Tag: Behaviors

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Evil Consensus.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. ‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬ ‭NLT‬‬

When Peter writes to the Church about ridding themselves of evil, he chose five words that every sensible person believes is WRONG. Peter says, “put these away!”

  • “dolos” – trickery, crafty deceit. The word comes from the word decoy.
  • “kakia” – malice, nasty naughtiness, wickedness, no shame in breaking the law.
  • “hypokrisis” – acting under a feigned part, a stage actor, a fake, a pretender.
  • “phthonos” – envy, spiteful jealousy.
  • “katalalia” – slander, backbiting, evil speaking.

Here’s what struck me. No one likes to be deceived. No one likes hypocrites. Everyone dislikes jealousy and nasty gossipers. And, when it comes to malice or a purposeful disregard for the law, it’s only those who are attracted to the bad boy/girl type who “like” it.

Point: You don’t have to be a believer, unbeliever, church or non-church goer, religious or non-religious to understand what Peter is writing about – they all agree! These are things we ALL hate and all struggle with. We have a general consensus and agreement that bad is bad.

We might not all have these behaviors frequently or all of them at once. But we do recognize them as wrong. Whether folks admit it or not, we have an internal, God-given conscience that tells us when we’re wrong. That means we have to actively override that conscience, struggling to silence it to continue to deceive, purposely pursue malice, hypocrisy, envy and be a backstabbing gossip!

Even still, the Apostle Paul tells Timothy that people can sear their own conscience in 1 Timothy 4:1-2, and get “life-advice” from demons! “Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead.” Our conscience is God-given and within each of us, Romans 2:15. “God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right.” If the conscience is “seared”—literally “cauterized”—then it has been rendered insensitive and become ineffective! It is wild that folks can “fry” their conscience but continue to convince themselves and others that everything is alright.

Is it more egregious to see a follower of Jesus continue to practice these behaviors with no remorse? Yes, I believe it is! Followers of Jesus should be the first ones to recognize these common human behaviors/sins and the first ones to say “I’m sorry.” We should be humble enough to not deflect our bad choices, defensively blaming others or making it sound like it’s not that big of a deal. The consequences of deception, intentional nastiness, hypocrisy, jealousy and spreading gossip is primarily pain for others. It’s also a poor representation of Jesus to the world that already believes that “Christians” look down on everyone else.

Peter’s admonition (truthful encouragement) is to get rid of these behaviors, but when we do fail and hurt someone, we should be honest about it and be quick to apologize. Even though there is an evil consensus about what is clearly bad, we can be examples of owning our own sin and show contrition (remorse) for it.

Prayer

Dad,
I have to admit, even though these behaviors are awful, I have caught myself acting them out. Not every one of them is a constant battle, but checking my behaviors and the motives behind them is a regular part of struggling. Especially when I’ve been hurt, want to get even or just feeling spiteful or awry. It is when I see a poor reflection of myself in Your Word, that I feel the pinch of Your Spirit to own it, repent of it and apologize when necessary. Honestly, the pain of asking someone’s forgiveness should be enough to help me to not act on these nasty behaviors. I am so thankful for the Holy Sprit nudges, and your mercy.

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Wisdom breaks the fourth wall.

Reading Time: 2 minutes

“Listen to the words of the wise; apply your heart to my instruction. For it is good to keep these sayings in your heart and always ready on your lips. I am teaching you today—yes, you— so you will trust in the Lord.” ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭22‬:‭17‬-‭19‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The wisdom writers work hard to give us knowledge and understanding about how life AND God, as well as life IN God, works.

However, the whole key to this idea of doing life well, is all about application. It’s applying what is learned directly into how one should live. Knowledge isn’t enough. One example is the label on cigarette packaging. It’s right there, telling us what these things will do to us, beckoning, begging us, to NOT smoke them. Why? Because they will kill us! My family were smokers, and I heard it hundreds of times, my mom would say, “I know these things are gonna kill me, but I do it anyways!” The knowledge, the warning, did nothing to stop her from doing what she wanted to do. Contrarily, just knowing I should walk, stretch and just move my body more does not always translate into exercise. In fact, in many cases, knowledge itself can be counterproductive to wisdom because it just turns into some random Snapple Cap, or trivial conversation at some boring dinner party.

