‘Can you imagine?’ Rebecca said as she sat down dejectedly beside
me. ‘What’s wrong?’ I asked. ‘My pastor is at it again’, she retorted. ‘Can you
imagine he is accusing one of my team members in the Church of fornication? The
punishment is to publicly humiliate her and suspend her from my team. Meanwhile
his brother that allegedly committed the sin with her will be prayed for by the
pastors secretly so as not to fall into the hands of manipulating sisters again’.
As incredulous as this may sound, this terrible double standard in the Church
is becoming more and more apparent. So many are quick to dish out judgments to
people they perceive are wrong and their actions are below what they term as
right or wrong. At the same time, they are quick to lower those same standards
and even make excuses for themselves or their loved ones that fall short of these
same standards. Thank God that He, the Almighty, is not like that. He shows no
favoritism and expects each of His children to live up to the standards He has
set: “Therefore as you have received Christ
Jesus the Lord, walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the
faith, just as you were taught, and
overflowing with thankfulness” (Colossians 2:6-7).
It is true that when one
has not gone through an experience, it may be difficult to teach it. I beg to differ
though; that’s why we have the Holy Spirit to teach us and show us things we
never knew before. Besides, He speaks to us before hand so that when we come
across those harrowing situations we will know how to approach them. As
children of God, we have the responsibility to present the teachings of God
truthfully no matter whose ox is gored: "...Speak each man the truth to his neighbor; give judgment in your gates for truth, justice, and peace" (Zechariah 8:16b). When we begin to lower the standards of
God, we do not only hurt the lives of the people listening or looking up to us,
but we put our own souls in eternal danger as well. Apostle Paul in teaching
this truth to Timothy warned him: “Meditate
on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be
evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them,
for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you”
(1Timothy 4:15-16).
No matter how tempting it may be to do, remember, just as
the hardworking farmer is the first to partake of his harvest, so is “…that servant who knew his master’s will,
and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with
many stripes” (Luke 12:47). Do you not know that you will be held accountable for your stewardship? Friend, we cannot do the will of God effectively if we
use deceptive scales to dish out God’s word. God is so particular about this
that He declared concerning Abraham, “For
I have chosen him so that he will command his children and his house after him
to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. This is how the
Lord will fulfill to Abraham what He promised” (Genesis 18:19). Friend, if
you are in doubt as to why you were called, this is the reason! Jesus Christ
never tempered down His word because of His listeners, rather, He spoke the
TRUTH to all men according to the levels they were in without subtracting from
the truth. Friend, do you circumvent the truth of God’s word to ‘accommodate’ your
family and friends? You do them no good but rather make them very ready candidates
for hell. May the Lord empower and strengthen your faith to walk in truth at
all times in Jesus Christ name. God bless you.
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