What if?
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. – James 5:16 KJV
That was the ‘Verse of the Day’ this morning. I read it several times while I was preparing to publish it to the Church’s website and Facebook page and a thought occurred to me.
A hypothetical situation so to speak. A what if . . .?
What if, Brother Eddie one Sunday morning told us that the next time we met for Church we were going to do exactly what this verse said? What would you do? Would you change seats? When we returned to Church the next time would we see a whole new seating arrangement?
My thinking was that we would see people move so that they would be sitting closer to someone that might have appeared more ‘righteous’ to them.
Cindy walked in about this time and saw the smoke and the strained, confused look on my face that I normally get when I am thinking about such complex issues. She first asked if I needed to go to the bathroom. (Just kidding! That’s for you Troy Purkey!) So I told my hypothetical situation to her. It took her a while to understand what I was saying and the message I was thinking God was trying to tell me. We discussed it a while and found the ‘flaw’ in my thinking.
It’s one reason why I am still a ‘Christian in Training’, I have flaws. (Yes, I know it surprises me too.)
I was expecting that people would move, that they would change seats. That the circles around some people would grow, while the circles for others may shrink because people saw ‘them’ as more righteous.
That’s the flaw in my thinking. People may indeed change seats like this. They may move, but it is not because one person is more righteous than another.
I keep thinking in degrees of Christianity and that I’m like a Brown Belt (a beginner), while others are like Black Belts (Masters) and it just doesn’t work that way. I need to understand and accept that being a Christian is not a matter of degrees. There are no Christian’s better than me. God sees us all the same. He loves us all the same. Being a Christian is a true ‘binary’ condition.
Either you believe in Christ; that He is the Son of God that He lived, that He died for our sins, that He arose from death and that He still lives today. And that one day we will join Him in Heaven. . .
. . . or you don’t.
You are a Christian or you aren’t. God hears the prayers of all Christians the same way. He doesn’t hear Brother Eddie’s prayers over mine. He hears both. There is no degree of righteousness. If I believe, and I have the Holy Spirit within me, I am equally as righteous as my Christian Brother or Sister. As Christians, we all have ‘The Holy Spirit’ residing within us and there is no ‘small, medium, or large’. It is an all or nothing situation.
We are or we aren’t. You’ve got it or you don’t. You is, or you ain’t. (I bet my English teacher is rolling her eyes on that one!)
I’ve stewed on this for a while as I’ve written this, and I can only conclude one thing.
I am a Christian. Just like you.
Love you all.
Roscoe
(A Christian still in Training)
One Comment
Gene
It really boils down to “crowns”. The Apostle Paul will definitely have more rewards for his service than I do. But this also comes down to obedience. When God says “Go”, do I go? When God says “Do”, do I do? (My English teacher is probably dead). And far too often when we look at another Christian, we see only what they want us to see. Thus others will only see what I want or allow them to see. And (I believe) this is why the Scripture you referenced is adamant about the need to confess. Because my pride does not want me to let others know that I have faults that need to be confessed. And I do! ! !
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