Today during my regular Bible reading, Luke 12:2-3 stood out to me:
There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from roofs.
This snippet comes immediately after Jesus blasted the religious teachers of his day. He has gone so far to warn the common man to be on their guard against the teachings of the religious leaders. Wow!
I always make a special note of Jesus interactions with the religious people of his day. Since my husband is a pastor, we take very seriously what God has to say to spiritual leaders. We want to understand his words then and apply them to our lives now so that we can truly honor him.
One of my the greatest observations is that Jesus saved his harshest words for those in spiritual leadership. In Luke 11:52, Jesus says:
Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who are entering.
It is important to remember that the “experts in the law” weren’t lawyers as we understand them. They were experts in the religious laws, the law of Moses. These experts took God’s simple requirements and made them so burdensome that no one could meet their “religious” standards. They were so restrictive that they actually blocked others ability to relate with God.
What does all of this have to do with me, my life, and our church?
I often ask myself, “if my private conversations were shouted from the rooftops, would they be hurtful to others?” Sometimes, the unfortunate answer is yes. Inevitably, there are times when we all have problems with other people. I believe it’s healthy and appropriate to go to someone we trust and discuss an issue that we may have. And, while I’d rather not have that kind of conversation aired on Larry King Live, we should still be able to look the subject of our conversations in the eye afterward. The realization that everything will be revealed provides motivation to watch our tongue and our actions.
As the church, we must take seriously the words Jesus spoke to the religious leaders of his day. Me must examine ourselves to see if we have fallen into the self-righteous, holier-than-thou trap that is so easy in modern-day American Christendom.
I will end today with a question from Jesus in Matthew 7:3:
Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?
Let us all step back and take a moment to examine ourselves.
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One Comment
I have had this very thing come up in my life recently. I say something or am involved in a conversation and when I walk away, I think, “What did I just say!”.
It’s just that we don’t think WHEN we are speaking, but afterwards. Why is that! It’s most frustrating to me when I know the right thing to do before I’ve done or said something God wouldn’t like and I am kicking myself right after I’ve done or said it, but at the moment, I don’t see it.
Reading this has been a heads up to me. Thanks for your insight!