Affirmation part 2
The New Covenant is the Government of Affirmation. And I'm convinced that affirming each other is the best way to accept each other. Focusing on, a celebrating, what makes us unique, instead of trying to force each other into some impossible standard of what a Christian is "supposed to be." And, listen, I'm not saying everything everybody does is acceptable. I'm not saying we should affirm "bad behavior." But it's not our job to fix it, either. So rather than condemning people--the Old Covenant is the Government of Condemnation--we need to simply love people. Because to live is to love and to love is to live. Isaiah 38:18 says it like this, "...the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth." Death cannot celebrate thee. But life can. Life should. Life DOES. It always amazes me that when Jesus was involved in His three and a half year earthly ministry... He went to a LOT of parties. He went to church a lot too, but He got right down in the midst of where REAL people were. And He didn't get all religious on them either. He just hung out, and talked, and partied. He accepted people. He let them be who they were. Nobody saw Jesus coming and ran the other direction. But in this day and age, that's the response that "church folk" seem to get. You say, "Christian" and people either get mad or stop listening. Because they think we're hypocrits. We condemn them while doing the same things that they're doing. "Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest theyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things" (Romans 2:1). And isn't it always the case that the thing we judge the harshest in someone else is the thing we struggle with the most ourselves? That's why it makes us so mad. Because we have to deal with it in our own lives. So rather than condemning others (OR ourselves) what we really need to do is, "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth" (Colossians 3:2). Stop looking at the stuff that would trip you up. Realize that it's UNDER your feet anyway. Realize that just because someone else is struggling with something--especially something YOU struggle with too--that's not a reason to condemn them. That's a reason to help them. To let them help you. To, "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2). And guys, come on, if someone's struggling with something, they probably know it already. What they DON'T need is for you to kick them when they're down. What they DO need is for you to help them up. To let them know that it's ok. That THEY are ok. What they need is a little affirmation. A little bit goes a long way. "A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grevious words stir up anger" (Proverbs 15:1). I ask myself this question a lot before I do something, "Helping or hurting?" And if it doesn't help... why do it? Helping people is important work. Maybe the MOST important work. But condemning people doesn't help. Only through love, and mercy, and grace, and acceptance, and affirmation can we truly help someone. Not by telling them what to do, but by telling them who they are. And who they are... is Jesus!