Just In Our Eyes by Wayne Augden

I’ve been thinking and praying all day about what I should write tonight, and up until about two minutes ago, I had no idea.  I’ve been reading through the Bible, and today, I was reading in Matthew 7: 1-5.  There’s so much good stuff in these five verses that one could study them and meditate on them for years, and still not fully grasp all that they give us in the way of wisdom, and how applicable they are in discerning what real love is, and how we should love others, and ourselves.

Sometimes, it’s the easiest thing in the world to define ourselves and the world we live in by looking at other people and their actions.  What’s harder is understanding that other people are defining themselves by us and our actions.  It’s a hard concept to grasp.  Judging others comes so easy, and it feels so good, and it’s like a topical antiseptic…just apply it and in a few moments you feel better.  At least, for the short-term, it’s true, but why doesn’t it last?  And, why is it that making judgments about others becomes like eating “Lays” potato chips; nobody can be satisfied with just one.  Could it be that it becomes a habit, an addiction, an easy fix to an inner wound that we’re not willing to deal with, and that we don’t want to heal because then we’d lose the right to feel pain over it.  More to the point, we’d lose our sense of justification to use it as a way to continue living the way we are.  Isn’t that what judgment is?  A way to justify behavior?

What we fail to understand is there’s a price for justifying the way we live, but sadly, too often, it’s not us who have to pay the price, at least not in the short-term.  Too often the ones who are paying the price are the ones we’re judging, and too often our judgments become like those of the arsonist lighting a fire.  At their worst, they can and do destroy the lives of people, and if they don’t destroy a person they can cause so much damage that it may set people back years, and prevent them from ever living up to their potential.

The sadness of this is that more often than not, the ones making the judgments are the first ones to cry foul when they’re on the receiving end.  So many of us are so quick to want to help someone else, when we can’t even help ourselves, and are guilty of the same things.  It’s like telling someone to stop drinking when you’re holding a drink.  I can’t possibly begin to express all the ugly ways and means by which hypocrisy rears its ugly head, but it’s beginning lies….just in our eyes.

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A Thought on Interpretation and the Christian Life

Sometimes, I think there are too many people who believe that they’re the only ones who have the proper interpretation of God and His word as revealed by the Holy Spirit and that nobody else can be right.

I’m not going to judge, correct, or openly rebuke others unless I know someone is clearly teaching false doctrine. To judge sin and whether someone is sinning is not something I’m comfortable with. I’m too fallible to ever think that what I know and that what I’ve experienced is a solid enough platform from which I can stand and judge others.

I’m not going to try and correct the faults of others when my own are just as bad and just as much against God as theirs. I think the Holy Spirit has enough work to do in helping me deal with my own faults and shortcomings. I believe I have a responsibility to love people, to pray for them, to encourage and support people in their walk with Christ.

When are people going to learn that santification is a process, that learning how to walk, how to live in a way that pleases, honors, and glorifies God is a life long process. I will not put stumbling blocks in the way of people who are sincerely doing the best they can to follow Christ. To me to try to correct people that I’m no better than smacks of hypocrisy, pride, and unbelievable arrogance.

If people want to do that, if they think it’s their responsibility to judge and correct people then they should follow the dictates of their own hearts and minds, and to follow the Spirit as they feel He leads.. As for me, I will continue to live my life and walk with Christ as I feel the Spirit leads me. I will continue to use the tools and resources that I believe God has provided and led me to in order to spread His love and promote His kingdom.

I reserve the right as a freeborn American and Christian to assess and analyze anything that comes into contact with my life and the lives of my family, and to determine whether or not I wish to let that content have any influence on me or my family. There are some places I won’t go, some things I won’t read, view, or listen to because I don’t feel that they honor God, and I don’t personally agree with. Those who read my blog have the same rights and privileges. If people don’t like what they read here or disagree with the content they are under no obligation to spend time here.

I think I will be surprised, as many will, when I get to heaven and realize that I’m standing along side many of the people I disagreed with on earth singing and praising God. I believe I will see a vast number of people of different ethnic, social, and educational backgrounds enjoying the wonders of Heaven given to them by their glorious God who holds each of us in the palm of His hand, and who enwraps us all in His everlasting arms.