Deal with It

And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

— Matthew 5:30

 

The film, 127 Hours, tells the true story of Aron Ralston, who was climbing in Utah when a boulder shifted, pinning his arm against a canyon wall. He tried everything to remove the boulder. A couple of days passed. He was cold. He was out of water. No one was coming to his aid. He knew the only way he would make it out of there was to free himself. So he decided to cut off his arm. He used a pocketknife, and it took a long time. Amazingly, after doing such a thing, he rappelled 65 feet to the canyon floor and walked out. That is a crazy story. But better to be alive and have one arm than to have two arms and be dead.

Is there an area in your life that you need to cut off—that you need to deal with? Maybe right now as you are reading these words, you are thinking about it. God sees it, just as though it were written over your head. You have rationalized it and have somehow managed to find a way to live with it. But right now it has come to the forefront of your mind. That could be the compromise in your life. That could be the thing that will bring you down.

The Problem with Compromise

Another parable He spoke to them: "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened."

— Matthew 13:33

 

Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is like leaven, a comparison that may not mean a lot to us today. But it would have been immediately understood by the people of His day. Leaven is like yeast, and it always has negative connotations in Scripture.

Before the Passover, Moses instructed the Israelites, "Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses . . . " (Exodus 12:15). Picking up on this theme, Paul wrote to believers in Corinth who were actually boasting about welcoming a compromising believer: "Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us" (1 Corinthians 5:6–7). Jesus also said, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees" (Matthew16:6).

What Is a Disciple?

In the Great Commission, Jesus told us to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations. But what does it mean to make disciples? And more to the point, what exactly is a disciple?

As I have stated before, every disciple is a Christian, but not every Christian is necessarily a disciple. So, before I can make disciples, I have to be sure that I myself am one, because it takes one to make one.

In Luke 14, Jesus laid out His requirements for discipleship. Let's look at one of them here: The disciple must love Jesus more than anyone or anything else.

The Weapon of Compromise

Here is another illustration Jesus used: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants; it grows into a tree, and birds come and make nests in its branches."

— Matthew 13:31–32

 

When Jesus said, "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed," people of His day would have understood that Jesus was comparing it to the smallest of things. A mustard seed was regarded as one of the smallest of the seeds.

But here is the thing we need to know: Mustard seeds don't grow into trees; they grow into bushes or shrubs. So it was unnatural growth. Jesus was saying the kingdom of God is like something small that grew really big. It would be like a Chihuahua that grew to the size of an elephant. The idea was that it is something that is not normal.

The Church Marches On

And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

— Matthew 16:18

 

Our numbers have never been greater in the church today. So-called megachurches dot our landscape across the United States and around the world. What an amazing thing when you stop and consider the fact that our faith had such humble beginnings.

When Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem due to the decree of Caesar Augustus that everyone should be taxed, who would have thought that little baby would grow into a man who would change the world—and world history—from that point forward? During His ministry, I don't think the Romans paid a lot of attention to Jesus Christ or to His claims. They tolerated Judaism and would allow it to exist as long as the Jews conformed to Roman law.

The Moment of Truth

But if you do not do so, then take note, you have sinned against the Lord; and be sure your sin will find you out.

— Numbers 32:23

 

In 1990, the band Milli Vanilli was awarded a Grammy for Best New Artist. They were quite successful in their day, selling millions of albums. But then it was revealed that they did not do the vocals on their own recordings. Some studio singers had done that. Their Grammy was returned. There came a moment when Milli Vanilli had to face the music.

And there will come a day when everyone will have to face the music as well. There are some who are putting on a good show right now as Christians. They have just about everyone convinced. They have their parents convinced. They have their husband or their wife convinced. They have all of their friends thinking they are very committed believers. But they are living a double life and are fooling them all.

Time Will Tell

Here is another story Jesus told: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. But that night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped away."

— Matthew 13:24–25

 

Even back in the apostle Paul's day, there were counterfeit Christians. He wrote to the church at Corinth, "I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not" (2 Corinthians 11:26). There are a lot of people today who are putting on a great performance, but it is not genuine. It is not real. They are posers.

In the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares found in Matthew 13, Jesus talked about people like these—genuine imitations. Jesus was not referring to struggling believers, but to phonies. He was talking about actors. And in this parable, He exposed one of the ways in which the devil works. Specifically it is one of the ways the devil will be working in the end times: through imitation.

Judgment, Not Condemnation

 For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?

— 1 Peter 4:17

 

Sometimes I think Christians believe they are never to make any evaluations of others, that they are to just be loving toward everyone. While it is true that we should be loving, that also means speaking the truth. In fact, the Bible tells us to speak the truth in love (see Ephesians 4:15). So if I am having lunch with a friend who has spinach in his teeth, then as a friend, I will tell him that. A friend tells a friend the truth, even if it is uncomfortable or awkward.

A Counterfeit Gospel

I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel.

— Galatians 1:6

 

I watched a very famous preacher being interviewed awhile ago on television. When the topic of sin came up, the preacher said, "I never talk about sin. I never use the word 'sin,' because people already know they are sinners. I am not here to beat people down. I just want to lift them up." However, I don't think that most people know they are sinners. And our job is not just to lift people up; it is to point them to Christ. So we have to use the word "sin."

A Positive Influence

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

— Matthew 5:16

 

When I was in elementary school, we had a little game that we would play in which we would touch someone and say, "You have cooties." Of course, we had to have a way to defend ourselves, so when someone would touch us and claim they just gave us cooties, we would say, "Not me, I don't have cooties." Then we would hold out our hands, revealing the handwritten initials, C. P., which stood for "cootie protection."

I think Christians are sometimes that way around unbelievers. They appear as though they are avoiding all contact with them. I can understand not wanting to be influenced in a bad way. But how about influencing others in a good way?

The Best of Times, the Worst of Times

Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.

— Revelation 12:12

 

Charles Dickens' novel, A Tale of Two Cities, opens with the words, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. . . . " That is how our world will be prior to the return of Jesus Christ: both the best and the worst will be happening at the same time. In the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares, Jesus paints a picture of the last days in which both God and the devil will be at work.

Genuine Imitations

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy . . . having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

— 2 Timothy 3:1–2, 5

 

An oxymoron basically is a figure of speech that combines contradictory terms, like "jumbo shrimp," "virtual reality," "friendly fire," and "found missing." Then there is one of my favorites: "fresh frozen." You might go into a restaurant and ask, "Is this fish fresh?"

"It is fresh frozen," the server will say.

The Secret of Spiritual Growth

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

— John 15:4

 

Imagine if I planted a tree in my front yard, but after awhile, I decided it would look better in my backyard. Then after a few months, I realized it would be better in the front yard. So I dig it up and plant it again in the front yard. Not only will that tree fail to flourish, but it also will struggle to just survive.

Oxymoron

We have all heard of various oxymoronic terms that are commonly used. For instance:

• Freezer burn
• Jumbo shrimp
• "Found missing"
• Deafening silence
• Genuine imitation

These are all self-contradicting terms. I have a new one to add to the list.

Unforgiving Christian

If you are a true Christian, then you must forgive others. Forgiven people must be forgiving people. That's because, as fatally flawed people, we are going to sin. We are going to hurt one another, whether it be intentional or unintentional.