This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 6th, 2006 at 12:41 am and is filed under All, Christian Living, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
1. When you share something and people think it is strange and don’t like it, call it conviction. When someone shares something you think is strange and don’t like, call it discernment.
2. Assume that someone’s lust/gluttony/cursing problem is worse than your unlovingness/unkindness/just generally being a jerk. God is willing to overlook your sin because you hand out tracts, the good kind.
3. If something bad is happening to someone else assume it is because of sin. If something bad is happening in your life assume it is spiritual attack or persecution.
4. If you ever disagree with anything someone says, make sure to write off the 90% of good stuff they are saying. After all, a little leaven leavens the whole loaf. I don’t care if their book did point out a bunch of stuff I needed to hear.
5. Use the word heretic all the time. Don’t worry about whether it is true or appropriate. People need to know you are serious. Get really mad at people that call you one.
6. Establish a million extra-biblical rules. Make sure that everyone serves Jesus out of fear and “responsibility” and never cheerfully with grateful heart. You may be robbing people of their joy, but they can suck it up.
7. Preach the Bible as completely inspired and authoritative, but make sure to never talk about the verses that people “abuse”. Verses like “my burden is easy, my yoke is light” and “learn from Me because I am gentle and humble of heart” turn people into slackers. Don’t even get me started on Jer. 29:11.
8. Always believe the person that speaks the loudest and with the most certainty about their views. Become this person.
9. Always preach about the sins your not involved in. That way you can be really ungracious about it and not feel like a total hypocrite.
10. Preach a standard even you can’t keep. Preaching a standard twice as hard as you actually want people to keep will produce the results you’re looking for. People typically compromise and will only come halfway. Don’t worry about the condemnation they feel for the other half.
11. Never let people see you aren’t as spiritual as you portray. Don’t let on that you are feeling sad/depressed/stuggling with sin. This could cause people to stop esteeming what you have to say. You can suck it up and hold it together until Jesus comes.
Back with another list. People seem to like the lists. Thoughts just kept flooding to my mind. Thanks to the people that helped me with this one. Once again, I think that I have done all these things.
Writing lists like this can drag our sinful habits into the light and hopefully wake us up. Most people that read the last list seem to enjoy it and knew exactly what I was talking about and said they had done those things. But tonight I heard from people who asked questions like “does anyone actually think that way?” or “do you know anyone that actually does that.” Praise the Lord if you have no idea what I am talking about and have been fortunated enough to avoid this stuff.
Once again, I think this only offends us if we see ourselves in these things. Father, please continue to help us move from being just radical to radically loving. Help us to look like your Son.
September 6th, 2006 at 12:55 pm
I’m totally going to track this back when I’m done with the bush (inside joke).
September 6th, 2006 at 3:21 pm
man - truly good stuff mike - definitely shedding some more good light on the fauly motivations of our hearts, that are often the result of insecurity, pride, and self-righteousness. I’d like to see a list that takes these and reverses them - like “22 things TO DO…” and just reverse them to see what they look like…
September 7th, 2006 at 12:04 am
thanks for writing these, i lived in a lot of guilt and condemnation the past year. it is encouraging to read this.
September 7th, 2006 at 10:35 am
You are right, Couch, many times these are our motivations. I hope we can all see the error of our ways and look to Jesus’ example at how to really minister/love/serve/live.
September 9th, 2006 at 2:48 pm
In keeping with my other comment - some thoughts -
1) Listen to what Jesus says and when you share it, don’t just share the words themselves, but in the heart of compassion and the spirit of truth that He does. When others share and you don’t understand, take it before the Lord before you say something - if you do at all.
2) Pursue the Lord with all your heart, and be authentic about the areas of your heart the Lord is redeeming and setting you free from, even if they are the “small issues”. Let your passion for purity, overwhelming kindness, and radical love drive people to their knees.
3) If something bad is happening to someone else, pray for them. If something bad is happening in your life, ask some people to pray for you that you may endure with patience and obedience.
