"It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell."
James 3: 5-6
(The Message)
On the night of Kaylee's prayer service, it was the unity, harmony and love, displayed through so many people of various denominations, backgrounds, age ranges, and spiritual gifts, that made our night so unique and powerful. It was a movement of God like nothing I had ever experienced before. I understood, even as I sat there watching it all unfold on this night, that I was witnessing something miraculous in itself. Everything that was taking place seemed to have significant meaning and purpose, all the way down to the 8-year-old girl who was weeping at Kaylee's feet.
Yet, more than three years later, everything surrounding this night seemed to have turned to complete confusion and chaos. I am sure that many of you reading this blog have been disappointed with the drastic turn our once heartwarming and encouraging story took. I have had a few people question my decision to share the negative aspects of our story. But I want to remind you that this is a real life story. I didn't get to write the story and certainly would never have written it this way. I did everything in my power to try to change it. But I firmly believe that God has a purpose in each one of our stories and in every trial we face, and that He will work it all for good, regardless of the negative direction it may go at times. He is our ever-present help in times of trouble and He uses the evil schemes of the enemy for His greater purpose!
If we only share our positive experiences in life, it's not going to help bring about change or help others who may find themselves in similar situations. I share our story in hopes of shedding light on a condition that we often find within the Body of Christ, the antithesis of what we witnessed on the night of Kaylee's healing. God gave me understanding, in the months leading up to Kaylee's prayer service, that this auto-immune condition, which mirrors what was taking place within Kaylee's body, greatly hinders the overall strength and effectiveness of the Body. It took me a long time to accept this, but I strongly believe today that there is a more meaningful message in the entirely of our testimony and that God has called me to share it all.
During the seven month period leading up to Kaylee's prayer service, God instilled in me the message of Isaiah 58. He let me know that my prayers and fasting for Kaylee's healing were ineffective if I was also using my tongue to damage and harm others in any way. It had been a powerful wake up call for me at the time, and because I was in a place of such desperate need, I took this warning very seriously! For the remainder of that seven month period, I was not perfect with my tongue, but I can honestly say that I was afraid to speak against anyone. I understood that, if I did, it could hinder the effectiveness of my prayers. On the night of my birthday, and Kaylee's promised healing, I stood up in front of everyone (without knowing in advance that I would be asked to speak and without any preparation) and confessed this sin in my life. I shared the message God had given me through Isaiah 58 about the "pointing finger and malicious talk". At the time, it never even occurred to me that I was practicing the teaching of James 5:14-16:
"Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; and the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."
Clearly, what comes out of our mouth really matters to God, and He has continued to drive this point home with me, over and over again. I have to confess that I still have not mastered this area. Yet when I found myself on the receiving end of the damage, it really put everything into a new perspective for me. The negative talk against me was shutting down our testimony, damaging my reputation, and greatly hindering the calling I felt God had on my life. As a Body, we are called to peace; we are called to build one another up for the sake of the whole. Our words can bring life and healing, as we saw on the night of Kaylee's prayer service, but our words can also bring death and destruction.
After hearing the sermon on delegated human authority, and realizing that this was likely the case against me, it took me some time to recover. For the next several weeks, I attended church only as a volunteer in the children's department where I was helping teach some precious 3rd grade children. Even during this eight week period, our lessons in children's church were continually centered around the subject of honoring one another. It was really such a simple lesson, and so crystal clear when learning it from a childlike perspective.
To my amazement, the very first sermon that I attended, following this time period, addressed, not only my confusion from previous sermon on authority, but also reiterated the message of Isaiah 58. It was truly unbelievable the way God was orchestrating and pulling all of this together for me as an answer to my prayers for help! When our pastor at Cornerstone, Rusty, stood up to preach out of the book of James, chapter 3, it seemed to tie the entire message together so perfectly.
Yet, more than three years later, everything surrounding this night seemed to have turned to complete confusion and chaos. I am sure that many of you reading this blog have been disappointed with the drastic turn our once heartwarming and encouraging story took. I have had a few people question my decision to share the negative aspects of our story. But I want to remind you that this is a real life story. I didn't get to write the story and certainly would never have written it this way. I did everything in my power to try to change it. But I firmly believe that God has a purpose in each one of our stories and in every trial we face, and that He will work it all for good, regardless of the negative direction it may go at times. He is our ever-present help in times of trouble and He uses the evil schemes of the enemy for His greater purpose!
