The other day a few people (not from our church) asked me, "what do you do if your wife picks out some clothes that you don't really like?" I said, "I'll tell her." They hardly believed me. In fact, some of them scolded me and said that would be unkind. Since when is it unkind to speak the truth? After lunch, if you see someone who has a streak of mustard on his cheek, don't you tell him so that he can get it off? That's an uncomfortable feeling. We don't like to say something that may potentially embarass someone else. But what if we don't speak up?!?! Someone will be walking around with mustard on his face... and it will be YOUR fault if you didn't tell him!
The Life we are seeking as a Body in Christ is much more than merely having a church where we know each other really well. We do want to merely "know one another well". We want to help each other conform to Christ--to become all that he wants us to be. Part of that is being willing to speak up when we see something in our brother or sister's life that appears to be un-Christlike.
We need to be willing to obey God and "speak the truth in love" when necessary, even taking along with us two or three others when a person displays an unopen attitude, or a prideful, rebellious attitude in not wanting to hear.
What I have just written about hardly ever happens in most "churches". Let's break the mold. Let's be willing to not let our brothers and sisters walk around with "mustard" on their faces.
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2 comments:
"But what if we don't speak up?!?! Someone will be walking around with mustard on his face..."
darn good point!
A true friend will tell you the truth no matter how much it hurts.
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