The Professional Christian
19/04/09
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Someone recently said to me that I should not talk about my past or current hurts, pains and struggles, because it wasn’t professional and as a Christian minister, I should never be negative. This made me very angry. Do you know why?
When we read the accounts of Paul’s life, he was very positive, at times, but also very very negative at times. He would use language that if a Pastor was caught using today, he’d be chastized as I was, to stop being so negative and only speak positive words. In other words, he’s expected to lie.
Many people wear masks to church. They walk in and smile, tell everybody that everything is just going swell, while inside so many are barren and needing the love and friendship of each other, but they never receive it, because the need is unknown, hidden behind a facade. This is the Professional Christian.
It wasn’t just Paul that was blatantly honest about his circumstances and how he was feeling, Yeshua was likewise. And when Yeshua told His disciples of the things He must soon suffer in Jerusalem, Peter, sharply rebuked Him. Yeshua in turn rebuked Peter for lacking the Kingdom perspective. Clearly Yeshua was no Word of Faith preacher.
When we go to Church and tell people things that are not true, when we hide behind the masks we so expertly craft to keep everyone thinking that we’re doing ok, we disconnect ourselves from the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom is not positive or negative in this manner of thinking, the Kingdom is the most striking reality we’ll ever encounter. To enter this Kingdom, God will allow no fakes, no masks, no pretending everything is ok. To experience the Kingdom and all its fullness, we must drop the facade and be real with God and His people.
We’re not perfect. We make mistakes. Those in our families will embarrass us, we lose jobs, we lose our homes, we lose hope, and that’s exactly when we need to be open vulnerable people, letting our brethren see us, not our masks, so they can reach out, and bear our burdens with us.
Today, put the Professional Christian to death, and allow an authentic Christian to be raised in its place. May you walk into your fellowship, open, vulnerable, and real. Put down the mask, be broken, and free, to enter into His Kingdom and receive the healing that awaits the broken man.
And may you be covered in the dust of your rabbi, Yeshua.
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God's iPod is Free, thanks to our monthly supporters.
Our current monthly subscription total is: $130 out of a needed $1700.
Create your monthly subscription today by clicking here.
Someone recently said to me that I should not talk about my past or current hurts, pains and struggles, because it wasn’t professional and as a Christian minister, I should never be negative. This made me very angry. Do you know why?
When we read the accounts of Paul’s life, he was very positive, at times, but also very very negative at times. He would use language that if a Pastor was caught using today, he’d be chastized as I was, to stop being so negative and only speak positive words. In other words, he’s expected to lie.
Many people wear masks to church. They walk in and smile, tell everybody that everything is just going swell, while inside so many are barren and needing the love and friendship of each other, but they never receive it, because the need is unknown, hidden behind a facade. This is the Professional Christian.
It wasn’t just Paul that was blatantly honest about his circumstances and how he was feeling, Yeshua was likewise. And when Yeshua told His disciples of the things He must soon suffer in Jerusalem, Peter, sharply rebuked Him. Yeshua in turn rebuked Peter for lacking the Kingdom perspective. Clearly Yeshua was no Word of Faith preacher.
When we go to Church and tell people things that are not true, when we hide behind the masks we so expertly craft to keep everyone thinking that we’re doing ok, we disconnect ourselves from the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom is not positive or negative in this manner of thinking, the Kingdom is the most striking reality we’ll ever encounter. To enter this Kingdom, God will allow no fakes, no masks, no pretending everything is ok. To experience the Kingdom and all its fullness, we must drop the facade and be real with God and His people.
We’re not perfect. We make mistakes. Those in our families will embarrass us, we lose jobs, we lose our homes, we lose hope, and that’s exactly when we need to be open vulnerable people, letting our brethren see us, not our masks, so they can reach out, and bear our burdens with us.
Today, put the Professional Christian to death, and allow an authentic Christian to be raised in its place. May you walk into your fellowship, open, vulnerable, and real. Put down the mask, be broken, and free, to enter into His Kingdom and receive the healing that awaits the broken man.
And may you be covered in the dust of your rabbi, Yeshua.
Add this podcast to iTunes... or Add this podcast to my Email...