If we only share our positive experiences in life, it's not going to help bring about change or help others who may find themselves in similar situations. I share our story in hopes of shedding light on a condition that we often find within the Body of Christ, the antithesis of what we witnessed on the night of Kaylee's healing. God gave me understanding, in the months leading up to Kaylee's prayer service, that this auto-immune condition, which mirrors what was taking place within Kaylee's body, greatly hinders the overall strength and effectiveness of the Body. It took me a long time to accept this, but I strongly believe today that there is a more meaningful message in the entirely of our testimony and that God has called me to share it all.
During the seven month period leading up to Kaylee's prayer service, God instilled in me the message of Isaiah 58. He let me know that my prayers and fasting for Kaylee's healing were ineffective if I was also using my tongue to damage and harm others in any way. It had been a powerful wake up call for me at the time, and because I was in a place of such desperate need, I took this warning very seriously! For the remainder of that seven month period, I was not perfect with my tongue, but I can honestly say that I was afraid to speak against anyone. I understood that, if I did, it could hinder the effectiveness of my prayers. On the night of my birthday, and Kaylee's promised healing, I stood up in front of everyone (without knowing in advance that I would be asked to speak and without any preparation) and confessed this sin in my life. I shared the message God had given me through Isaiah 58 about the "pointing finger and malicious talk". At the time, it never even occurred to me that I was practicing the teaching of James 5:14-16:
"Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; and the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."
Clearly, what comes out of our mouth really matters to God, and He has continued to drive this point home with me, over and over again. I have to confess that I still have not mastered this area. Yet when I found myself on the receiving end of the damage, it really put everything into a new perspective for me. The negative talk against me was shutting down our testimony, damaging my reputation, and greatly hindering the calling I felt God had on my life. As a Body, we are called to peace; we are called to build one another up for the sake of the whole. Our words can bring life and healing, as we saw on the night of Kaylee's prayer service, but our words can also bring death and destruction.
After hearing the sermon on delegated human authority, and realizing that this was likely the case against me, it took me some time to recover. For the next several weeks, I attended church only as a volunteer in the children's department where I was helping teach some precious 3rd grade children. Even during this eight week period, our lessons in children's church were continually centered around the subject of honoring one another. It was really such a simple lesson, and so crystal clear when learning it from a childlike perspective.
To my amazement, the very first sermon that I attended, following this time period, addressed, not only my confusion from previous sermon on authority, but also reiterated the message of Isaiah 58. It was truly unbelievable the way God was orchestrating and pulling all of this together for me as an answer to my prayers for help! When our pastor at Cornerstone, Rusty, stood up to preach out of the book of James, chapter 3, it seemed to tie the entire message together so perfectly.
This sermon, from the first weekend in May, 2012, is still available to watch online. I have provided the link below if you would like to click on it and watch it for yourself. This particular sermon was taped in an earlier service, so there may be some slight variations from what I heard in the later service, but it is the same message. I think you will be blessed by it just as I was.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV2GiP1qT1g&index=196&list=UUlYrKRMw7j-zSZJ3GfoovWQ
Our pastor began by posing this question to us:
"Does anybody in here have trouble controlling their mouth? Does anybody want to stand up and publicly testify to that? Do you have someone sitting next to you that you would love to share about?" he added jokingly.
He then proceeded to warn us, "What we say, what happens with this mouth, what comes out of it, REALLY matters!"
He then began reading (James 3:1): "Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly."
"Now let me park right there for just a minute," he said. "He's really saying: 'Hey, don't just think that it is a good idea to become a teacher. Not many people should engage in the act of teaching, because when you do, and specifically when it comes to relating the word of God - or anything in the Christian realm or in the church - be careful coming into that, because you'll be held accountable! You will be judged more strictly. You will have to make sure your life lines up and that what you're teaching is accurate and true.'"
From here, he began to talk further about this great responsibility. He told us that there was a lot of heresy during the times when James was writing this book, and he was sending out a warning.
He continued on reading (verse 2): "We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check."
