While I am trying to articulate some positive principles for speaking words of life and light, I keep thinking of negative principles. Least I be accused of being Pollyannaish, I will throw out a few.
1. Preaching or speaking words, no matter how true, out of a place other than love will have the same impact as blah, blah, blah, blah or worse, it might actually drive some further away from the truth.
A long time ago, I use to think that there was some mystical power in saying certain words, such as the four spiritual laws. I thought my mission was to be “bold” and “unashamed” and just get them out there, and God would do the rest, regardless of whether I was coming from a place of love or not. I haven’t believed this for a while. I think it matters whether you are loving or not. Words matter also, they just need a context, and love is a necessary and primary component of that context. The power is in the love, not the words.
I do not equate saying good words with love. We can say all sorts of good words for all sorts of reasons. Love is something that needs to be cultivated in its own right.
I also do not think this is a benign issue. Harm can be done.
I may be setting up a straw man, but that dude was once my mentor (or at least the devil on my shoulder).
3 comments:
Mark,
I am tracking right with you brother. Excellently stated. I want to listen for that whisper then speak lovingly and serve passionatly.
How can we learn to do this?
Intentionally seeking God and following the whisper.
Seek and follow; sounds a lot like contemplation and action, just more churchy. So, how do we seek/contemplate and to what degree will we follow/take action?
What happens when we keep seeking but fail to follow? Do we fall off the right side of the ridge?
What happens when we try to follow but fail to seek? Do we fall off of the left side?
Adding an element to the metaphor, perhaps judging is like getting up on the ridge and then with pride begin to watch our feet only to trip on them and fall flat on our face at the bottom of the valley?
Staying on the ridge is kingdom living. It's both seeking and following. It’s keeping the soul (body, mind and spirit) focused on Jesus while moving toward that light. It's the portal to the other dimension.
How, you say... What about this? Privately and continually we seek Him and then together we share how we sought. We share what worked and what didn’t? And with arms bound together we lower ourselves to look at everyone else as more important than ourselves and we serve. Then we share how we followed and how we failed to follow and in the process God changes us and He loves through us. We fear not. We gently draw those who stray away back to the ridge. We are diligent not to raise anyone’s service as more important than another. We take joy in how each of us serves with what they have been given. And we dance, a wild and sweaty dance, in gratitude to God that we are His people, the body of Christ, the church.
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