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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | What To Shut Your Mind Against | 2 Tim 2:23 | DocTrinsograce | 169965 | ||
Dear Brother Mark, You wrote, "I do wonder, though, what this forum would be like without any sarcasm, derision, condemnation, ulterior motives and agendas, criticism, and insults." To see this happen today is a simple matter: just remove the human ingredient. In glory, though, that won't be necessary, Praise God! All of these things originate in man's fallen heart (Galatians 5:19-21, cf Mark 7:20-23). I see comments like this and I sometimes wonder about them. Isn't there an incredible richness that has grown from this forum? Aren't there Godly friendships and fellowships that have formed as a result of this forum? Haven't we learned things from one another? Have we not encouraged and exhorted one another to greater study of the Word and a closer walk with our Lord? Yes, there is a lot of junk out there... but try to find something in which fallen men are involved in that doesn't have a lot of junk in it! Let's encourage one another a la Philippians 4:8 to spot the things that the Holy Spirit is doing. After all, God alone is able to break down the walls of partition that stem from the Fall (Ephesians 2:14-15). Truth will always divide. It divides the sheep from the goats, the wheat from the tares, the elect from the reprobate. Its a fact... Christ was quite explicit about it (Matthew 10:34). That doesn't mean we have to hyper-focus on it. It also doesn't mean that we have to be happy-go-lucky, pie-in-the-sky, sickly sweet, eternally cheerful people either. (The world sure sees through that! I wonder why most of our churches still pump it out as normative behavior?) Contrary to popular belief, that is NOT evidence of being filled with the Spirit. Striving to mortify the flesh and to be like Christ is hard, painful work! Our joy is nothing like the world's! Sarcasm is a tool used by the prophets, apostles, and Christ Himself. Our Lord received infinitely more undeserved derision than we will ever experience. If others knew us as God knows us, their criticisms could have far better grounding than anything they can otherwise come up with. Every time we are hurt by some insult (real or imagined) it simply means we're practicing self-idolatry, and misappropriating rights for which we have no authority to assume. In other words, the fact that we even notice this stuff is indicative of something wrong inside us rather than something wrong "out there." The answer to all of this is really simple, at least in apprehension. Let's love the truth, not amicability (2 Timothy 4:2). Let's love the Word, not our own knowledge (1 Corinthians 8:1). Let's love one another more than we love ourselves (Philippians 2:3). Let's turn our eyes on Jesus instead of on ourselves (Matthew 10:37). If we do those things, all that other junk will fade to the point of being unnoticeable. In Him, Doc |
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2 | What To Shut Your Mind Against | 2 Tim 2:23 | mark d seyler | 169997 | ||
Hi Doc, I will agree with you on the solution - remove the human ingredient - in each of us! The more we can walk in the Spirit, the less we will engage in behaviors that tear down instead of build up. In the home fellowship I attend, we went through a time of trouble. There was a very dear, kind, mature brother, who began to be the butt of an increasing number of jokes and jibes. Although when he and his wife, equally dear and beloved, left the fellowship, they told us that it was because they were missing the home fellowship they attended before, they didn't actually go back to that one, and I, for one, believe the actual reason they left was that they got tired of being treated that way. They came for edification, not to be torn down. So how much ministry are they receiving now from our little group? Before it got that bad, a couple of us said things to the group, about how that is not what we are called for. This was not popularly received, since everyone was having such a jolly ol' time. After those who were behaving that way drove out a very dear couple through their insensitivity, the message got through a little more clearly. Now we no longer behave that way. We welcome people in true love, knowing that we have a choice, to either build up, or tear down. I don't think God looks with approval on our tearing each other down. You don't give me very many options, Doc. Either remove the human element, or live with the sin. Should we not encourage each other to rise above it? To put it behind us? I think that there is fruit being produced among us, although I sometimes wonder what we would see if we saw through the Lord's eyes. This forum sends away far more people than it retains, and I just don't believe that is happening because we are all such a loving bunch. Do you actually think that the sarcasm of this forum is comparable to the sarcasm used by God?? It sure hasn't struck me that way! Just one man's opinion... But if it were only truth that I saw dividing between us, I wouldn't be saying a word, other than to rejoice that the truth is both known and taught. But I see a lot of other things tearing apart the fellowship. Is any focus a "hyper-focus"? Jesus didn't just ignore things that were wrong. He called people on what they were doing, and especially when it was behaviors that served to take people away from God. I don't just say, well, we're all fallen, what are ya gonna do? I am trying to encourage Redeemed Men to consistently show the love of Christ in their lives, and in their speech. Not your "sickly sweet, pie in the sky" phoney baloney love that people see through in a moment, as soon as they cross you (not "you" personal, but "you" general), but real love, love that genuinely desires the complete well-being of others, and is committed to that. You wrote "In other words, the fact that we even notice this stuff is indicative of something wrong inside us rather than something wrong "out there." Well, thank you for telling me what is wrong with me! That was certainly edifying! Doc, I don't care what people say to me. I do care when someone else reads inappropriate things said, and goes away, having seen yet more evidence that Christianity isn't worth the pew it sits in. I care very much when someone asks a question, and receives an inappropriate response. I don't Want to stop seeing such. I care too much about the flock for that. And should I continue to see behavior inappropriate for the people of God, I will continue to encourage them to rise above it. well, enough said. Love in Christ, Mark |
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3 | What To Shut Your Mind Against | 2 Tim 2:23 | Morant61 | 169998 | ||
Greetings Mark! Well said my friend! I have always found it illustrative that we are never once commanded in Scripture to be insulting, sarcastic, or rude. However, we are commanded: 1) 1 Tim. 4:11 - "Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity." 2) Col. 4:6 - "Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone." And, of course, Proverbs has much to say about the kinds of speech that one ought to engage in. :-) Though we are human, we can still season our speech with grace as God commands. Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |
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4 | What To Shut Your Mind Against | 2 Tim 2:23 | mark d seyler | 169999 | ||
Hi Tim, I pray we may learn to do so, and so doing, meet with our Master's approval at His coming! Thank you for your encouragement, my brother! Love in Christ, Mark |
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