Of Hardened-Hearts, An Open Letter
This past Thursday was a strange one. The entire day I was fixated on hardened-hearts, and near everything brought to me dealt with hardened-hearts. Strange coincidence. It started shortly after midnight on Thursday morning when I penned the following.
A man might speak truth, but through his action can mysteriously make truth to be untruth. By this I mean to say that a man may know all truths, but if he does not live out truth, if truth does not drive him, begin him at every moment- then truth is an untruth. Those who turn to such men see a veil of falsehood that covers/distorts truth, and truth is lost for those who, turning to such men, reject the veil thiking it to be truth. Woe to the man who willingly adorns himself with a deceitful veil whether knowingly or not. Regardless, brothers, we must avail to discourage one another from such garb as this. To those who unwittingly act in this disobedience we must reveal to them the Light of Christ which is Truth and which destroys all untruth. But of those whose hearts are hardened- what do we do? To those whose gnostic pride assails the truth- how will the LORD lead us? We speak truth, and they speak truth, but in our actions we are divided. One acts truth, the other acts spite, selfishness, and distraction from the truth. What of such men? I would say 'love,' but I hesitate. For if their hearts are hardened such that they know truth but do not act in it- what then is the will of God?
A man might speak truth, but through his action can mysteriously make truth to be untruth. By this I mean to say that a man may know all truths, but if he does not live out truth, if truth does not drive him, begin him at every moment- then truth is an untruth. Those who turn to such men see a veil of falsehood that covers/distorts truth, and truth is lost for those who, turning to such men, reject the veil thiking it to be truth. Woe to the man who willingly adorns himself with a deceitful veil whether knowingly or not. Regardless, brothers, we must avail to discourage one another from such garb as this. To those who unwittingly act in this disobedience we must reveal to them the Light of Christ which is Truth and which destroys all untruth. But of those whose hearts are hardened- what do we do? To those whose gnostic pride assails the truth- how will the LORD lead us? We speak truth, and they speak truth, but in our actions we are divided. One acts truth, the other acts spite, selfishness, and distraction from the truth. What of such men? I would say 'love,' but I hesitate. For if their hearts are hardened such that they know truth but do not act in it- what then is the will of God?
posted by mick_brigham at 4:54 PM
10 Comments:
Mr. Barrett,
What to do indeed...I have pondered this very thing this very thing this semester. There are some people who I believe do not show Christ in return for being "right/smart/pious/wise." Now truly, this is pure conjecture as I cannot presume to read into somebody's heart. But it does seem that they act differently than they profess, in context...as a Christian even. These people as you say may have a facade that people may buy into that display's piety or something. But their intention SEEMS selfish or something wrong. The problem that I deal with is this: is this truly the case? I wonder, because they do things with such passion and intensity that perhaps their intentions are true. But the question remains, what if their actions, in their intentions, draw people away from the truth that they are professing. And even further the question remains...What can I do"
-sorry if this is meandering, i'm just thinking while typing, so forgive me if it is muddled. Let's try and come together on this one I say, it is truly something thats been on my mind.
-Mike-
Mike,
I know you as a friend and brother, so to you I must confess, I fail to live out the truth I have come to know, daily! My actions, my words, my very life are not filled with grace and truth! I would hope that I was the only one who failed to do this, but sadly I know that this isn't true. All of us fail to believe, and live out the truth that we know! God have Mercy!
Strangely enough my daughter addyson lies! She lies all the time. It is something inside of us that says lies will keep you from trouble where the truth will get you into it! We must learn, as Dallas Willard says, that the Truth is whats best for us, The truth has embraced us! The truth loves us more than he loved himself, in this we must trust, and live in always!
Grace and Peace,
JJ
Mike,
I know you as a friend and brother, so to you I must confess, I fail to live out the truth I have come to know, daily! My actions, my words, my very life are not filled with grace and truth! I would hope that I was the only one who failed to do this, but sadly I know that this isn't true. All of us fail to believe, and live out the truth that we know! God have Mercy!
Strangely enough my daughter addyson lies! She lies all the time. It is something inside of us that says lies will keep you from trouble where the truth will get you into it! We must learn, as Dallas Willard says, that the Truth is whats best for us, The truth has embraced us! The truth loves us more than he loved himself, in this we must trust, and live in always!
Grace and Peace,
JJ
I don't know what to say, other than it has been bothering me too. This is something worth talking about. We have to be careful though, that we don't fall prey to the same things that are causing division right now. Prayer is good, the Lord's counsel is wise.
I don't know what to say, other than it has been bothering me too. This is something worth talking about. We have to be careful though, that we don't fall prey to the same things that are causing division right now. Prayer is good, the Lord's counsel is wise.
amen, EJ.
I've been convicted of this a lot lately. Too much. Perhaps God is speaking to me.
--matt
Alright brethren...
It seems to me that I don't really have an answer for this one. To give it its due, we cannot judge others as we are often of the same or similar vices. But we cannot pretend that in some cases, the fruit of the spirit is blaringly absent in cases where it should be shown and in some cases even proclaimed. What to do, what to do...
So this is my challenge, let us look for some piece of scripture, some letter of paul or narrative somewhere in scripture that points directly towards our question. Let it be any wisdom, from any source -but indeed let us explore. I do thank you all, esp. Mr. Jamis this time around for giving me the proverbial smack that I needed, let us heed the words of both you and EJ and not fall to what we are trying to avoid.
-Mike-
-Mike-
This may be of some help. Paul dealt with a similiar issue, and this is what he said:
"It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice." Phil 1:15-18
I think our greatest strength, our greatest witness, is to live as Christ lived. Paul expounds on this a bit further on in his letter to Phillipi:
"If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like‑minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus." Phil 2:2-5
These are strong words for me, as I often get lost in the dreams of my future and neglect my brothers. I don't want to be soooo busy I neglect you, or get caught up in my own agenda so I am not there when you need me. This is my challenge, my prayer, my hope. So by all means, do not hesitate to come to me if any of you need help with anything, or if you just want to hang out. I will put all aside for you, or will die trying.
EJ,
Thank you for your prayerful and wise response! Humility and Love are often used to little in the world and even worse the Church! Yet this is the way our LORD lived, in these two things the kingdom comes!
May the God of Grace fill us with the Holy Spirit that we may become by his work in our lives, people of humility and Love, living lives of truth! Amen
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