We have our faults to work on first.
One of the things that contemporary society and the demand for tolerance towards the LGBTQ lifestyle has brought out is the hypocrisy of many Christians. While I will not entertain the debate over the LGBTQ lifestyle on this blog, I will say that Christians, myself included, need to look closely at how we regard sin. Overeating, adultery, fornication (premarital sex), drunkenness, getting even, and gossip are also sins according to the Bible. Many churches and Christians will avoid these and focus on what the Bible says about homosexuality. No wonder why the Christian faith in America and Europe is in decline.
Jesus tells us to put our own life under the microscope first
It takes little effort or spirituality to walk around and point out the sins of other believers and those who don’t believe in Jesus. But that’s the very opposite of what Jesus has told us to do. While this teaching is found in two places of the Bible, it’s the one in Matthew which drives it into the heart and soul. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye (Matthew 7:3-5).
As a follower of Christ, I do not have the right to call out the sins in the lives of others as long as I am still battling the strongholds of sin in my own life. How can I call out someone for gossipping if I’m binge eating or overeating? How can I tell someone their lifestyle is wrong when I willfully do things I know that I shouldn’t do in my own life?
Jesus also tells us to focus on our relationship with Him
In the gospel of John, there’s the story of Peter and Jesus before His ascension into Heaven. Peter has just been asked three times who he loves. And then Jesus tells Peter to feed His sheep. But Peter acts out like so many of us do. Instead of focusing on our relationship with the Lord, we immediately want to shift the focus: Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me (John 21:21-22). What Peter was saying was, “Ok, Lord, I get it. But what about John? What will you have him do?” The Lord’s response was simple. “Peter, it’s none of your business. Focus on what I’ve set in front of you!”
Too often in my own life, I have had to deal with this. The Holy Spirit brings me under conviction. I would often find other things to bring up in prayer to “discuss” with the Lord. That’s what Peter was doing. He was trying to shift the Lord’s focus from himself to John. The Lord desires a personal, deep, and meaningful relationship with each of us. Even when we have failed Him, He wants closeness with us. Paul writes For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s (1 Corinthians 6:20). His purchase didn’t include only the best of us; it also contains our faults and shortcomings.
We need spiritual fulfillment before we can minister to others
“You can’t draw water from an empty well” was one of my grandmother’s favorite sayings. It took me until I was 36 and going through a significant crisis that I truly understood what that saying meant. In one of Paul’s letters to Timothy, he writes But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel (1 Timothy 5:8). None of us would deny that it makes no sense to take care of the neighbor children when we haven’t provided for our own first. But this teaching is lost when it comes to our spiritual needs. From time to time, we all have spiritual needs. Sometimes, those needs go unmet for a variety of reasons. And this is when the problem occurs.
We have to focus on our spiritual health before we can minister to others. Ever try to take care of someone else while your heart is heavy and breaking? Have you noticed when you’re spiritually at peace how much more relaxed you are with even the most challenging task? When we have spiritual needs, and we try to minister to others, we are doing so with a heart filled with malice. That heart can quickly become a heart filled with resentment. By focusing on our spiritual needs first, it helps us to see more clearly the needs of others. And we can meet those needs with a joyful heart.
