There is a story of a woman who had some time in the airport before her flight, so she decided to pull out a good book after first buying a bag of cookies in the food court. She hardly noticed when a man sat beside her and began to read his newspaper. Seeing the cookies on the seat between them, she decided to open it up and take a cookie. In the next moment, she couldn’t help but notice but the man beside her reached inside the bag and helped himself to a cookie! Not wanting to create a scene, she decided to say nothing. For the next few minutes she would take a cookie and then he proceeded to do the same and one by one they went. She thought to herself….of all the nerve and her indignation continued to rise in her. When one cookie was left in the bag, he took it out and broke it in two and smiled as he gave her half. She thought, “it is truly amazing how some people will act.” At that moment, the announcement came that her flight was boarding. The man got up and headed toward the plane. The woman grabbed her purse, opened it to put her book away only to see her bag of cookies!!
Keeping our faith REAL! Say no to hypocrisy.
Matthew 7:1-4
Everyday we face choices that bring consequences with the people that know us with those inside and especially those outside of the faith. One of my hockey friends works in media relations. He was in
The truth is that a lot of Christians often feel trapped in hypocrisy. We want to give people a better impression of ourselves than we really are. Why? Well, you start to play the game and others are impressed. They think, wow, this guy has got some substance and we live to impress. We long for affirmation, but Paul asks the question best in
How long do you stare at your clothes, thinking about what you are going to wear? Now, imagine if we took that same amount of time and thought about the things that God wants to clothe us in! Simply pray that God would clothe you in humility, in purity, in the righteousness of Christ alone.
Maybe today is the day where you shut down the show and say enough, the acting is over. I want to be free to be me. It is my heart’s desire to be the same person you see here standing before you on Sunday is the same person that I am when I show up at the hockey rink on a Thursday night.
I never forget asking a pastor when I was younger, ‘Why does your voice change when you speak from the pulpit....
Jesus said, ‘What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean’ but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him ‘unclean’.
Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
If you get caught up in the game of always wondering what people think, that you will be forever chasing after that and trying to paint a better mask. Just say NO and live your life to impress God who sees through everything we do anyways. There is amazing freedom in living your life for an audience of one! To know that God deeply loves me, with whom I can live a life of incredible significance is enough for me and keeps me pressing onward and upward towards the high calling of God in Christ Jesus!
Keeping our LIVES real. Say yes to integrity
5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, Matthew 7:5a
Integrity is removing the plank from our own eye. It’s not just enough to admit, I’ve got a board in my eye, to say, ‘Hey, I’m just being straight up with you, here are my issues, I’m definitely not a hypocrite.’ This type of response is similar to a person afraid to run a race who says, ‘well, at least I didn’t lose.’ Well what kind of response is that for the person who didn’t run! You didn’t RUN!! It would be like the disciples reprimanding Peter for not having enough faith and began to sink as Jesus called him out on the water. You didn’t WALK on water. You never took the risk! So, admitting that we all easily can be so hypocritical is a great first step. However if we were to stop there, it would be a real tragedy. So, integrity goes beyond admitting what I am to what I long by God’s grace to become.
Romans 12:9-21
Don’t just pretend that you love others. Really love them!
Here is an interesting truth I discovered, “The one child who most bugs you is typically the child who is most like you!” So, a real growth area can be seeing what we don’t like in others become a motivation for our own need to change!
How amazing would it be if we allowed the faults and mistakes of others be a motivating factor for transformation in us as opposed to gossiping and telling everyone else just how brutal they are.
I know, my God that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. I Chronicles 29:17
The fact that everyone one of these virtues is so easily put to the test in everyday life.
Hate what is evil, cling to what is good You can’t just decide in the moment that you are going to follow through on this. Integrity is the decision to make up your mind in advance to do the right thing.
- You don’t wait until you get in a conversation to speak the truth in love. You have to determine in your heart in advance to speak affirmation as opposed to criticism. I’m not friendly first thing in the morning with my kids especially with the constant barrage of questions. So, the key is just breathing the prayer in when my feet hit the floor and breathing out with blessing from the Spirit.