"It's easier to control the body than it is the tongue," he continued. "The tongue is this place where we find this great weakness. And it's very hard for anybody to be perfect with what they say and how they say it. And so, in light of that, we have to take special care and offer special attention to the words that we offer or the things that we teach."
He explained that James was very close to Jesus on this earth, and that this teaching mirrored a teaching from Jesus found in Mark 9:42:
"If anyone causes one of these little ones -those who believe in me - to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone was hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea"
"In other words," he continued on, "It was a warning! He was like: 'Listen, if anybody should lead, either by example or their teaching or both, someone astray (by "little one" he explained further, this could be a child or someone new in the faith) or cause them to sin, there are massive consequences to that!' ...."Be careful! Because somebody is watching you! They're listening to you! Pay attention to what you are doing!"
"When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although the are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go." (verses 3&4)
"Something so small," he explained further, "can guide something so big, which is also the case with our tongues..."
"Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boast. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell." (verse 5)
After reading this version, the pastor then read us the same verse out of The Message version, which I felt so perfectly described what I had been living following Kaylee's healing:
"Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boast. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell." (verse 5)
After reading this version, the pastor then read us the same verse out of The Message version, which I felt so perfectly described what I had been living following Kaylee's healing:
"It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony into chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell"
He continued on, turning this same lesson that applies to us all, back to teachers and leaders.
"So he's saying here," the pastor continued, "'Hey, listen this has happened before! Teachers and leaders have spoken words that literally caused whole large groups of people to go in the wrong direction, to do things that were guided by evil rather than by good."
"Be careful!" he reiterated again, "Because it doesn't take much."
"All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by men. But no man can tame the tongue...." (verses 7&8)
"In other words, he's saying, 'Look, if by under our own power, under our own rule, we cannot control this tongue. What we need is somebody else. And he's offering without even saying it, The Spirit is the only One who controls the tongue for us - the One who can genuinely guide in what we say..."
"...It is a restless evil full of deadly poison."
"With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grape vine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water." (verses 9-12)
"He's like, 'Hey, we have this one tongue that's designed ultimately to give praise to our God and Father, and really it's not suppose to do two things at once' ...Like when we praise our God and Father on a Sunday morning, then we roll out and we curse the person who's feeding us over at the restaurant. We get onto our kids, our spouses, or our co-workers that next week. I mean, really ...is that the way it's suppose to happen? Can we really praise God in one sense with that tongue then go curse other people? Should that be the way it is?"
He continued on, talking about fresh water and salt water coming out of the same spring... "In your life, what is on the inside produces something. A good heart produces good fruit. And this is what he is talking about with the grape vine and the fig tree. A good heart produces good fruit. A bad heart produces bad fruit. It's just very basic, plain and simple. Apple trees don't produce strawberries. Strawberry trees don't produce apples. It just doesn't work! It's not natural. And the same thing with your heart. What we have on the inside will find its way out."
"This is like a common theme," he continued on explaining what James was saying, "Over and over, he's trying to pound this in, being so redundant... Pay attention to your life and what you're doing and what you're saying and how those things are aligning! All of these verses are producing one big warning!" Be careful!"
"Now if James were here today, he would still be preaching the same thing, not only to us, but he would be talking about other situations too, like, for example: Look, if there's a preacher, author, teacher, out there that is doing suspect things, you need to be careful with that! Especially if they're claiming to be a Christian and they're offering something from the mouth of God. For example, if they're offering a secret knowledge that only they have. If they believe they are the only one who has the correct interpretation of this book. (he held up his Bible).
"If they offer that to you, and expect you to follow them, run away! Don't go there!"
"There's something wrong with that," he continued, "That would not be Biblical! God is offering a general revelation to all of us. Now certainly, He's called some of us to teach and preach, which by the way, is a very scary thing to have to do every week because of the responsibility of it."
"So he's saying here," the pastor continued, "'Hey, listen this has happened before! Teachers and leaders have spoken words that literally caused whole large groups of people to go in the wrong direction, to do things that were guided by evil rather than by good."
"Be careful!" he reiterated again, "Because it doesn't take much."
"All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by men. But no man can tame the tongue...." (verses 7&8)
"In other words, he's saying, 'Look, if by under our own power, under our own rule, we cannot control this tongue. What we need is somebody else. And he's offering without even saying it, The Spirit is the only One who controls the tongue for us - the One who can genuinely guide in what we say..."
