It is my understanding that these verses were not intended to be describing attributes of God, but that is how I took them in my study today. As servants of the King, doesn't our wrongdoing diminish the glory of His throne in the eyes of the unsaved? If we truly wish to increase the kingdom we need to keep a sharp eye on ourselves and ask others to do the same. The speck in my eye still needs to come out. I don't care if a man with a plank in his helps me do it, I will be that much better for other's efforts.
Contrasting that with the concept of a well-behaved and honest citizen. As ambassadors of the Kingdom if we are well known for the honesty and truth that we speak, our council will be sought out and valued.
Goals to shoot for.
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3 comments:
I agree but, also don't you think that some people are encouraged to know that we are not perfect (ie Christians are normal people too). Obviously, not to take this as an extreme but as a counterbalance.
I think even the things we do wrong give us a great testimony to the unsaved when we're wrong and quickly, humbly say "I'm sorry".
I think Matt makes a great point. When you think about it, what Christians value is not different than what the world values-- everyone respects honesty, integrity, and righteousness-- though Christians have a different motivation for doing so. It's a great opportunity to share our Motivation when another (believer or non-believer) seeks our counsel because we share similiar values. For example, someone might say, "I'm having a dispute with a friend. What should I do?" And our response, giving glory to God, says "When I was in that situation, I reconciled with my friend as God taught me when He reconciled Himself to the world through Jesus Christ". Our conduct has to reflect what we value though, if we want our counsel to be sought by others.
Nice turnaround on the old plank passage Waldo: the guy with the speck happy with the plankeye guy for helping him out! Too often, we get defensive or counter-judgemental when someone tries to help us out. If we were able to humble ourselves to take legitimate, constructive criticism from other sinners, would that not enhance our spiritual growth? Obviously not all criticism is valid (especially coming from a plankeye), but maybe we should be more willing to listen to all advice and then prayerfully cling to that which is sound.
Mikey, like the way that you gave a real-life example of how we can naturally share Christ as our motivation for our good conduct. I've been looking for ways to incorporate that into my testimony at work.
mccjamb, you still da man even though I have nothing to add to your comment
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