May 27
The Acid Test
My wife and I have been talking about our relationships with the people around us. You know all the people that are around us like friends, family, and co-workers. The person we buy coffee from everyday from at Starbucks or that weird next-door neighbor we wave to every once and awhile. The conversation always starts with talk about the people that are easy to have around and then eventually about the difficult people that are in our life. I mean as followers of Christ we do carry a certain responsibility to love people but with some people, it is just hard to do.
I think what is happening here is that we are being challenged to change our thinking about what and who is important especially as it relates to the Kingdom of God.
The book of Matthew records conversation between Jesus and an expert in Jewish law.
34Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[b] 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[c] 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Mathew 22:34-40
It is funny to me that the Pharisees ask one question but Jesus answers two! He knew what they were looking for but he took it to a Kingdom perspective to show us something that is overlooked.
38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[c] 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Jesus is telling them, “Look, not only is loving God important but everything you believe about the law, the prophets and life hang on how you treat your neighbor and the people around you.
Love God and love people.”
No gimmicks
Not a master plan
No formulas
Just… love God and love people
The two are inseparable. You cannot truly love if you do not love God. You cannot say you love God and not love the unlovable.
I don’t want to list all the different actions and attitudes we have had over the generations but, just like the Pharisees, the traditional Church has held onto “tradition” and “values” trying to call them godly. They may be historical or traditional but, many times, they are not at all Godly.
There needs to be a change in our thinking about whom and what is important especially as it relates to the Kingdom of God. There needs to be a radical return to authenticity.
- Authenticity: the quality of being genuine.
What God wants is authenticity.
When testing the authenticity of a piece of gold, an Acid Test is performed. This is done by placing a small drop of a strong acid onto the metal’s surface. If it is a common metal, it will fizz or bubble and eat away at the surface but precious metals like gold are unaffected.
God wants the real deal and the real deal starts with us reconsidering who we are. I think that we should all sit down, examine the Sermon on the Mount, and ask ourselves, “How do I measure up?” This will be the Acid Test of your spiritual authenticity.
This can be an uncomfortable process if we are honest with ourselves and let the Word melt away the pyrite and reveal the pure gold. God with remove the superficial and leave what is genuine.
It is a rather simple test. There is no need to get theological or even philosophical because all we have to do is read what Jesus says and do what Jesus did. Then we will pass the Acid Test. Jesus is the only philosophy and He is perfect theology.
Authentic Christian people are all about love, blessing and restoration. Too often we have taken the position to blame, shame and maim.
I have gotten to the point where I truly don’t give a crap about what someone is or does. I have come to understand that my role here isn’t to judge but to be a bringer of change. In other words, be a conduit that brings heaven to earth. We are to be the vessels of change not “the easily offended!”
We can no longer buy into the idea that, because we have been called holy and set apart, this somehow makes us above the rest. That is a blatant misuse of our royal position in the Kingdom.
Do you know who thought like this?
THE PHARASEES!!!
The more I work through this the more I see the Pharisee in me. To be authentic believers we have to break the thoughts that we are somehow better than everyone else is (As if we are not in as much need of God’s grace and mercy as the next guy.). Our Royal position as children of the King is to not to go out into this world and destroy it but to bring people into our Father, the King’s, kingdom.
Tolerance vs. Grace
Every major religion has specific ways to earn approval with God from Karma to Covenant Laws, but with Christianity it boils down to one thing: GRACE.
Grace says that God accepts you and loves you without condition – “as is”…with all the dirt and shame.
The message we have is a message of grace, the amazing life changing grace of God.
It is with this message that we funnel Heaven to earth – We lead the charge as the Kingdom of heaven and God’s grace invades earth. Through us, grace is presented to a world that is starved for Grace. The world in all creative and desperate attempts cannot reproduce grace. The best it can do is Tolerance.
Tolerance is one of those hot-button words that go along with being “politically correct” or compassionate. Tolerance is not grace because all it does is require us to just put up with something that we don’t like. Tolerance, as well meaning as it is, does not value people it only endures them. Tolerance alone cannot accommodate both justice and mercy – it can only look the other way. Tolerance may deal with our differences, but it can’t embrace us in full knowledge of sin and remove our guilt; only grace does that.
Mahatma Gandhi said this:
“Everybody in the world knows what Jesus taught – except for Christians!”
Well I’m calling shenanigans …it’s time to show the world that we are authentic and refute the stigma of being judgmental and intolerant. Live grounded in the truth and be funnels of Heaven and God’s grace bringing healing and His transforming love.
We have to get over some things about ourselves.
We have to go beyond politics, and religion, sexual orientation and race. Grace is to transcend all people to lead them into the Kingdom. That’s the message we carry. If we are people of Jesus then we are people of Grace. Anything less is just fool’s gold.
However, I consider my life worth nothing to me,
if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—
the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.
Acts 20:24
Chew on that for a while!
~Rude Dog
Go Grace Go!
hi, this is so something i deal with everyday, I pray God would help me in this area, being raised a babtist didnt help, God has given me a big task that has to do alot with reaching hurt ones and being a world changer, I cant do that if I have this judging, no mercy for others, I know God has given me this to read today because he wants me to change and stay changed and just love people for who they are and give them grace,I spent time with family this past week some i have not seen in awhile I see they are lost and wondering from God and because I care so much because God has made my heart so sensitive I cry for them, but then on the other hand i judge them and get upset at what they do, i just tolerate them, but truly my heart goes out to them so deeply does this sound crazy or make sense? I have learned alot this past week, and then reading this as so touched and helped me, I just wish I could control my feelings when it comes to these family members and some people because I so much want to just love and be genuine it is in me!