Psa 36:11 Let not the foot of
arrogance come upon me,
nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.
The message
at worship today had a plethora (cool word) of really great points and
insights. It was a wonderful morning.
Not only was I personally blessed but I had a lot put in my “hopper”
to consider and pray over. One thing in
particular ended up on the top. It was
the opposition to the Gospel.
While I was reading this afternoon I came across Psalm 36 which
I used in the P & Me blog today. As
I read the rest of the Psalm, verse 11 jumped off the screen.
Here is a good description of the problems we might have
while we seek to share the Gospel. The first
problem is us. If we do not remember
from whence He has bought and brought us we will run the danger of an arrogant
spirit. We will fall into the “us” and “them”
trap. We will come, not in the humility
of Christ but the arrogance of the flesh.
Ok, maybe – maybe we can see ourselves as better off than
the unredeemed sinner but there is nothing we can claim that will ever make us “better.” If Romans 7 doesn’t convince us of that,
nothing will.
Yes, there is bad news before the good news but the good
news is about Him not about us. Actually
the only power in the Gospel is Him.
Our, “How I came to Jesus,” story may be powerful but that’s not the
Gospel. He is the Gospel.
The world thinks we think we are “good” people because we
are believers. The world thinks that
because “we’ve” somehow (arrogance??) conveyed that idea. I am called (don’t want to impose my view on
you) not to oppose evil in the world – but rather to proclaim the coming of the
Savior. I am not the overcomer of sin –
not even in my own life. Rather I am the
proclaimer of good tidings of great joy.
Maybe if we presented the Gospel with more “I was” than “you are” in it
we would avoid any appearance of arrogance.
The second part of this verse is tough. To be honest, if I had a dollar for every
time I’ve held my tongue or stated something “safely,” I’d be rolling in $. My sin – my problem – that He can overcome.
But we all know the feeling of discomfort when we are
talking about our faith. Do I say this,
do I say that? We don’t want to offend
but folks we have to accept that the cross in all its meaning is, well,
offensive.
There is insight in the words of Paul:
1Co 1:21-24 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world
did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we
preach to save those who believe. (22) For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek
wisdom, (23) but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling
block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,
(24) but to those who are called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
AND
2Co 4:8-10 We are afflicted in every way, but not
crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;
(9) persecuted, but not forsaken;
struck down, but not destroyed;
(10) always carrying in the body
the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our
bodies.
Consider Psalm 36:11, as you pray for the opportunity, wisdom and call to share the Gospel with
others. These are two biggies that can
hinder His work through us as we go about His work, at least they are for me.
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