Rethinking…

Tonight, I was challenged a bit by what I wrote in my own blog post a few days ago and comments that I wrote to a post made by Brian Jones. I continue to wrestle with the issues and comments expressed in both of these places, and I now wrestle with some of the challenges laid before me this evening.

For one, I do not want my words to detract from others growth towards God. So if my words caused people to think twice in a negative way about this whole “Christ follower” thing than I apologize. That was by no means my intent. Paul in the book of Colossians 4:6 says, “6Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” I’m not sure if all my words were full of grace (not by intent, but by perception), and I’m sorry for that.

On the other hand, Hebrews 10:23-25 says “23Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Encouragement was the intent of my comments. I truly want people to know Christ and the power of His resurrection. I’m thankful for people in my life who have strongly encouraged me to grow.

One of the awesome things about going to our church is that there is a huge mix of people who are kicking the tires on this whole Christianity thing and people who are on fire for Christ. Understanding this and putting it into proper perspective gives some explanation into the reasons for my frustration in the first place.

I’m sure I will continue to wrestle with this for a while. I’m thankful for the grace of God and for the fact that I have people in my life who will call me on the carpet from time to time.

Until the next post, I wrestle on…