Tuesday; June 11

Have you noticed how easy it is to solve other people’s problems?  Isn’t it interesting that outsiders can claim to have a greater insight into what other people should be doing?  While this is true in so many aspects of life, it is commonly found in the world of religion.  A lot of people who are not members of our church are more than willing to offer commentary on what we should be doing in our churches.  In all reality, there really isn’t anything we can do to prevent people from making suggestions or value judgements about what we do, but we must also remember that just because someone has a comment doesn’t mean that we have to heed it or even take it seriously.  Sure anyone can have an opinion, but the opinions of outsiders probably are not built upon the foundation of our faith and therefore may not lead to an accurate assessment of what we should be doing.  This might appear to be a 21st Century problem fueled by the social media craze, but the fact of the matter is that this has been going on since the beginning of time.  Almost 2000 years ago an early church patriarch observed, “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.” (I Corinthians 2:14).
Let’s come to grips with the fact that people are going to be looking over our shoulders as we live our lives and organize our religion, but let’s not forget that we must remain faithful to what God expects from us.  Pleasing mankind might seem appealing, but satisfying God remains our real goal.
          Think About It!

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