"...It is a restless evil full of deadly poison."
"With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grape vine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water." (verses 9-12)
"He's like, 'Hey, we have this one tongue that's designed ultimately to give praise to our God and Father, and really it's not suppose to do two things at once' ...Like when we praise our God and Father on a Sunday morning, then we roll out and we curse the person who's feeding us over at the restaurant. We get onto our kids, our spouses, or our co-workers that next week. I mean, really ...is that the way it's suppose to happen? Can we really praise God in one sense with that tongue then go curse other people? Should that be the way it is?"
He continued on, talking about fresh water and salt water coming out of the same spring... "In your life, what is on the inside produces something. A good heart produces good fruit. And this is what he is talking about with the grape vine and the fig tree. A good heart produces good fruit. A bad heart produces bad fruit. It's just very basic, plain and simple. Apple trees don't produce strawberries. Strawberry trees don't produce apples. It just doesn't work! It's not natural. And the same thing with your heart. What we have on the inside will find its way out."
"This is like a common theme," he continued on explaining what James was saying, "Over and over, he's trying to pound this in, being so redundant... Pay attention to your life and what you're doing and what you're saying and how those things are aligning! All of these verses are producing one big warning!" Be careful!"
"Now if James were here today, he would still be preaching the same thing, not only to us, but he would be talking about other situations too, like, for example: Look, if there's a preacher, author, teacher, out there that is doing suspect things, you need to be careful with that! Especially if they're claiming to be a Christian and they're offering something from the mouth of God. For example, if they're offering a secret knowledge that only they have. If they believe they are the only one who has the correct interpretation of this book. (he held up his Bible).
"If they offer that to you, and expect you to follow them, run away! Don't go there!"
"There's something wrong with that," he continued, "That would not be Biblical! God is offering a general revelation to all of us. Now certainly, He's called some of us to teach and preach, which by the way, is a very scary thing to have to do every week because of the responsibility of it."
He went on to explain further, "James is saying, 'Look teachers and preachers, be careful with what you are doing. You're leading people!' ...Many cults have been formed out of people just following blindly and out of teachers and leaders not leading correctly."
At this point, I began to think about the previous sermon I had heard on authority and what bothered me about it. As I mentioned in the previous blog, I wasn't comfortable with the things that were added or subtlety changed to emphasize this teaching on delegated human authority. There were things mentioned that I had never heard before, such as interpretive "keys" that "unlock" the Bible. I never knew the Bible was "locked". But what bothered me most, I think, and I had read similar things in "The Bait of Satan" book, was a teaching that encourages disassociating ourselves with certain people, such as those who are bitter or unforgiving (from "The Bait of Satan" book) or those who are not submissive to delegated human authority. Sure, there may be instances when God calls us to disassociate with people when they are living lives of extreme immorality and rebellion to God (as mentioned in II Timothy 3: 1-5) or if they are abusive or causing us personal harm. But I think we need to be very cautious here. After all, we are all sinners! I certainly don't think we should disassociate ourselves with someone because they are struggling with a particular sin, struggling to forgive someone, or struggling in the area of submission to authority.
With this particular teaching, I couldn't help but think about my former classroom full of students, many of whom had experienced unthinkable acts and abuse at the hand of those in positions of authority. Many of them were rebellious, to various degrees, as a result. Yet, God loved these children, and chose to use them, just as they were. In fact, Rachel, the very one whom God gave the dream about Kaylee's healing, rebelled against my authority and ran away from our classroom just days after sharing her dream with me. These abused and damaged children were very likely to grow into adults with a very skewed view of authority due to no fault of their own. Was a teaching that encourages people to disassociate with people struggling in this area really God's way? Would this teaching have benefited these particular children or pointed them to Christ if they had been present for that sermon?
Those who have had Godly, righteous authority figures in their lives (although all are imperfect), should consider themselves blessed, not better, because not everyone is so fortunate. Something just wasn't right about the fruit being produced from a teaching like this, and it was evident by the way that I was being treated in this church. The thought of one of these children ever being treated this way later in life was just heartbreaking to me. People who have been severely wounded are more likely to struggle in every area. They need to be shown the love of Christ, not rejection.
