Give credit to the messenger, not the message

A very long time ago a wise elder instructed a young leader in this way, "The time is coming when people won't listen to good teaching. Instead, they will look for teachers who will please them by telling them only what they are itching to hear." Sound familiar? I surprise myself sometimes thinking this is a sign of our culture, but nope, its been around 2000 years. What is this wise counsel really saying?

It is in the nature of people to seek out leaders (teachers) whose message fits their own idea of how things should be. Thus, instead of people seeking out those teachers who are most likely to give them truth, they are attracted to messengers that say things that scratch the itches of their soul. The counsel was to hold to what is true, even against the pressures of human nature.

Unfortunately, unless someone is yearning to know truth, your voice will be rejected or not noticed if you yearn to be a truth sayers.

Interesting that one key current leadership theory is that a person becomes a leader because the followers want him/her to lead them. So its nothing new that those who advance to leadership positions and are celebrated as "the one" are often those who say what the followers want to hear, not the ones who speak truth and provide a more "true north" vision. Maybe this is why we have so little transformation?

BTW, many will not like this blog because it doesn't say what their ears are itching to hear.

something to ponder .......

A reappraisal that is out of this world

We are not builders of God's house, we are God's house.





Often evangelical Christians get somewhat obsessed with Kingdom building. The focus gets on what we are doing to fight evil and bring about God's rule. This has been especially prevalent during the assault on the Judeo-Christian foundations of our country from the culture, from government, and from Islamic tyrannies that promise to end our civilization as we know it.

Referring to Moses' call to deliver the Jews from Egyptian bondage, God reminds us in His word that Moses was His house that Jesus built. The work of the Cross builds a bunch of little houses like us. We are the respite for the world, God's faithful agents of Grace. We are where a dying and unredeemed world come for healing, rest and love. We are God's hospitality tent where weary road travelers can stop to have their thirst quenched.

I am not discounting being active against evil and Spiritual warfare and the encouragement of Scripture to "put on the whole armor of God." The question is, what is our armor for?

To build His kingdom or To be His Kingdom?
Which role provides us with joy, freedom, hope and significance?

This is reappraisal with eternal consequences, thinking differently about something that can change our well being. 

It's repentance
It's getting our mind unstuck
It's transformational