Feedback We all like to receive affirmation that we are doing a good job or doing the right thing. I am currently teaching horseback classes at a summer camp. Most of my words are giving an instruction or correction to a student followed by several encouragements. When we are learning something new, dangerous, or difficult it can be very helpful to be praised for our progress and advancement in the endeavor. Even when we are veterans at a certain task that is very subjective, such as an artisan or creator, it helps to receive positive feedback. However, the most helpful responses are probably those that point out areas where changes need to be made or where improvement is possible. The problem is that most of us, the present author included, don’t like to have our flaws and failures pointed out. These kinds of criticisms can cause someone to feel incompetent, ill equipped, or just down right worthless. But when they are received with genuine humility they can prove to be a true blessing and benefit. Of course, part of the difference can rest on the person bringing the criticism. If the individual is an enemy or worse an enemy who poses as friend or brother then the criticism may be a form of attack and not an honest assessment of the situation. If the criticism is mean spirited then the person in the bullseye of the attack will no doubt feel vulnerable and defensive. On the other hand, if the criticism is brought with the best interest of the brother being criticized in mind, then this can be a real asset. In this case, the goal is not to harm or to wound but to help and to heal. In the end, both the person receiving the criticism and the relationship should be stronger and better. Wrong Way I would like to share a horrible example from scripture of how we should not receive criticism. In 2 Samuel 17, the usurping son of David, Absalom, received two differing plans for how to deal with his pursuit of his absconding father. I don’t intend to deal with the differing advice only with the fact that when Absalom chose not to follow the advice of Ahithophel, Ahithophel is reported to have went away and committed suicide. I think it is important to note as well that this is no crime of passion where in shock at having his advice unheeded he fell from his horse or out of a window or onto his sword. No, Ahithophel saddled his donkey, rode all the way home, set his affairs in order and hanged himself. This post is not really about suicide that is a deep and grievous issue. But the point here is that Ahithophel did not consider that his life was even worth living in light of his advice being ignored. He did not know how to wisely receive this rebuke. Especially since in less than 24 hours Absalom would be dead and David restored. A Better Way The wisdom of God not only gives us this example of the wrong way that we should avoid but also a better way for Christians to deal with constructive criticism. In Proverbs 27:6, it says “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.” The point being made is that a true friend, or better yet brother in Christ, will love you enough to tell you hard things. Not in an effort to hurt or humiliate, but from a genuine desire to help and strengthen you for even greater service for God and for His glory. But this wisdom is not only in the proverbs. The Apostle Paul teaches something closely related to this in his letter to the Ephesians(4:15). Here Paul tells believers that a sure sign of Christian maturity is that we speak the truth in love. I think that there are two points to be gleaned from Paul saying “speak the truth in love.” First, we need to speak the truth with the motivation of love. The source of our criticism must be our care and affection for our brother or sister, not any desire to put them in their place. If our motivation isn’t right it really doesn’t matter what we say or how we say it. Secondly, if our motivation is love then we ought to want to speak in a way that also communicates that love. Many things are not communicated well because they are not communicated to be heard but rather to be said. We can all be guilty of saying a thing just to get it off our chest when the motivation and the application was not loving but rather for our own selfish benefit. Remember love is not selfish. The love of God that should be growing in us as Christians is a giving and sacrificing love (1 Corinthians 13). So brothers and sisters, let us love one another and always speak the truth!
