de·con·struct/ (dēkənˈstrəkt) – 1. analyze by deconstruction, typically in order to expose its hidden internal assumptions and contradictions and subvert its apparent significance or unity.
Ex: “she likes to deconstruct the texts, to uncover what they are not saying”
2. to reduce (something) to its constituent parts in order to reinterpret it.
Ex: “do we need to deconstruct all the institutions that we’ve created in order to improve them?”
Thank you Google for that definition and for those examples!
Times are changing ya’ll. Things are shifting. While I do believe that there is a great opportunity for growth here I have also been saddened at some of the realities we’ve faced. Some of those are out of our control. Some are not.
I love my friends. We get to have a lot of good conversations processing the current events of both the world and the church. As we bounce thoughts off of one another, question if we trippin or they trippin, and ask for each other’s opinions, we often find ourselves truly disheartened at the direction some things have taken.
There are a lot of conversations on the table. Mutuality. Gay rights. Women’s rights. Minorities rights. Everybody’s rights. And I do believe the conversations are warranted and fair.
“It’s not that I disagree with your position. I just can’t rock with how you’re moving with your delivery.” Shell Waller
The conversations are certainly warranted, however it saddens me that in some ways we’ve begun to move in un-Christlike and non-God honoring ways. In an effort to fight for the rights of one population we’ve now began to dishonor others (mainly leaders) and move very LOUD in a setting (social media) that actually doesn’t often allow for the God honoring conversations that bring about true change and unity. It is my belief that true change and unity takes places in the pressing in – not in the getting louder.
Pressing into hard one on one conversations that allow you to hear a person’s heart and humbly listen to their perspective. Pressing into showing up in a space where I feel uncomfortable during this season, but I’m committed to getting before God before I make a drastic move. Pressing into the idea that perhaps my view is simply that… a view… as opposed to THE view.
Here’s the other thing…..
In my opinion, we’ve gotten really caught up in certain spaces and conversations and have begun to neglect two very important Biblical concepts.
Go and make disciples.
They will know you are my disciples by the way you…….LOVE.
I often wonder. If a non-believer were to stumble upon certain social media posts actually being carried out in conversation would they be compelled to follow Christ? Think about that. If a non-Christian….someone potentially in danger of eternal damnation….were to listen in on you talking about your church and your God and your Savior would they actually be compelled to want what you have? Or might they run away because the world is more enticing based on what they hear?
That saddens me. It saddens me to think that the gospel may not be compelling to someone because of the versions we are drafting in our posts and in our conversations. In a world full of death, destruction, and hopelessness, we, the bride of Christ, have in some ways become another source of frustration and irritation as opposed to the safe place where people can find renewed hope and joy in the midst of their pain.
Is the gospel still compelling to you personally? Is the story about a man who did no wrong, yet laid his life down for generations of sinful people so that even one might be saved, compelling to you? Is the story about a Father who sacrificed his son to save a world, to the extent of not even being able to look upon him in his final hour, compelling to you? Is the story about a relentless God who would give up the one thing so near and dear to his heart, having never been separated from him before, so that a nation of people might have salvation compelling to you?
What about the lives that Jesus touched? Is that compelling to you? The woman who simply touched Jesus’s garment and was made whole. The woman at the well freed from her life of sin after one conversation. The blind man made to see. The dead man raised to life. The thief who received salvation even in his final hour. Are those stories compelling to you?
I hope so. Because there are still many women who need to be made whole. Many women who need help being freed from their life of sin. Many who walk in blindness that actually think they can see. Many whose bodies are alive but souls are near death. Many who are pushed towards a life of sin because they actually can’t perceive life to be any better or any different.
May we ask ourselves this question….
Is what I am doing really to God be the glory? Does how you move cause God to sit back and be pleased with what he sees? Will a “well done my good and faithful servant” be due you?
Let it be known. I am in favor of the hard conversations. This blog is not to say let’s not have the hard conversations. This is not to say you can’t challenge someone on Biblical interpretation of scripture. I honestly believe that when done with the right heart these things actually push us closer to looking like the church God always intended for us to be. Paul had disagreements with fellow Christians. He talks about opposing Peter to his face ( I love that passage) and he and Barnabas certainly didn’t always agree. It’s true. Sometimes our differences of opinions may cause us to go separate ways such was the latter case. That’s okay. It only need to all be done in love. Not any hint of bitterness, fight to be right, or push to make someone see, but simply a heart of humility that says, “In this situation it looks different for us to both be right before God so even as we go our separate ways….to God be the glory.”
When our heart posture is always to God be the glory we move different. We tell the story different. We talk about it different. Take a moment to both listen to yourself and observe how you’re moving. Is it to God be the glory? Does it compel someone towards Christ? Does it advance the gospel message? If not, perhaps some sacrifice is necessary on your end. The sacrifice of needing to be heard. The sacrifice of needing to have things your way. The sacrifice of trying to make it happen on your own.
Do we stop and pray for God to soften the hearts of the hearers before we deliver our message? Do we partner with the Holy Spirit in checking with him before we deliver our message? Do we exemplify God’s heart towards his people even when we disagree? Let’s consider being slower to speak lest we find ourselves on the wrong side of indignation.
I’ll leave you with this.
Jude 17-25 New Living Translation
A Call to Remain Faithful
17 But you, my dear friends, must remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ predicted. 18 They told you that in the last times there would be scoffers whose purpose in life is to satisfy their ungodly desires. 19 These people are the ones who are creating divisions among you. They follow their natural instincts because they do not have God’s Spirit in them.
20 But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit,and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God’s love.
22 And you must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. 23 Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives.
24 Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault. 25 All glory to him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen.
T.G.B.T.G
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