- The same is true with sexual purity and honesty. We can’t wait till we are tested in these areas to decide what we are going to do. The decision needs to be solidified in advance and believing the prayer that Paul prayed in 1 Corinthians 1:8 that He being God will be the one who keeps us strong. Another great step in keeping our commitments is telling someone else to keep us on track
Psalm 101:2,3
I will try to walk a blameless path, but how I need your help, especially in my own home, where I long to act as I should.
We need to be the same people in our homes as we are in the workplace as we are in the community.
There is a place where His power meets our willingness and we live in light of who we are: children of the King.
Admit your faults to one another and pray for each other. James 5:16 LB
OK, find the nearest person to you right now and admit your faults!
That could be downright scary, but in the presence of someone you can trust it can be the most freeing and empowering thing to do. When we bring sin to the light, we can expose it, we can actually deal with it and best yet, we can pray for freedom and deliverance from it. The key is to find someone who won’t just excuse your faults, but who with your honesty will also be challenged and uncomfortable about their own sin. If you can find a friend who will walk with you, pray with you, encourage you and sharpen you, you are a truly blessed person. If you haven’t, that is the first place to start. Integrity means I know that I can’t walk the walk alone.
Integrity is not just saying no to sin and refusing thoughts and actions that are not becoming of us. It is also learning to say yes to things that are honorable and awesome. Either way as we have already learned in this series we can do either well without his strength working in us and through us.
I also firmly believe that integrity is first saying yes to the Spirit of God, then no to sinful habits and not the other way around.
So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
Galatians 5:16
When you start saying yes to what is better, what is true, what is lovely, it just crowds out your life and leaves little room for the other crap to take root in your life.
Colossians 3 is another illustration of this truth because it is only as we set our hearts and minds on things above that we will have any power to put to death the impure desires and lust.
Saying NOW to mercy!
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.
Romans 12:10
then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
6"Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.
Matthew 7:5b,6
One writer correctly identifies that tolerance is falsely defined as accepting without opinion or comment whatever choices another makes.
Jesus gave us the alternative to this and the teaching is mercy. He called us to be ‘nonjudgmental’ and by that he wanted us to remember that we all can easily succumb to sin and but by the grace of God, go I. The teaching of mercy reminds that no one is outside the circle of God’s grace, outside the boundaries of His forgiveness or the limits of my love.
Jesus really challenged us to live our lives with an incredible sense of mercy. In fact to the degree that we extend mercy is in direct relationship to the mercy we will experience and enjoy in God.
Matthew 6:14,15 “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.
The point is this, ‘Mercy is not optional for the follower of Jesus.’
Now let’s be clear that we are not talking about the time that it takes to process our emotions and faith and feel forgiveness or making the decision to trust again. We are talking about going year after year with a lack of mercy and a conscious decision to choose not to forgive.
Of all three subjects that we have focused on, rejecting hypocrisy, choosing integrity and saying NOW to mercy, mercy takes the most courage because once again you do open yourself up to rejection.
When we learn to trust God as the ultimate judge, the less judgmental we will become.
People who act as though they’ve never sinned are the most judgmental people on earth
Those who think the only sins they’ve committed are ‘little sins’ are the most condemning people you’ll ever meet.
Tom Holladay
I think all too often we forget the amazing grace that God has displayed in our lives and when we start to do that we are no good to anyone! So, go back to the microscope, get really honest with yourself and God there and when you have found the hope, the freedom, the love and the welcoming arms of God the Father, then go talk to others!
The Takeaway
The only hope that I have to speak into my friend’s life is only after I have first gone under the microscope of His judgment and found the mercy and grace there.
Questions For Discussion
1. Is there any area of your life where you are most susceptible to wearing a mask?
2. Who in your life can you admit your faults to and be confident that they will pray for you?
3. Why are so easily given to judge others?
4. To whom can I show mercy this week?
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