4) If you disagree with anything someone says, approach them about it personally before labeling them publically, for you may have misunderstood them. Or at the least, talk to other brothers you respect privately about the teaching, omitting the persons’ name, so that they may give you objective counsel. Pray for them and ask God to bless them, don’t attack them.
5) Don’t focus on what’s wrong about everything as much as you focus on what’s right about Jesus and His ways. People need to know who Jesus is more than they need to know what is wrong. The greatest way for people to spot the counterfeit is to dynamically know the truth.
6) Don’t judge your life by what you are and aren’t doing. Judge your life on who you are and aren’t being - namely, how close you are to being like Jesus. Let your hope in Jesus’ good and pure desire for you and His great love motivate you towards a Christ-likeness that beams.
7) Preach the Bible verses Jesus tells you to preach, no matter if they are popular or not. Do not fear man, but don’t think that yelling at people means you fear God. Fear God by bringing His words AS WELL AS His heart to people. Tremble before His Word that you might be found faithful in bringing His words by His Spirit and not your own.
9) Be authentic about your life before God and man - it will bring freedom to others to do the same. If the Lord calls you to call out sin - then do so as He would - call it out in truth and then urge people towards the open-armed Christ who is ready to forgive, redeem, and heal at that very moment.
10) If you are “shepherding” people to follow Christ - learn from the Good Shepherd Himself. Watch His patient, careful, and gracious leadership over your own life and let that be your model - not the models of other men. Read Psalm 23 and let your preaching and leadership follow.
11) Preach the coming of Christ as victor over death, sin, and the human heart. Preach it in such anointing and passion that it breeds sincere hope. “He who has this hope (that when we see Him, we shall be like Him) therefore purifies himself, just as Christ is pure.” (1 John 3:2-3)
September 9th, 2006 at 4:22 pm
Excellent bro, thanks for this.
September 9th, 2006 at 8:14 pm
man, i’ve got all 11 of these already down. c’mon give me a challenge.
September 11th, 2006 at 6:33 am
I love those thoughts Ryan.
And amen charlton. amen. haha.
September 12th, 2006 at 11:16 am
Very helpful. Thanks.
September 16th, 2006 at 8:20 am
Great thoughts Michael!
September 17th, 2006 at 11:55 pm
During the sermon this morning the pastor who was teaching brought up Isaiah 29:13 in relation to pleasing the Lord (what does not please Him). When reading this verse, the first thing I thought of was your post, so I thought I would post it up here. Here’s the verse (I’ll quote both NIV and NKJV)…
(NIV)”The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. THEIR WORSHIP OF ME IS MADE UP ONLY OF RULES TAUGHT BY MEN.”
(NKJV)”Therefore the Lord said: “Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths And honor Me with their lips, But have removed their hearts far from Me, And THEIR FEAR TOWARD ME IS TAUGHT BY THE COMMANDMENT OF MEN”
September 18th, 2006 at 12:30 pm
Hi, Michael! Long time, no see! … Not that we can actually see each other through this means. Though I can see your picture. Or perhaps it is okay to use the word “see” since I can (can I?) see your heart through what you write. :-)? … BUT I digress … The Rachels and Ryan showed me your blog and said it was a must! … I liked your previous 11 and these are fun too! =) … If I could do a spin on your #2 — it would be: “Assume that your lust/gluttony/cursing/unlovingness/unkindness/just generally being a jerk problem is worse than your neighbor’s struggle with homosexuality. God is willing to overlook your sin because you hand out tracts, the good kind.” … Hopefully this is a safe enough environment for me to have said that. If not, then check out Focus on the Family peeps Mike Haley and that other lady, and read/hear? their testimonies =) &/or read the book “You don’t have to be gay” by Jeff Konrad … a risky book for me to reccommend since I’ve not read it, but apparently it’s the story of Mike Haley, whose 3 hour testimony and teaching I heard at Summit in Colorado Springs. … Well, I see that there’s a “contact me” link up there, so contact you I shall, since my dear MD friend asked me to give you a message. … You’re awesome, Michael!