they give to us? This is something we all need to consider and continue to grow and develop so that we are doing what it says in Philippians 2:14-16 where we live a blameless life and shine as lights in the world.