Dear People Who Keep Company With God,
One of the complaints I hear is that the church is too hypocritical. A hypocrite by definition is someone who claims to have moral standards or beliefs to which one’s own behavior does not conform.
I have heard it said that people come to church on Sunday and put their smiley face on when they pull into the parking lot and remove it when they leave. We have all been there and done that because sometimes just showing up is about all we can do. We are not in a place to be able to deal with the issues going on in our hearts and lives so we put the mask on. That is certainly not the highest, but there are times when we need grace to just be and not have to deal with it.
We desire our church to be an expression of the Father’s living room, a place where people can come and be themselves regardless of where they may be in life. No need for masks and such, but as the old saying goes, “Please excuse our mess, we are under construction.”
We are not claiming to be an expression of the Father’s living room, but we are aiming to be just that. At the same time, we realize it is problematic when we proclaim the truth of Jesus, but do not consistently live the truth we proclaim.
What is the answer for those of us somewhere in the process of learning to walk the talk? In Beth Moore’s Bible Study, The Patriarchs: Encountering the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob I think she captures what we must do to walk in truth. She said “Learn how to walk in truth by walking with truth.”
Beth’s study of the patriarchs brought out a wonderful perspective of God Himself mentoring Abraham (Genesis 18:16–33). God revealed Himself to Abraham to demonstrate how to be right and just. He made Himself as a man to apprentice and train the father of many nations. Isn’t that a beautiful picture of the Father heart of God?
In the natural learning a new set of skills requires patience and perseverance and it has been proven that a mentor can accelerate the learning process. Most new mothers love having their moms around to teach them all the tricks of motherhood. Rookie police officers are teamed up with seasoned veterans, trade professionals apprentice before they are licensed and on and on.
We mistakenly think we can learn to walk in truth simply by studying the Bible, following some spiritual principles or standard of conduct. When things are not working very well we just double our efforts and try harder. This approach seldom works in our natural lives and when we do this with our spiritual lives we are doomed to failure. The Christian life is not hard it is impossible apart from the direct involvement of God.
Jesus used the language of walking with truth when He said, “Come unto to Me, learn from Me” (Matt. 11:28-29). That is an invitation into the grace life. The life where the grace of God, which is the power of Christ within us, teaching and empowering us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, to live soberly, righteously, and godly in our daily lives (Titus 2:12). And that is just the beginning!
Many Blessings, BW