Sometimes in my notes, there is an obvious avoidance of certain topics. I call this conscientious omission and it is a tool I employ regularly in writing my notes wherein, in my own way, I address topics by making it a point not to address them. Today I’m going to talk a little more about how and why I do that.
Anytime we come upon what is considered a hot button topic in the world of faith today, please pay attention to what I don’t speak to. Let my silence be loudly heard. Each of us, you and I and everyone else, are still learning. If we are following the Father, we will be a different person a year from now and even more different a year beyond that. He is working on all of us and we must be careful never to feel as if we have somehow arrived at the point of full understanding or have the perspective that only our Father has the privilege of.
He is working on all of us and we must be careful never to feel as if we have somehow arrived at the point of full understanding or have the perspective that only our Father has the privilege of.
With regards to these issues, we do not have the power to convict anyone, nor do we have the right to condemn. So often, when our flesh compels us to do either of these, our Spirit steps in and reminds us that most folks we would judge are where we were five spiritual minutes ago – and we ourselves are certainly not without our own glaring sin and mighty struggles.
And so if you feel the need to judge or condemn someone I want to remind each of us that we are not without sin. And if our response is “But Messiah flipped tables” then we must also remind ourselves that we are not the Messiah.
Continuing in that vein, you may notice that there are certain topics that I never address despite their prevalence in Christian culture today. I receive regular emails asking me to address these things in my writing, my videos, and my posts. Many think that I’ve simply overlooked the fact that misinformation is out there or that I assume all Believers understand that some practices are unbiblical and in this thinking I have missed the opportunity before me to correct, explain, and teach on these elephant-in-the-room topics.
I want to assure you that none of these scenarios represent truth with regards to my intent. I have carefully and deliberately followed the leading of the Holy Spirit in avoiding certain subjects in order to remain true to my goal of helping as many people as possible to develop a first hand relationship with the whole word of YHWH. The Father has been very clear in what He has assigned me to do. I fully trust that once folks establish that relationship with the Father and begin hearing from Him, He will tell them what He wants them to know.
You see, there are some things that we as believers, until we truly grow to know Him, hold more dear than the Father, more dear than the Messiah. Now, this should not shock any Bible reader as there have always been people who called YHWH God and still held doctrines, practices, and preferences as far more dear than they did Him. But in today’s time? Today’s believers? Is it possible that the person sitting next to you in your Bible class each week, or even the person teaching the class might hold something in their lives, a habit, a practice, a doctrine, as more dear than God Himself? Is it possible that you do this? That I do?
Oh brother and sister, it is not only possible, it’s actually pretty likely. You see, we build these shrines to the things we decide represent the Father, regardless of whether or not they do. In addition to that, there are several things in the lives of most, if not all, Believers which stand in direct contradiction to YHWH’s word (myself and you, dear reader, included), things that His word implicitly tells us not to do, things that we are flat out told we won’t even want to do IF we love Him – and we don’t just subtly tip toe into those waters, we cannonball right into the middle in broad daylight.
Y’all, this ain’t my first rodeo. I’ve been discussing tough matters with people from every stripe of the faith and every walk of life in “gloves off” arenas for many years now (not my preference but this is the soil I’ve been planted in). I have had people declare I was going straight to hell and pray over my soul when they found out that I was even reading the Older Testament, much less encouraging other people to do so.
Why? Because, often, following YHWH offends people, even if you’re just walking the narrow path, minding your business, and loving others. Anytime you stray from the status quo that will cause some folks to take notice, consider your reasons, and evaluate theirs – and that is uncomfortable. Rather than validate and call all we want “good”, it causes some people (ourselves included) to accept that the Father does not bless our ways apart from Him, but calls us to walk in His ways, while following Him.
The rubber meets the road when we start reading the Bible and we see that, yes, God does have a standard of behavior. Yes, God does put limitations upon what he will allow us to do. He does limit what he will bless in our lives. We cannot take our sin, declare it holy, and then hold it up and expect him to bless it because we have decided that we want the unclean to be clean. He will not bless our choices simply because we have decided we want to do what He tells us not to do.
It doesn’t work that way and it never will. In case you haven’t read the Bible yet, please trust me when I say that people have tried this for thousands of years and the result is always the same – see Matthew 7:22-23.
The fact of the matter is if your God lets you do whatever you want then your God is really you.
I know it’s scary letting go of what we think has held us together: our own will, our own strength, our best wisdom, our hard work, and the advice of experts in every possible arena in this world. It’s scary letting that go and I get that. In our time we can turn on the tv or pick up a book and find a group of millions affirming that there is a God who just wants you to follow your heart and He will bless it.
Our Creator stands within a whisper length of our soul and says, “Can you trust me to show you the way?”
All the while, we stand on the precipice of decision wherein the Creator of the entire universe, the one who knit us together in our mother’s womb, who has held us and kept us through a thousand generations of sin and rebellion stands within a whisper length of our soul and says, “Can you trust me to show you the way?”. And in our skewed faux wisdom, we must admit that we lean back into ourselves when we realize that He often leads us away from the herd and this way could easily cause us to be diminished in the eyes of our peers.
He must increase, but I must decrease. John 3:30
But the truth is, God does not want us to follow our hearts.
He never has.
He wants us to follow His.
Read the Bible to learn how to do that. It begins in Genesis. And when you have an opportunity to speak into someone else’s life, encourage them to do the same. There is no such thing as secondhand relationship with the Father or with His word. If He is truly our God, we will want to read what He says.
You will seek me and you will find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jer 29:13
So please pay attention to what I don’t speak to. Let my silence be loudly heard. I am not saying you shouldn’t speak to these things, but you really shouldn’t even seek my advice on that because our marching orders do not come from our brethren but from YHWH Himself – and we can’t rush forward of our own accord and expect Him to bless our endeavors, no matter how noble we consider them to be. What I am saying is that when something, anything, is held dear in someone’s heart and they truly believe it is honoring of our King, it is usually best to allow them to hear directly from the King regarding this, no other voice will have the same impact.
But we can’t expect someone to recognize His voice if they haven’t sat at His feet. We can’t expect anyone to know the Word if they have never read it. And so, rather than running around treating symptoms and complaining that the illness has not abated, wisdom leads us to treat the source. YHWH’s people cannot follow Him because we do not know Him. Our way may treat the symptoms but knowledge of His Word treats the disease.
When you have an opportunity to encourage someone, encourage them to get into the Word.
When someone doesn’t know the Father’s love, remedying that should be our first priority.