This week we continued exploring “What if...” at Journey.
Week one we looked into “What if we Cared?”, this week we built on that and went deeper into “What if we were honest”
Yeah.... Honesty.
Like Billy Joel wrote and sang....
“Honesty is such a lonely word.
Everyone is so untrue.
Honesty is hardly ever heard.
And mostly what I need from you.”
Amazing how we want people to be honest with us, yet we so often find it hard to be honest with others. I believe we as Christians especially long for honesty, yet it’s really hard to live out. In fact, real honesty within Christian circles is extremely hard to live out. It’s always been that way. Why because once we have Christ in our lives, once we have let God move back into our lives, somehow we have been told, or it’s implied... “PUT ON A HAPPY FACE”. After all God saved you and you’re free so everything has to be better.
In Jesus time... the religious leaders were the best at keeping up their image, appearances and happy face. This is also the group that Jesus spoke out against the most passionately. Jesus exposed the religious leaders, the Pharisees, Sadducees and Priest HYPROCISY. We often give the religious leaders a bad rap in Jesus day. After all Jesus publicly calls many of them, not all of them as HYPOCRITES. Do you know where the term HYPOCRITE came from? A Hypocrite as actor. The actor would hide behind a mask and play their role out. The goal... was to have the audience see and believe that the man and the mask were one and the same. A great hypocrite could change masks and have the audience believe he was now someone else.
Sad to say, but many of us are Modern Day PHARISEE HYPOCRITES. I wonder how many of us well intentioned Christians, juggle several masks at the same-time? Hyprocisy is an attempt to escape the pain, embarrassment and discomfort that comes with the sin in our lives.
Hypocrisy is all about IMAGE.
When we try and keep up appearances, our image, it gets to be exhausting.
Image vs Honesty is a real big battle for many of us. It is especially hard for religious people. As religious people we have been shown and told, put on a smile, let others see how good you are.... but don’t you dare take the mask off.
One of the strongest emotions in our lives is fear.
Fear blocks honesty.... actually fear is the arch-enemy of honesty.
What if we were honest means that our image can not be more important that building and having real, authentic, relationships.
Instead of fear blocking us, we need to become more transparent with those closest to us. To be really honest, we must get honest with God, ourselves and then others. Because the real issue is not the many masks we wear, but the condition of our heart.
Jeremiah the OT Prophet understood this issues as he wrote.
Jeremiah 17:9-10
9 “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things,
and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?
10 But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives.
I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.”
Until get real, honest and expose our ugly sinful hearts, we can’t be really honest with anyone. Not even ourselves. How important is honesty to you? How important is integrity to you? Don’t wait for someone to be honesty with you, start first with being honest with God and yourself.
It’s amazing how dangerous and yet freeing honesty can be.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Monday, November 08, 2010
“refrigerator rights”
This weekend we started a new message series at Journey called “What if?...” It’s a discussion series based on dreams and idea, on what our churches and lives may be like if we were more like the first century church.
Week number one focused on “What if we really cared for one another?”
Have you ever heard of a book called “REFRIGERATOR RIGHTS”
It’s a title of a book that came out a couple of years ago. The writer describes people who have this amazing thing in common called, “Refrigerator Rights” I have enjoyed these rights with several people over the course of my life. It’s an amazing thing to give “refrigerator rights” to someone or receive them. What I am talking about is when you can walk into another persons home, open up the frig and make yourself at home. Make anything, eat or drink anything you want. No hesitation. “What’s mine is yours and what’s yours is mine.”
It’s an amazing and freeing thing to enjoy with friends that are like family.
The church was originally designed to enjoy “REFRIGERATOR RIGHT” as away of showing and being a real caring community / family.
42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper),and to prayer.
43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. 45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. 46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42-47)
Do you see the “REFRIGERATOR RIGHTS” of the early Church? These people shared everything they had at it was based out of their homes.
And did it with great joy and generosity.
They couldn’t help but live this ways.
Refrigerator Rights was not the rare thing in the early church, it was the norm. It was the standard by which Jesus followers demonstrated how much they really cared for one another.
This type of caring is not forced, manufactured, manipulated. This type of caring family, laughs.... I mean really laughs and has fun. This type of caring family, gets real with one another.
This family both celebrates and experiences life's pains together. Note this type of caring community of family is contagious.
It was powerful, it electric and attracted more and more people.
They added to their numbers daily.
But more than that. They weren’t just adding “friends” like we do on Facebook or Twitter. They added daily to those that were being saved.
More and more people came to trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior partially because of how amazing this caring community of people were.
Ask yourself, “What if I really cared like this? How different would your life, your family, your friends life be?
If you are a follower of Jesus.... how more alive and amazing would your church be. What would it be like to extend refrigerator rights to those in your church or small group. Might we experience some of what the early church experienced? Might we see people come to faith daily.
Ask yourself.... What if I really cared?
Week number one focused on “What if we really cared for one another?”
Have you ever heard of a book called “REFRIGERATOR RIGHTS”
It’s a title of a book that came out a couple of years ago. The writer describes people who have this amazing thing in common called, “Refrigerator Rights” I have enjoyed these rights with several people over the course of my life. It’s an amazing thing to give “refrigerator rights” to someone or receive them. What I am talking about is when you can walk into another persons home, open up the frig and make yourself at home. Make anything, eat or drink anything you want. No hesitation. “What’s mine is yours and what’s yours is mine.”
It’s an amazing and freeing thing to enjoy with friends that are like family.
The church was originally designed to enjoy “REFRIGERATOR RIGHT” as away of showing and being a real caring community / family.
42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper),and to prayer.
43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. 45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. 46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42-47)
Do you see the “REFRIGERATOR RIGHTS” of the early Church? These people shared everything they had at it was based out of their homes.
And did it with great joy and generosity.
They couldn’t help but live this ways.
Refrigerator Rights was not the rare thing in the early church, it was the norm. It was the standard by which Jesus followers demonstrated how much they really cared for one another.
This type of caring is not forced, manufactured, manipulated. This type of caring family, laughs.... I mean really laughs and has fun. This type of caring family, gets real with one another.
This family both celebrates and experiences life's pains together. Note this type of caring community of family is contagious.
It was powerful, it electric and attracted more and more people.
They added to their numbers daily.
But more than that. They weren’t just adding “friends” like we do on Facebook or Twitter. They added daily to those that were being saved.
More and more people came to trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior partially because of how amazing this caring community of people were.
Ask yourself, “What if I really cared like this? How different would your life, your family, your friends life be?
If you are a follower of Jesus.... how more alive and amazing would your church be. What would it be like to extend refrigerator rights to those in your church or small group. Might we experience some of what the early church experienced? Might we see people come to faith daily.
Ask yourself.... What if I really cared?
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