From Pastor Lee
September 16, 2024
"For" or "Against"
In listening very closely to someone talking about politics or religion or the world we live in, it seems that we fall into one of two categories. There are those who are “for” persons and those who are “against” persons. The question is, which one are you? Better yet, what are you for?
This is a question many really can’t answer with clear or sufficient reasons why you’re a “for” person. Over the course of a lifetime, it is easy for people to slowly become cynical about their ideals, hopes, and goals in life and yes, even their faith. For many this leads to a shift of becoming more defined by what they oppose than what they are for. This isn’t about politics but human nature. In reading the book of Acts in the Bible, along with Paul’s writings, we read how Paul thought he was a “for” guy. He was all for God and thought he was really doing God a favor by killing and imprisoning Christians when we first read about him. Paul didn’t have a clue that he was an “against” person and that he was against the One he thought he was for, God, until he encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus. If you go back and read his story in the Bible one thing you will not read is what Paul was for before his conversion.
Now I know we’re never completely a “for” or “against” person. Everyone is for something but also against other things. The thing to see though is which one dominates your attitude toward life and this world we live in? It is possible to shift over time and slowly lose sight of what we are for as we can become obsessed with those things, people, or whatever we’re against. Bottom line is that being against doesn’t share the gospel, the message that God wants us to speak, live and share with the world. In fact, it stifles the message we were entrusted with to share and live by. For Paul, he shifted from being an “against” person to a “for” person. He went from being about angry obsession to having a holy passion for living as Jesus tells us to live. What Paul’s example shows us is that by the power of the Holy Spirit, profound and positive change is possible for anyone. Again, the question is asked, what are you for and why? Can we answer that without bringing up what we’re against?
Do we really understand and see ourselves as we truly are? Just something to think about.
Love, Pastor Lee