Proverbs does encourage memorizing godly principles, just like it is wonderful to memorize God’s Word. But I love the reason, the why behind the idea of handily having quick access to truth. So that… I might not sin against God. Or, in this case the writer’s break the fourth wall and uses a cool literary trick to get our attention with a writing aside. Wisdom directly reaches out to the reader by saying, “I am teaching you – today.” Then, emphatically repeats, “Yes, you!” In this case the why of applying and committing these principles to memory is so YOU will trust in the Lord. The more knowledge is applied, becoming a reality in our behaviors, the more we grow in wisdom. Bonus, it further builds our trust in Yahweh.

Prayer

Dad,
How wonderful is Your Word! And, how amazing it is to see it work in my life and through my life. I love KNOWING your ways, but love LIVING your ways and behaving in godly character even more. I love it because I can feel and see the results in my life. May I continue ALWAYS – to be curious, to be childlike in a lifetime of learning. But may I reflect the beauty and wonder of your light and love in the world around me too!

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Our behavior is our I.D. badge.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭7‬:‭15‬-‭20‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Jesus actually tells us to be careful when we are identifying good people from bad – especially those who claim to be spokespersons for God (prophets). This is tricky because we are instructed to be fruit inspectors but leave the final call, the judgment of how to deal with fakes and falsities up to God.

First of all, badges and titles mean very little in terms of authenticity, authority and allowing someone to lead, guide or even correct us. This is our current crisis of leadership and authority figures today! The Pastor may wear a collar, a tie or a title, but if they are not acting like a good shepherd, BE CAREFUL – BE AWARE. A police officer, judge, doctor, teacher or governor may hold the title, but if their fruit, their behaviors don’t match the position – be on your guard.

How can the average person know how to tell the difference between a good, authoritative person and a bad one? Jesus told us. Check out the way they act, not their clothes, symbolic accoutrements, or titles. How do they treat you, and others? The object lesson helps all of us, even a child, identify who is not only safe, but helpful in our lives. Can you find or eat a yummy grape off a thorny bush or tumbleweed? Nope. A tree or bush only produces what it IS, not what it would wish to BE. If you are a spokesperson for God, or an authority figure, quit pushing your position and title around and start behaving like a person of good character. I’ve heard folks say this when trying to make others comply to their commands, “Do you know who I am?” When they have to use that line to convince someone to cower and obey, we know they’ve got a fruit/behavior identity problem.

By the way, Jesus did sparingly use his title with the guys who said they worked for and represented God. He told them straight out – “I AM,” using the culturally unspoken, unwritten, name of God – Yahweh. This obviously made the religious leader’s blood boil! But with most people, average outliers and sideliners, he didn’t speak his title, he spoke love, compassion, forgiveness, mercy and healing! Those sound like behavioral actions to me.

How about letting our behaviors be our I.D. badge? In conversations with people I interact with, I rarely introduce myself as a Pastor. Am I ashamed to do so? Not at all. I just want to lead with behavior, not my badge. After a few moments of talking to someone, sometimes I get the common, “so what do you do?” question. Sometimes I’ll tell people, “I am a hopebroker.” That always initiates a whole new conversation! However, there are times I just tell them straight out, “I’m a Pastor.” I love the look on their face after that. Sometimes they will pay me the highest compliment ever, “well, you don’t act like one!” they’ll say. Meaning, I didn’t judge them, look down on them or start a typical controversial argument they might expect from a religious person. The only time I use the official title of Pastor (I say Minister) is when doctors or hospital personnel won’t let me visit someone who is in a health crisis 😇.

Prayer

Dad,
I want to wear grace like a nice outfit. I want mercy and patience to be my business card. I want your character attributes, the fruit of the Spirit to be what hangs on the title of my life-door. I need a lot of help to get my fruit to match my tree! Help me BE Jesus before I even start talking about my christian credentials.