Conduct yourselves with wisdom towards those who are not believers, making the most of every opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so you will know how you should respond to each person. — Colossians 4:5-6
Upon realizing the process was not going to be as efficient as I originally thought, two paths were laid out in front of me.
I could whine, fuss and complain, or I could patiently wait with a smile on my face and communicate kindly to everyone involved.
To God’s glory, the latter option was most prominent.
Remaining respectful and calm helped everyone and made it easy to be gracious to each other.
Paul, in his letter to this church, didn’t want to sign off before telling them in no uncertain about how to behave when with people who don’t share your beliefs.
Wisely — so you don’t miss any chance to let them know how awesome Jesus is. Graciously — so that when you speak you both preserve their dignity and provide a thirst inspiring flavor.
That’s what salt does.
Our culture is vociferously antagonistic.
"Get in my way? I will run you over. Disagree with what I think? I will demonize you."
How do we function in the middle of such hostility?
Wisely.
Graciously.
We must embrace our roles as ambassadors of heaven.
Live everyday with eternity in view.
Every person’s soul matters to God and, therefore, should matter to us.
Please, don’t get distracted.
The purpose
The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith. But some people have missed this whole point. They have turned away from these things and spend their time in meaningless discussions. — I Timothy 1:5-6
As a teenager in the ’80s, I watched puzzled as Mr. Miyagi kept having Daniel LaRusso put wax on his cars in the movie Karate Kid.
"Wax on. Wax off."
He then told him, "Paint the fence. Up. Down."
It wasn’t until after days of this that Daniel ran out of patience and demanded to know why he was doing all this work.
It was then Mr. Miyagi revealed that he had actually been teaching him karate defense moves.
Purpose. It’s a big deal.
We want to know the answer to the why question.
Paul wanted to be sure he had clearly communicated that all important answer to Timothy.
Specifically, "Why keep giving me all these instructions Paul?"
The answer? To be sure all Jesus followers are filled with love. To get to the brim with love, a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a genuine faith must be in place.
Those are realized only through instruction.
Too often, we miss this whole point. We think following Jesus is about everything else other than what it’s about.
It’s about loving God and loving people.
We follow the instructions provided by God in the Bible not because that’s the answer to the why question but rather because that’s what will position us to successfully fulfill the purpose — to love like Jesus first loved us.
Ask
Later Johanan had a private conference with Gedaliah and volunteered to kill Ishmael secretly. ‘Why should we let him come and murder you?’ Johanan asked. ‘What will happen then to the Judeans who have returned? Why should the few of us who are still left be scattered and lost?’ But Gedaliah said to Johanan. ‘I forbid you to do any such thing, for you are lying about Ishmael.’ … But in midautumn, Ishmael …and his 10 men suddenly drew their swords and killed Gedaliah … — Jeremiah 40:15-41:3
On more occasions than I can count, I’ve searched in vain for any number of items around the house that I just knew "had to be here somewhere."
I’ve emptied drawers, emptied closets, climbed into attics, and rummaged through the garage and shed with vigorous intensity only to unearth frustration.
It’s at this point that my wife asks, "What are you looking for?"
I tell her.
She says, "Oh, it’s right here."
Ask. All I needed to do was ask.
In our story above, Gedaliah rejected the warning of someone he believed wasn’t being truthful. He assumed ulterior motives of some kind and rejected his plan.
In so doing, he signed his own death certificate.
It struck me, with Jeremiah the prophet within reach, he failed to simply inquire of him to see what God had to say about the situation. A deadly mistake that was totally avoidable.
While I was mulling over this major blunder of Gedaliah, it occurred to me that his mistake is one that I far too often stumble into myself. We’re all making decisions on a regular basis. We are so confident in ourselves that we often bypass both the wisdom of scripture and the wisdom of others.
A bad decision today may not cost us our lives, but it will exact a price that we could have avoided.
Simply, ask.
Wiles is the senior minister of Fall Creek Christian Church. He can be reached at 765-778-3166.
