Let your actions speak so Loud

There is a saying that I heard several years ago that said "let your actions speak so loud I cannot hear what you say." I don't know where I heard it, but it made a lot of sense to me. I grew up in the era where children where told to "do as I say, not as I do." Even as a kid I recognized the statement to be a little unfair but I didn't have the capacity to understand that it was simple hypocrisy. This is the very reason that Christians are called to the carpet. The world will quickly point out when we are acting contrary to the scriptures we like to tout. So often we drivel on and on about what we profess to believe, but lack the fortitude to do anything about it. We like to quote scriptures and get into nonsensical debate about how we are right about this and that,but when it comes to living it out the testament numbers dwindle. In one breath a scripture is quoted and in the next a profanity. The dichotomy is a direct reflection into the heart of men. In other words, when we become a believer (aka Christians) our sin nature doesn't automatically disappear. But if we are growing and maturing Christians, it shouldn't be easy to profess the one and not feel ashamed of the other. Growing as a Christian has nothing to do with posting a scripture on our Facebook or MySpace. It doesn't mean that we simply go to church every Sunday and put on our moral face mask. Where the rubber meets the road is in the daily routine of life.

I went to Wednesday night service tonight and I have to admit that I didn't really want to be there. I fidgeted in my sit throughout the entire sermon. My mind kept drifting to my budget, then on a project for work and then to the weekend plans. Everytime this happens I have to force myself to pay attention. I have learned that the more I am feeling distracted or reluctant to be at church or to listen to a sermon, the more I have to fight to attend or pay attention. I know that there is something that I need to hear, otherwise I would not be feeling so incredibly distracted. I was on the edge of my seat tonight ready to run for the door. But, I stayed the course. The last bullet point to the lesson was that relationships are essential for reaching people for the gospel. I know that isn't a huge aww haaa moment, but there is more. I've begun to realize that God is trying to tell me that nothing really matters in this life other than relationships. When God is trying to drive a point home with me His spirit usually confirms the point by repeating the same "message" to me in different ways. Sometimes it is in my scripture reading, a radio message or a bullet point in a sermon. I can usually count on the fact that if I have heard it three times, then He wants me to pay attention. The last twenty or more years of my life I have had a myriad of rocky relationships. I'm not talking about romantic relationships either. (Though one of them was a failed marriage.) As I look back I realize that I have to take a long, hard look at my role in those relationships. I was listening to one of my favorite Christian counselors on the radio today (June Hunt) and she was talking about co-dependency and what we have to do when we have allowed ourselves to be in bad relationships. She used the analogy of a surgeon that has just informed a patient that they have cancer. Now, the surgeon could say "oh, you have cancer but I don't want to cause you any pain so I won't operate" or "you have cancer, therefore we need to operate. It may hurt, but we need to get the cancer out so you will be better." The same thing is true when it comes to relationships. Its important to look at ourselves and determine the things that we need to remove in our lives that have resulted in bad decisions or even bad relationships. The process may hurt, but in the end it is for our good. If you read the Bible for any length of time it is easy to see that God's primary goal and ultimate "purpose" for our life is relationships. Primarily our relationship with God through his Son, Jesus is first and foremost and everything else flows from that. Others become our next focus so that our lives may represent something different and we are able to give God the glory. But instead of taking on the endeavour of building relationships we decide that it is so much easier to quote scripture and get our religious armament stocked. We like to have battles and wage war and ignore our true purpose. Scripture tells us clearly that the battle is not ours to wage. The battle is the Lords. Instead, we are to rely on him and our daily lives should be a reflection of that relationship. As we grow and mature we begin to empty ourselves of selfish ambitions to reach out to a hurting and dying world. This takes time though and most of us want everything in an instant; instant messaging, instant pudding, instant coffee, instant Christianity. I have some work to do on this one myself. I enjoy instant gratification just like everyone else. Relationships take work and quite frankly they are difficult for me. I also have many battle scars to overcome. It takes time to build relationships and even more time to rebuild them. But as I live in the reflection of Jesus, my actions will speak louder than any words that I say. Just my thoughts on this ordinary Wednesday evening.