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Heat Summer is really here! The temperatures have risen. I am not a fan of the sweltering heat of the mid-year season. I find it especially uncomfortable. I have heard that much of our country is experiencing a heat wave. As uncomfortable as someone like me may find the heat, there is a point when the heat moves from merely being uncomfortable to being dangerous. The heat can do damage to the body even resulting in death. Because this is the case, people must recognize the danger and rightly deal with the pain that the heat is inflicting. In this post, I want to think about pain and what its purpose is in our lives. Obstacle The first thing that we should recognize is that pain can often be an obstacle to be overcome. If you decide to start a new exercise program and load your muscle groups with work that they are not accustomed to you will experience pain. The pain will make you want to quit, but if you are going to accomplish your goal of increasing strength and becoming more healthy then you must overcome the pain. In this way pain is a barrier to the good things that need to happen in your life and this barrier must be overcome. Barriers are key to understanding the mission of gospel expansion in the world. If we never worked to overcome painful barriers then the gospel would never advance. But missionaries and believers who support them must sacrifice to the point of pain for the advancement of the gospel beyond these barriers. Endurance In Romans 5, Paul tells these congregations of believers in Rome, that as believers in Christ we rejoice even in our suffering because our suffering results in a chain reaction that produces hope. Now, the next step after suffering is endurance in this domino effect. Without suffering we would not learn that endurance that would give us the kind of mature character that should be the attribute of every genuine descendant of Abraham and David. But both of the terms “suffering” and “endurance” imply something hard, uncomfortable, or even painful that is in opposition to our growth in grace. Warning However, pain is not always something to be overcome or endured. Pain can also be a warning that something is wrong. The pain of touching something hot actually protects us from the destruction of our flesh. The pain of a heart attack can cause us to seek the medical attention that can save our lives. Even just the fear of pain can often keep us from making some risky, foolish decisions. Pain can also motivate us to make changes that we would not usually make. It can cause us to take necessary actions to improve our situation because we do not want to stay in the painful circumstances any longer. In this way pain actually assists us in our way toward holiness by motivating our transformation. Certainly if the world were not infected with sin (Genesis 3) then we would not be afflicted with pain (Revelation 21:4). But in God’s gracious way even pain can serve for our ultimate good and His eternal glory! Busy Technically, it isn’t summer until June 21st. But, I think we can all agree that summer starts on Memorial Day. Our summer is off to a busy start. This week we have been having Vacation Bible School. This has been one of the best VBS’s that I have ever been around. Everyone has been so positive and energetic about pointing the children to the truth found in the Bible. Our theme has been “Farmer’s Market,” emphasizing the fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5:22. On top of that, of course, all of the hustle and bustle of normal life has continued on. Camp, vacations, various summer activities seem to pile our days and nights with a seemingly infinite list of things to do. This isn’t a bad thing, just something worth recognizing. In keeping with our VBS theme and the season, the old saying “you have to make hay while the sun shines” comes to mind. During these busy seasons it is important that we not miss the blessing that we have received. Baptists This is also the time of year that many of the denominations are having their big annual meetings and that includes the Southern Baptist Convention. I was not in attendance at the SBC annual meeting and, barring some extreme providence, doubt that I will ever again attend that meeting. I really don’t want to comment on the things that took place there, because my views would be second hand at best. However, one of the things that I often hear surrounding these meetings (in almost all denominations) is the struggle between the liberals and the conservatives. This often parallels the same kind of conversation observed in the wider political sphere. Of course, many of the specific things being argued about are things that would be differences between liberals and conservative. However, especially concerning the SBC, I think the division is actually at a different point than liberal and conservative. I think the distinction is actually, at least among these Baptists, between the pragmatists and the biblicists. By biblicist, I mean those who believe that if we only do things according to instruction and prescription of the Bible, we can expect God to bless His church according to His purpose (Ephesians 1:11-12). I do not mean to say that the others do not believe in or trust God’s word, but only that the biblists are committed to simply obeying and applying the Bible to the life and mission of the church. On the other side of the debate are those who would also affirm the inerrancy, infallibility, authority, and even sufficiency of the Bible, but they would say that it can be faithfully contextualized to our culture in a way that is not as strict and offensive. The pragmatist believes that this is necessary if the minds and hearts of men are going to