I looked in the mirror this morning. I actually looked scary. Long night. Not enough sleep. Too much gray hair and a few bags under my eyes. Aging is a normal part of life but in our culture it is frowned upon and something to fight. Creams, potions, lotions, botox, and frownies (tape for your face so you don’t wrinkle while you sleep). We can’t really stop our bodies from aging. The one thing we can hope for is that we have grown older and more mature in wisdom.
“Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12
When I was younger I believed people were either 100% right or 100% wrong. If you thought like me you were right and if not then ,yes you guessed it, you fell into the wrong category. Sounds funny but you and I both know people who grow old who still have that mindset.
“He who trusts in himself is a fool,
but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe.” Proverbs 28:26
I have been around long enough to watch the Christian pendulum swing. Usually from one extreme to the other. Younger folks thinking they are coming up with a new thought that I remember from 20 years ago. But it is wonderful they are interested. It takes extreme movements to make small changes. Hopefully the plumb line will always be the Bible.
"The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever”. Isaiah 40:8
There was a swing from legalism (knowing all the rules and doing nothing and being proud about it) to living out the bible but maybe not knowing exactly what it says. Just knowing what someone says it says. Factions of people got tired of hearing Christians speak about it but not living it out. The church got a bad reputation for housing hypocrites. So the “let’s be an authentic Christian” movement began. Doesn’t that mean REAL? That sounds nice! Real is good.
“But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.” James 1:22
If you compare the Christian live to our body you could use the eating and exercising example. If all we do is eat then we would die. If all we do is exercise without food we would die. It is the same in the Christian life spiritually speaking. It takes biblical knowledge and living it out to be all Christ desires us to be. To bring Him glory. Not puff up ourselves. Some teachers are experts in teaching the scriptures some are experts in teaching us how to live it out in our lives. We are responsible for learning on our own also. All is necessary! All is good!
Back to my percentage rule, I have learned that if I want to learn I must be open. Since most people (myself included) are about 70% right and 30% wrong or vice versa, (rough estimate for the example) then everyone has something they can teach me. I am talking about bible believing spirit filled Christians not some Hindu/Buddhist spiritualist. I do stay away from cultic teachers. If you know the real thing you will recognize the false. You don’t need to study the false teachings.. It is a trap to get you off focus in the name of knowing what we are up against. We already know what we are up against. DECEIT! It is time wasted you could be spending in the true Word of God.
“Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men,
from men whose words are perverse”, Proverbs 2:12
Anyway, I might talk/read/listen to someone who has a small percent of correctness but it might fill up the percentage of the wrong the person before them taught me. Evidentially, I will get the whole truth and grow and mature. Years ago when I heard someone say something I knew was incorrect, I never listened to them again. My loss. I probably missed out. Remember no one is ever 100% correct. I try to be open enough to learn but not so open my brains fall out.
“Turn your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding”, Proverbs 2:2
As the body of Christ when we fellowship and share what we have learned in love we can enlighten each other to be stronger than we could be alone. Together we could be 100% God’s plan for the church.
Bottom line is if accurate scripture is being consumed and being exercised out in our lives we will live out our purpose and the world will see Jesus in action in our day.
