Been talking this week how the Bible gives us the “What” we must do, but not the “How.” You can catch up Here…and Here.
We can never fall in love with “How” we do things! The moment we fall in love with the “How” we become a Pharisee. I know that sounds a little harsh, but Jesus’ main contention with the Pharisee’s were there insistance of taking a command of God, and then telling everyone “how” to do it. What they could and could not do!
Jesus said they were like “broods of Vipers.” In other words, they injected venom and poison to those they came into contact with. Mostly because they held people to a standard that was man authored and not God authored. We do the same thing when we measure someone else’s ”how” agains our own, and measure them against our “how.” Like…
- This is “how” you do small groups
- This is “how” you do Sunday morning
- This is “how” you serve your community
- This is “how” you structure _________.
You get the point…
We can ONLY love the “What”….Go make Followers of Me Everywhere!
We must love, seeing others come into the Kingdom, others moving with God and investing and loving others into the Kingdom as well. We must love seeing husbands love their wives. But…
We can NEVER love the “How” The moment we love the “how” we become a Pharisee and judge of others. We inject poison into their lives and kill many freedoms and empowerment. Not to mention, we stop all forward motion.
The purposes of God are always moving forward. They move with people, culture, age and world events. If we fall in love with a “how”, we drop anchor right there! We move no further. People, culture and context continue to move, but our “how” is stuck in the mud! So… we become irrelevant to the those around us! No power, no impact, no Kingdom growth.
Challenge: Feel the “weight of the What.” Let what God says you must do, and what must happen, drive you to your knees, asking Him “how” you can do those things. Then be ready to run!
But! Don’t fall in love with it, and tell others that is “how” they should do it! Don’t poison people!
Source: ArtieDavis.com. Photo by christina20.
Artie Davis wears a lot of hats and leads a lot of people. He’s Pastor at Cornerstone Community Church in Orangeburg, SC. He heads the Comb Network and the Sticks Conference. He speaks and writes about leadership, ministry, church-planting, and cultural diversity in the church. You can find his blog at ArtieDavis.com or catch him on Twitter @artiedavis.
