I want to be transparent about the nature of this post. Its purely anecdotal. But it highlights one of my own struggles that perhaps some of you will understand.
For the longest time, I have been reading a book called The Making of a Man of God. Its an exposition on the life of David, and its a breathtaking piece of work. It has been my prayer that God change me into that type of man. That He remove from me the heart of stone and replace it with a heart that loves Him, sanctifying my flesh and setting me apart for His good purposes (Ezekiel 36). Unfortunately, what I am learning, is that sometimes the sanctification part isn't all that fun.
Today I made a mistake. I have been a harsh critic of many churches' responses to the pandemic, and I believe that my stance is a hard biblical one. From a biblical perspective, and from a historical perspective, I believe that churches should remain open during the pandemic. I would encourage you to read up on the works of Josephus and the reformer Martin Luther, and see their responses to much deadlier plagues in the first and fourteenth centuries, in addition to doing your own research on what practices are effective and necessary. That is not the important part of this, though I may address it in a future post. The point is that I publicly addressed an issue by calling my pastor out on social media, tagging him in a post that essentially undermined his pastoral qualifications, when I should have addressed it privately.
The content itself was not wrong. It's an opinion based on biblical and theological truths and historically significant cases, but the context is where the Holy Spirit convicted me. I knew by the Spirit that my post was made out of frustration at the lack of voice of the church in the midst of this crisis. I also knew that though my issue may be valid, I should have taken the proper course of action and exhorted my pastor through the proper channels. I have since pulled the offending content and issued an apology to my pastor.
"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift."
Matthew 5: 23-25
My point is not to justify or mitigate the consequences of my tendency to put my foot in my mouth, nor is it to edify my own ability to rectify my iniquities. I would prefer to keep this to myself, as it is honestly a rather embarrassing situation. However, I find it to be emblematic of my journey in sanctification through Christ, and therefore of value, I hope, to you.
If you want to be a man of God who walks with the Holy Spirit, you need to be willing to hear His voice. Furthermore, we, as aspiring men of God, should be ready and willing to move when the Spirit commands it, receive convictions when we hear them, and deny our pride and flesh when He wills it. It is how we are sanctified. If we refuse to do those things, we grieve the Holy Spirit and sin against Him. Obedience is not easy. It is part of the narrow road that leads to life.
Furthermore, sanctification does not mean we are broken and worthless. In fact, it means the opposite. It's the process of the Almighty God healing us because he sees value in us, setting us apart and making us holy, and developing in us fruits of the Spirit that further His Kingdom and allow us to withstand the attacks of the agents of darkness. We were dead in sin, now alive in Christ. We ought to embrace the sanctification process with joy and gladness, with fervor and temerity.
Why is my anecdote relevant?
Because sometimes the Holy Spirit tells you to do things that don't make sense. That are uncomfortable. Like denying your pride and issuing a public apology on a 10,000+ follower social media account. Like having a lot of people not understand why I was apologizing for something that was not technically wrong, but wrong in how it was implemented. Sometimes sanctification looks a lot like humility. He is still teaching me that one. I must embrace it nevertheless.
Brothers, embrace the uncomfortable process of sanctification. It is the Holy Spirit preparing you to be the bride of Christ. I pray that God sanctifies you, and that it changes you completely.
Stay strong in the faith, brothers.
-M
Comments