A Nugget from New Life Network
Scripture for the Day – August 7, 2019
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, (Philippians 2:3)
I can remember when I was about seven years old being bullied by an older neighborhood boy. He would wait for me as I walked home from school and beat me up. Those were not pleasant experiences. Some bullies are just outright mean for no apparent reason. Other bullies have a favored cause they are being mean for. As I look at the environment that we live in today I see more and more displays of that same bully spirit.
One of my three sons has worked in various churches off and on. He has worked as a worship leader and as an Executive Pastor. The last position he held was for a large denominational church as an Executive Pastor. He called me one day after being in that position for a while and said to me, “Dad, these people are mean. They will say and do anything to get their way.” This was a Christian church! That should not be!!! What is going on???
As I thought about it, I reflected on the world around us. The radical Islamist and Jihadist use this tactic all the time in their torture of Christians. They bully them to either renounce their faith and if they don’t they chop their heads off. That is the extreme end of this spirit but it also has all kind of other levels.
Our political environment has been infected by this same spirit. Whatever level of bullying it takes is justified if it moves the ball forward for a particular political agenda. The national media is the worst of all. While they are charging everyone else with being a bully, they are the biggest bully of them all.
Our church environment has also been infected with this same bullying spirit. People do whatever is necessary to gain attention and achieve the level of success that they think is due them with no regard for anyone else. As my son would say, “that’s just not right Dad.”
So, what’s the answer to all this? At some point we have to realize that we are off base as a society, as a church, and as individuals. At some point we have to realize we need to repent and return to honoring God, honoring those in authority, and honoring each other. At some point we have to quit all this jockeying for position and let God direct our paths. At some point we are going to have to realize that taking God out of our schools, out of our culture, and out of our government (which was due mainly to a bunch of bullies) was a huge mistake. At some point we need to return to God, repent, and ask God to heal our land. At some point we need to reject this spirit of bullying and realize that it’s going to take all of us down the road to destruction. Sounds like the enemy to me!!!
For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. (Romans 12:3)
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. (1
Corinthians 13:4-7, NLT)
