Yesterday at Biltmore Baptist Church East Campus, the second relationship discussed was of friendships. Pastor Frank started off by talking about the cliques in high school, you know druggies, jocks, brainiacs and so on. He discussed how we are not far from these groups even out of high school. For example, if we hung out with the druggies in school chances are we still were with those types of people. If we enjoyed the company of the jocks, we were still doing sports as we aged. If we hung out with Christians, most likely we were still with Christians. Sounds good so far.
Proverbs is full of words of wisdom on how to develop relationships specifically friendships. One thing that caught me in the message was Pastor Frank's admission that often those who leave you most vulnerable in times of trials, tribulations, desperation, and when you make a mistake are the 'church' friends you develop. Yep, I know for a fact this is true. I have been used and abused by some of the most 'godly' appearing women. Here is the key to the problem, GODLY APPEARING WOMEN. They only appeared to have a heart for God. They only appeared to care about other women. They only appeared to want to be there for other women, until their needs were met or their patience wore thin.
Isn't that the truth of most Christian relationships? What can I get from this relationship? Whether a source for all sorts of gossip, assistance to make one look better in front the entire church for completing yet another daunting task, or simply to have another person in their 'clique', many of us have suffered through the pain of a Christian friendship.
How much hurt must one suffer through from your fellow Christians when you are already suffering? It seems that the pain and struggles from life is not enough to be able to rely on the support of your fellow Christian when they drop you as a friend without hearing the excuse "I am a saved SINNER". Well, here's one for the record books, so am I. Yet, I am struggling to overcome that excuse and build upon my weaknesses with the help of Christ. I do not wish to wallow in the 'saved sinner' excuse but to become a child of God, worthy of love, acceptance, grace, and mercy.
If we have no other reason to change other than we are saved, then why hang onto the saved sinner excuse. Why do we want to use that as a 'convenient truth' to excuse our behavior. I would rather hear someone say, "I am flawed in this area and I need you to hold me accountable as I hold you accountable". Is that not what the word of God tells us to do? He does not tell us to make excuses but to hold ourselves to a higher standard of living. He tells us to hold our fellow Christian to that same standard in the context of accountability with another Christian. This is not an excuse to blast all Christians with their sins, but to walk together with another Christian, two by two in order to be more than an excused 'saved sinner'.
The following verses will support this claim: Proverbs 13:20, 17:17, 27:10, 16:28, 17:9, 27:6-7, Hebrews 10:24, Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, Thank you Pastor Frank for sharing these yesterday.
Friendships are difficult to begin and even more difficult to continue due to our sinful nature. It is with the encouragement and honesty of a fellow Christian friend we find our friendship grow and develop. Never more true is this when we fail to find that Christian friend with a desire to give of themselves for the furthering of God's will.
Taking care of the written word,
Dannielyn
Proverbs is full of words of wisdom on how to develop relationships specifically friendships. One thing that caught me in the message was Pastor Frank's admission that often those who leave you most vulnerable in times of trials, tribulations, desperation, and when you make a mistake are the 'church' friends you develop. Yep, I know for a fact this is true. I have been used and abused by some of the most 'godly' appearing women. Here is the key to the problem, GODLY APPEARING WOMEN. They only appeared to have a heart for God. They only appeared to care about other women. They only appeared to want to be there for other women, until their needs were met or their patience wore thin.
Isn't that the truth of most Christian relationships? What can I get from this relationship? Whether a source for all sorts of gossip, assistance to make one look better in front the entire church for completing yet another daunting task, or simply to have another person in their 'clique', many of us have suffered through the pain of a Christian friendship.
How much hurt must one suffer through from your fellow Christians when you are already suffering? It seems that the pain and struggles from life is not enough to be able to rely on the support of your fellow Christian when they drop you as a friend without hearing the excuse "I am a saved SINNER". Well, here's one for the record books, so am I. Yet, I am struggling to overcome that excuse and build upon my weaknesses with the help of Christ. I do not wish to wallow in the 'saved sinner' excuse but to become a child of God, worthy of love, acceptance, grace, and mercy.
If we have no other reason to change other than we are saved, then why hang onto the saved sinner excuse. Why do we want to use that as a 'convenient truth' to excuse our behavior. I would rather hear someone say, "I am flawed in this area and I need you to hold me accountable as I hold you accountable". Is that not what the word of God tells us to do? He does not tell us to make excuses but to hold ourselves to a higher standard of living. He tells us to hold our fellow Christian to that same standard in the context of accountability with another Christian. This is not an excuse to blast all Christians with their sins, but to walk together with another Christian, two by two in order to be more than an excused 'saved sinner'.
The following verses will support this claim: Proverbs 13:20, 17:17, 27:10, 16:28, 17:9, 27:6-7, Hebrews 10:24, Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, Thank you Pastor Frank for sharing these yesterday.
Friendships are difficult to begin and even more difficult to continue due to our sinful nature. It is with the encouragement and honesty of a fellow Christian friend we find our friendship grow and develop. Never more true is this when we fail to find that Christian friend with a desire to give of themselves for the furthering of God's will.
Taking care of the written word,
Dannielyn
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