turn toward God in repentance and faith. I believe that so much of the debating happening amongst churches today stems from this very distinction. This is not only true on the denominational level, but also on the local church level. Many people in a genuine desire to reach people with the gospel are wanting and encouraging their churches to use unbiblical practices for the sake of evangelism. But the problem with programmatic and pragmatic evangelism is that it uses things that lost people like to bring them in and in many cases these people become a part of the church without being born again to new life in Christ. Thus the church must do more pragmatic things to keep these goats entertained and the cycle continues until the church is destroyed. This destruction can mean that the church closes because no one comes or worse, it grows but has no genuine gospel testimony. Fruit Ironically, the pragmatist will argue that their way produces results, such as baptisms, attendance, budgetary goals, etc. But the fruit that the Lord is most concerned with is the fruit of the Spirit and the transformation of people's lives. The Lord Jesus in closing out His great sermon on the Mount pointed us to the fact that the good trees are shown to be so by the good fruit that they bear (Matthew 7:17-20). But the good fruit is the eternal fruit not the temporal fruit, so it takes changed hearts and transformed eyes to see it (Ephesians 1:16-21). Pride Month June is here. As I write this post I am reflecting on the homecoming festivities that we enjoyed this past weekend in our hometown. Every year on the first Saturday in June people with some familial or historical connection to Shirley, Arkansas descend on our little valley to mingle and get reacquainted. Many of the same stories will be told again and the young ones will be introduced to traditions and experiences that go back now, sometimes four or five generations. This is not unique to our small village. It is common to rural communities across our country, especially during the summer months. But now the purveyors of so much wickedness and sin in our culture have chosen to co-opt this month for the promotion of iniquity and perversity. They have also picked the banner of the rainbow to symbolize their movement and cause. In blatant disregard for the covenant intent of the rainbow or worse in blasphemous contempt of our great creator and covenant keeping King! Noahic In the days before the great flood of water deluged the planet on account of the wrath of God against sin, the Bible says that “Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence.” This section of Scripture is often debated on many finer points, but everyone should be able to agree that life among the people of that time was marked by sin and rebellion. I think that we could easily conclude that today our world and most of the cultures of the world are infected with the same kind of disease of sin and rebellion. This post is not meant to dive into the distinctions in eschatological conclusions. But from a historical perspective, cultures seem to ebb and flow in direct proportion to the promotion and reception of the gospel in that culture. Genesis 4 ends with men beginning to call on the name of the Lord. But idolatry and all sorts of immorality also grow quickly after the fall of mankind into sin. Of course, we must remember that while it is only a few chapters, many centuries are covered in the period from the fall to the account of the flood. But even still the population is thoroughly corrupted by sin as it is shown that the fallen heart is totally depraved.(Genesis 6:5) However, the story of Noah is not only a recounting of man’s wickedness and God’s just punishment of sin, but also the record of God’s grace in saving humanity by rescuing Noah and his family. It is interesting that just as we are saved by trusting God’s word of revelation and believing in Jesus, they were also saved by believing what God had revealed to Noah and trusting in the vehicle of redemption provided by God’s own perfect design. But even after the waters subsided and the image bearers are again safe on dry soil, the story continues in God’s faithful covenant promises made to Noah. The Lord affirmed the early covenant made with Adam by giving the Noahic family the charge to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” God gives them all the animals and plants as food, only restricting them from the consumption of a being's lifeblood. In this covenant, the Lord also instituted capital punishment for the sin of murder. Finally, God establishes His covenant with Noah and all life on the earth to never again destroy all flesh through the means of a great flood. All covenants also have signs of the covenant promises that have been made. God gives us the sign of the rainbow as a reminder of His amazing grace and mercy. Divine Patience The Apostle Peter refers back to the events of the deluged world at the end of his second epistle. Peter reminds his readers that the world that then existed was destroyed by a cataclysmic worldwide flood. But he goes on to tell us that this current world will likewise be destroyed by a cataclysmic global inferno (2 Peter 3:5-13). The reason that Peter informs us about this coming destruction is because the Lord is patient toward His people so that they all will reach repentance before that great and terrible day comes. Peter tells us that since this judgment is sure and that this salvation is real, we should wait for this by living lives of holiness and godliness in this present age, while resting in the Lord’s promise of a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. |
AuthorEddie Ragsdale Archives
August 2024
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