Today’s Lectionary Readings: Psalm 121; Isaiah 49;8-13; John 6:41-51; Ephesians 4:17-32; Psalm 68
All too often these days, religiosity has been equated by self-righteousness. A big part of this is the result of the way SOME televangelists have conducted themselves. For much of the 1980’s and 1990’s, many of them created television empires by using their programs to judge or condemn others. Do you remember, for instance, all the times groups were singled out as the cause of natural disasters like tornadoes and hurricanes because they were seen as bringing God’s judgment on the nation/world? Unfortunately, a few still persist in this approach years later. The sad consequence of this is that many Americans have concluded that the fruits of the Spirit for Christians seem to be things like malice, mean-spiritedness, and judgementalism. Thankfully, today’s reading from Ephesians corrects this mistaken assumption. For that passage clearly spells out how one should conduct oneself after one encounters the God of Jesus. As the author of the letter culminates his words of instruction to the Ephesians, he wrote: “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:31-32 – NIV). What wonderful words to wrap ourselves in as we begin the new year! My hope and prayer for you this year is that you’ll not only regularly extend kindness and compassion to those you meet these year, but that you’ll be the recipient of these as well! Til next time…
All too often these days, religiosity has been equated by self-righteousness. A big part of this is the result of the way SOME televangelists have conducted themselves. For much of the 1980’s and 1990’s, many of them created television empires by using their programs to judge or condemn others. Do you remember, for instance, all the times groups were singled out as the cause of natural disasters like tornadoes and hurricanes because they were seen as bringing God’s judgment on the nation/world? Unfortunately, a few still persist in this approach years later. The sad consequence of this is that many Americans have concluded that the fruits of the Spirit for Christians seem to be things like malice, mean-spiritedness, and judgementalism. Thankfully, today’s reading from Ephesians corrects this mistaken assumption. For that passage clearly spells out how one should conduct oneself after one encounters the God of Jesus. As the author of the letter culminates his words of instruction to the Ephesians, he wrote: “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:31-32 – NIV). What wonderful words to wrap ourselves in as we begin the new year! My hope and prayer for you this year is that you’ll not only regularly extend kindness and compassion to those you meet these year, but that you’ll be the recipient of these as well! Til next time…
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