Ephesians 4:29- "Let no unwholesome word proceed
from your mouth, but only such a word as is good
for edification according to the need of the moment,
so that it will give grace to those who hear.
I have high standards for a lot of things. My friends from church and I were all kind of raised the same way so I am used to being around people who understand that and encourage you in it as opposed to bashing you for it. I remember our assistant pastor giving a sermon once from the book of Daniel. In the first chapter we are told about Daniel and his Jewish friends adjusting to palace living. Among other things, they were given a strict diet of the kings' food. Verse 8 begins, "But Daniel made up his mind (or "set upon his heart") that he would not defile himself with the king's choice food or with the wine which he drank..." It goes on to tell how he sought permission to set his own diet abiding by Jewish laws. I made a note in my Bible next to this verse that says, "Daniel draws the line here because this was something directly against God's law for his people, the Jews. Daniel set an unusually high standard." I think my pastor said something about the food was something God forbade him to eat but the wine wasn't necessarily something he couldn't have but he still chose not to, just as a matter of being above reproach. I asked myself, why should I set the bar low when I can raise my standard? Jesus raised the standard in Matthew 5 when he says things like not only is it wrong to take another man's wife but even thinking lustful thoughts is just as bad...now those are high standards.
Lately, almost every single standard I have been living my life by up to this point has been called into question. I used to take them for granted and so of course now, I don't know how to handle it. I must decide, have these standards been held high in vain? Do they need to be trashed just because the people I hang around have negative standards? I shouldn't be questioning them! I KNOW there are some things that are just inappropriate to be talking about or listening to, why do I sit there and listen without saying anything? I KNOW sex was intended for in marriage only and that is the right way in God's eyes. I have been taught that all my life, why would I start to question that when one person disagrees? Because I start wondering if it's not so wrong after all? It takes work and the grace of God to keep these standard up high, it's nothing I could do on my own. So I guess that would mean I am calling God and His work into question when I start thinking it's just not cool anymore. I need to remember that daily, I've pretty much had the same standards all my life so I know exactly when something causes me to call them into question and I'm sick of questioning them. I just realized I am chewing on a bobby pin, I wonder if that's bad for me;) Anyways, if you could remember to pray for me that I'll continually remember that there is a purpose for all this otherwise it would be plain meaningless and a waste of time and effort.
Ephesians 5:4 -
"...and there must be no filthiness
and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which
are not fitting, but rather give thanks."
Apparently the Ephesians had the same problems;)
1 comment:
hmm...Christian liberty is a huge subject in Christian circles today. I think that there is this double standard held against us when we are dealing with liberty, and this is what so often throws us off-guard. As you considered a sort of "standard" in your note, we start seeing that this is where our problem with liberty begins. It's not hard to see that many of our brothers and sisters are constantly pushing this standard lower, but a closer look shows that its not always a 'bad' thing.
History shows us that culture is always moving and changing. What once was not a derrogitory word (try 'gay'), has suddenly become offensive (this can be seen with many other words as well). This is where the beautiful double-standard of Christian liberties come into play. As we all know, each follower of Christ is called to a different type of individuality. One Christian's standard of language can be much higher than another Christian's. As a Pastor, one is automatically given a higher standard to live by. Others are not as burdened (possibly the wrong word) by this standard. We might say that they have more liberty to live by. This sort of 'balancing act' is what allows culture to move on. We all know that 'holy crap' means nothing (see Paul in Rom. and 1 Cor.), so in some way, culture (Church and the secular world) must eventually remove this phrase from their 'naught list'. This very important part of the Church is not the ONLY part, however.
Many members of the Church are called to a much higher standard. The Church is blessed to have you (and many others) with higher standards who will undoubtedly prevent the others from falling off the deep end. With this system of checks and balances, the Body will function by not only keeping culture moving along, but by keeping itself pure and set apart from evil.
I hope you won't find me to dogmatic; I never want to have a world-view that is set-in-stone, never to move. With that said, I hope you let me know if you find me off with anything.
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