From here, the pastor then moved on to address the issue of authority.
"So there are several issues at play here in these verses that James is offering. Number one, and even though it's not spoken here, it's clearly the case, is the issue of authority."
He had my undivided attention!
"...particularly when it comes to those who are teaching or leading other people. Authority, with that, comes tremendous responsibility! Now certainly the people who are given the privilege of serving others and having others follow them, they bear the weight of that authority, and it can go in many different directions. It can go in a good direction or it can go in a bad direction. But ultimately, I believe that authority has been given to teachers, preachers, and leaders for the good of others - to build others up- to make others better - for the sake of the whole."
He went on to give us an example of what this position should look like. He compared it to the role of a conductor leading an orchestra.
"If authority were given to every musician to decide how this thing should go, it wouldn't go anywhere, would it?" he asked us. "There's one person in that group that is given the authority, and he knows what is best for this orchestra. He's looking at every individual musician and he's trying to find out: How can I extract the best out of that musician? How can I make them the best they can be in that position? ...so that when I put all of this together, it makes one beautiful piece of music. ...for the sake of the whole."
He continued, "With the conductor, it's not about himself. He bears the authority and responsibility of doing that. ...Now, when you bridge that over into the Christian community, it's the same thing. Teachers, preachers, anybody who is a leader or given authority, the whole goal and design is to serve humbly for the sake of Christ and others. ...And we never do that under our own authority. It is always under the authority of Christ."
He backed this up with the following verse: "As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we have instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus." I Thessalonians 4:1&2
"Paul is saying, 'Listen, we never do this just because we think it's a good idea or out of our own power or because we've given ourselves authority. We do this out of the authority of Jesus Christ. We send instructions to you about how to live according to Him. This just doesn't work if God is not at work in you and me, the leader, first. It's the only way to do this responsibility we have been called to..."
He then illustrated this further and asked us this question: "Do you invite God in to be your assistant? No! He is the guy that holds the Universe together by the power of His word ...that you invite in to be your Lord and Savior. He's the One you invite in to control your life and to tell you what to do. You want to submit yourself to Him. You want Him to be the authority in your life. And that's where we come to with the issue of authority. Anyone in a position over other people, it should be: 'God, Please help me! I am submitted to You, and I pray that Your authority would reign in me, so that when I do what I do, I do it right! I don't want to mess this up! I want to lead people well and teach people well and guide people through Your love and Your grace!'"
"...Because really," he continued with such humility, "if I get up here and offer Rusty's 400 rules of living, that wouldn't work anyway! Trust me! Ask my wife!"
"Look through history," he said, "Take Hitler, for example, or Osama bin Laden ...What kind of leadership do we have here? Or then look at Billy Graham or Martin Luther King Jr. - a lot of power in those tongues right there! Words that shaped and influenced in completely different directions..."
"James is saying, 'Just watch out! If you're offering words, just offer words that would bring people to Christ, that would light up the darkness. ...Offer words of encouragement instead of tearing people down.'"
"Words matter! Be careful! 'The devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.' (I Peter 5:8) Don't let it be you!"
"To wrap this up," he said in closing, "If you teach, if you lead, if you're somebody who has been given responsibility, pay attention! Know why you're doing this! What is your motive? And if you're somebody in the church that does that, really pay attention! You're a servant of God. You've been humbly given the responsibility, just as I know I have, to guide others. And this requires our submission to Christ first. Remember, you're on a mission from God in what you do."
He then looked out at all of us in his congregation and added, "As your pastor, I have been called to humbly serve you."
It was a complete flip in the opposite direction of the sermon I had heard before. When I left church that morning, I left with an assurance of God's ever-presence, even in the midst of all the chaos that seemed to surround my life. Rather than the heavy feeling of condemnation I had felt following the previous sermon, I felt such comfort, and my faith in spiritual authority had been restored as well. In my spirit, I knew that I had just heard the truth, from God's perspective, regarding my own situation. It was a wonderful feeling to know how much God cared about what I was experiencing. I had been in an extremely weakened state and desperately needed assurance of God's presence right at that moment, and He knew this!
....Unbeknownst to me, another form of chaos had already begun inside my son's (Barret) body. We were just 3 weeks away from yet another horrifying health crisis...
No comments:
Post a Comment