In a World Full of Crazy

Am I the only one who gets nauseous these days when they read the headlines? In this weeks news...the scandal involving TD Jakes, an infamous mega church pastor. Before I appear to go down the path of unravelling this story, this isn't an indictment of him or what he's accused of. And it's not an opinion piece on his guilt or innocence. In fact, it's got very little to do with him and more to do with what we must do with this information and how it can impact our own pursuit of sanctification. I admit when I heard this story, my heart broke. It broke because whether it's true or not, there are many fellow believers who will be impacted by this scandal. It's natural for us to weigh the evidence and make up our minds regarding guilt or innocence. And I understand that. I really do. What's really got me wound up is that it's impossible, outside of the Holy Spirit revealing it to us, to truly know the whole truth. Like all scandals, one side is bringing accusations and the accused is denying the accusations. Someone is lying. And truly, it's impossible for us to know what to believe at this point.

Focus on the Mission

My heart gets heavy just thinking about the headlines and immense corruption that is so prevalent in our world. From the stories of the Jeffery Epstein list, election fraud, indoctrination of children, to the Church scandals, CV Pandemic, Palestine vs. Israel, and media polarization when telling the stories, it's enough to make anyone distrustful at best, cynical more likely. The thought that people in our society would be capable of such heinous acts toward another is enough to make any decent person's skin crawl. It can become overwhelming to know that we live in a world that is corrupt. And it can become frustrating to be unable to tell the difference between truth and lies. But, what do we do with this plethora of information that may be nothing more than highlight reels and truth-adjacent?

As a community of believers pursuing our own sanctification, it can become disheartening when we see those that are in a position of spiritual authority in a vulnerable situation. It's just as disheartening to be unable to know what is true and what isn't. I've found myself asking God, "How can we trust anything we see or hear anymore?". But, the truth is...we aren't called to trust the world around us. And quite frankly, it's the opposite. We are called to be separate from the world. As believers, we are called to 2 very specific things:

1. To love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

2. To love our neighbor as ourselves.

Mark 12:28-31

28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

The instruction is clear. When we feel ourselves becoming consumed, overwhelmed, and distracted by what's around us, our job is to refocus to what we ARE called to. In those moments where our mind begins to spiral, it is our directive to focus on our calling. Consider this for a moment. In a world full of highlight reels competing for your mind space, we have a calling to action. And highlight reels don't stop at the doors of the church. In fact, highlight reels are just as prevalent inside the church as they are outside. And, of course, God calls men and women to preach the word and lead his people. But he also tell us, "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. (Matt 10:16)". God gives us permission; no, a command to expect deception. It is our responsibility to take ownership of our relationship with him. We are not called to outsource this relationship to a pastor, preacher, friend, or trusted advisor. While those people may be valuable resources to us in our pursuit of sanctification, we must not rely on them for our source of faith. We are called to have a personal relationship with Christ, therefore, taking personal responsibility for keeping ourselves close to him.

It's natural to feel sad when we see a prominent personality within the church on the chopping block. It's important that we dig a little deeper on that feeling of sadness to understand why we are feeling sad. Are we sad because we were personally let down? Or are we sad because of the way others may perceive the God we know personally in a way that is not true? Are our defenses employed because of a personal feeling of being hurt or are we experiencing hurt due to our Father being perceived as something He is not? If we are hurt in a personal way, then we need to stop and consider our value placed in another. As a person in pursuit of our sanctification, we should use this opportunity to strengthen our personal relationship with God. As a believer, as one who has personally come to know who He is through hard work, seeking, and relationship, we know that this "news" is not reflective of who our Father is. Yes, it's sad that unbelievers may have their perceptions of our Abba tainted by the situation. But our Father IS truth. We aren't called to be offended. We are called to love him with all of our hearts, souls, minds, and strength. And we are called to love others as we love ourselves.

Take the Battle Seriously

Jesus told us that in the end times, deception would be even more prevalent. In Matthew 24, the disciples asked Jesus what the signs of the end times would be. And the first thing Jesus said to them was, (Matt 24:4-5): "And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many." His very first statement was a warning of deception, and by those coming in his name!

I worked for an amazing woman for a decade of my career. She taught me many things about being a business woman of strength and integrity. One of the many life lessons she passed onto me was to "trust, but verify" and "inspect what you expect". As a leader, that was my job. Surround myself with trusted people, but verify that the work being done by those people are what is expected. I believe that these principles are not only for the workplace, but for our spiritual life as well. God calls us to gather together with other believers to be strengthened. But he does NOT call us to outsource our spiritual life to others. He expects us to have a personal relationship with him, and strengthen the body of Christ with the gifts he's given. And, he sends fellow believers to help strengthen us in times of need. And as the Bereans of Acts did in Paul's time, God expects us to inspect what we expect and to trust but verify what the pastors of our church are feeding us.

It's important that we take this call seriously. The command to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, and the command to love our neighbors as ourselves is an active call. There's no room for passivity in it. There is no room for us to only do this on Sunday at church, or when it doesn't interfere with other plans. It's a daily call to action. It's an "always on" call. It's a decision by decision, moment by moment engagement we are to have that includes our Abba in heaven. And if we take our call that seriously, it will guide us in the way of "taking heed that no man deceives us".

Conclusion: Change the Subject

So, what's the lesson in all this? I've got to tell you, I'm the first one to get caught up with all the bad swirling around in the news these days. And admittedly, I get overwhelmed with all the "what if's". But our God has a solution for all that. He has not called us to have a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). I'm a believer! And as a believer, my responsibility in all this crazy is to refocus. When I get overwhelmed, or when I get scared about what's coming, my job is to refocus to what my Savior called me to do. My job is to actively resist the devil, because he must flee when I do (James 4:7). Resisting is to intentionally refocus on what I am called to do. Gang, these are hard times, no doubt. And this year isn't looking like it's going to get any better. But I believe in our Savior. An

d I challenge my fellow believers to refocus on our call today. Be intentional about moving forward with these 2 things:

1. Love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

2. Love our neighbor as ourselves.

Prayer for the Saints

Abba, Yeshua, Breath of Heaven, thank you! Thank you that we can come as believers to encourage each other with the words you left for us. Thank you for not leaving us to figure it all out on our own, but that you gave us your guide book to help us know exactly what to do in the storm. Breath within us, please reveal to us the truth today behind our calling. Please give us a boost of strength and focus today and your peace that passeth all understanding. With your help, we can. I pray for my brothers and sisters fighting their battles with deception today. Abba, please regenerate their faith today and help them pass strength onto another. Help us be the Christ in this world and help us bring one more into your family before you come to get us. May we honor you in all of our choices. Amen.