Either how canst thou
say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye,
when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou
hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou
see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eye. Luke 6:42
Mesquite trees are one of the
toughest trees known to man. They can reach up to 50 feet tall with a branch spread
of 40 feet or more. Their thorns are as tough as nails. They are big and strong
and they can also kill you… You can move the beam of the tree completely out of
the ground. It can be totally removed and yet one small trace, a splinter can
get in your hand etc. and kill you. The thorns are poisonous and it is the
splinter that will kill you…
There seems to be a new trend in the church or is it really
new? I think that it is just re-packaged and re-labeled as being godly. (You
have a beam in your eye, so you can’t even talk about my splinter)
I rarely speak out on controversial matters because I feel
that it is more important to try and spark people to be inspired to change. I
only speak now because I have seen so many loved ones in the church hurt,
myself included while sitting on a pew. This message isn’t to point fingers or
to say I am better than you. On the contrary I know without a shadow of a doubt
that I have failed God probably more and in worse ways than most of you who
will read this blog. I am a failure, a sinner, a former backslider, and was
once lost. I had a beam in my eye.
But… what about the splinter?
Now, I am free, a sinner saved by grace, on fire for God, and
I have been found. There is a great divide in the church for people like me. I
was raised in church and walked away for several years. Then when I came back
home I was welcomed with open arms like the prodigal daughter. The welcome party
was short lived. Then there was a wide assortment of criticisms. It broke my
heart literally. To think that I was so on fire for God and I just wanted to
please Him and here I was made to feel like I wasn’t good enough. That I would
have to do penance and (16) hail Mary’s and then it just might be possible to
be used of God. It may sound like I am being bitter or hateful but I am not I
am only trying to share how hard it is for a person to come back to God while
on display. There is an expectation placed on your shoulders to be the new
perfect saint and it is hard to live up to. Sadly, I feel this is why so many
backsliders do not come home. They can’t face the judgment. I am sharing this
to be an eye-opener to the church not to be another person turning reverse
criticism, what would be the point?
So what happens when a backslider feels so much criticism?
What happens when you are ostracized by those who are supposed to love you?
What happens when you are stumbling and about to fall? What happens when people
sit back and say, “Look at what they are doing” they aren’t changed?
The answer is: They fall while sitting on the pew….
A friend told me
recently that her pastor told her, “You can’t expect to be a 30 year saint in 2
years of coming back to God.” I don’t know why these words have spoken to me
but they have resonated into my soul. The same is for me. I may have been raised
in church but I walked away from God. I lived a life of sin to the fullest. It has taken three years of constant
consecration to God for Him to re-program my mind. Friends you can’t input that
much sin into your life and expect that just because you came back to God that
you won’t still be struggling. Give yourself a break and stop being so hard on
yourself. It is a process and you will fail God once you get back into church.
You will more than likely fail Him really bad and you will think that you can’t
make it. Sadly, people will tell you that you can’t make it too.
I am here as living proof that you too can make it!!!! I have
learned the really hard way that not everyone is behind you. Not everyone is
your friend. Not everyone sees the good in you and who you will become. But it
is a lesson worth learning, so that you too do not become a splinter pointing
at a beam in someone else’s eye. You can choose today this very moment to stop
the cycle of disdain. You can stop the criticisms and begin to pray rather than
judge the beam in another’s eye lest you grow a splinter that will become
infected. A little leaven leaveneth a whole lump. So don't be a part of the lump be a part of restoration in the body!
You set the tone and atmosphere for your life. You can change
the world you live in by reaching out to those who are hurting. You too might
be the next one to fall and you might need the same help up as your brother or
sister. Make the choice to change. When
we truly become one body and change toward the love of Jesus, that is when we
will be able to move toward revival. How can we truly love new people if we can’t
love those who we know?
“If a man say, I love
God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother
whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?”
1 John 4:20
There is a splinter in the church and it is infecting the
body. Just because you don’t have a beam in your eye, doesn't mean there isn't a problem. I want to point out in love
that just because you sit on a pew and your sins aren’t as open as (mine or someone elses) remember pointing fingers at others doesn’t diminish your sin. Ouch that is strong
language! Please note that I am not being a reverse-judge mentalist. I am only
trying to point out some pitfalls that we have all been guilty to fall into
these categories.
So what can us as church goers do to change how we treat
others?
1)
Love
our neighbor as ourselves (It really is the most important thing)
2)
Pray
for our brother or sister when we see them in a pit
3)
Don’t
put your brother or sister in a pit and cause them to fall
4)
Love
our neighbor as ourselves
“Therefore, there is
now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because
through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from
the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to
do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in
the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might
be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the
Spirit.” Romans
8:1-4
We cannot put condemnation on those who are no longer walking
after the flesh and who are now walking the Spirit. I am so grateful and
humbled that the Lord saw fit to pull the beam out of my eye and am now missing
an eye. I pray every day to reach for others in their pit so that they too can
have the beam pulled out of their eye. I strive toward the mark of not letting
a splinter fester into an infection within my own person. I choose to not
spread the infection throughout the body of believers. Will I be perfect? No. I
am only aware and with awareness bring the ability to be proactive to combat
against the enemy of self. I choose to love in spite of fault. I choose daily
examine my life for splinters. I pray this blog opens eyes not in judgment but
in awareness!
