Those Who Hate to be Proven Wrong Rather than Desiring to Learn the Truth

Recently, I have been confronted with people who seem to dislike hyperbole, as though it is wrong to use an extreme example to illustrate a point.

Some examples of hyperbole in the bible are as follows.

 
Luke 6:41 "Why do you see the speck that is in your brother 's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?"

Mark 10:25 "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God."

Matthew 5:29 "If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell."

Matthew 6:3 "3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,"

Judges 20:16 "16 Among all these were 700 chosen men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair and not miss."

John 21:25 "25 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written."

Psalm 18:29: "By my God I can leap over a wall."

Amos 2:9: "The Amorites' height is compared to cedars"

Matthew 23:23 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, but have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. You ought to have done these, without neglecting the others"

Luke 14:26 reads, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple"

God used Simile in many cases, one such case is:

Matthew 23:26-28 "…26 Blind Pharisee! First, clean the inside of the cup and dish, so that the outside may become clean as well. 27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of impurity. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to be righteous, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness."

Were the Pharisees actually blind? NO, Were they sepulchers of stone in a cemetery? No. God was using a simile to describe the deadness of their hearts of stone. He compared the appearance of righteousness as opposed to the actual heart of stone that people did not see when encountering them.

 
Luke 11:44 "Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, which men walk over without even noticing.”

God used examples of simile and hyperbole often in His Word. Telling a story to demonstrate a point more fully can bring proud people to the end of themselves to repent of wrong thinking or they can become irritated and angry, claiming we did something wrong by presenting a hypothetical situation that clarifies the truth.

It is interesting to me that as soon as a stubborn person realizes they have been proven wrong, they will ignore the message entirely and complain about the way the truth was presented. This allows them to place the blame on us for "making trouble" by questioning them or presenting the truth that proves them wrong.

 
When someone has a stubborn heart and a prideful spirit, they will avoid answering directly, either through silence or by attacking us personally as though we did something wrong in the delivery. These people are intimidated when confronted with the truth. The blame game is their go-to tactic rather than pondering what was said and desiring to know the truth. Preservation of their elevated image is first and foremost in the hearts of those who do not care about the truth; they care only about winning and appearing superior.

 
My response when I find out someone is unwilling to have an honest discussion and look at all sides of the scriptures to find truth is when I am finished with them. There is no spiritual growth in dishonest conversation based on personal preservation more than the truth of the Bible.

 
We must keep speaking truth as led by the Holy Spirit, and learn to walk away from those who don't want the truth.

 
1 Timothy 6:4-5 "He is conceited and understands nothing. Instead, he has an unhealthy interest in controversies and disputes about words, out of which come envy, strife, abusive talk, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind who are devoid of the truth. These men regard godliness as a means of gain."

Where Do You Go to Church is the Popular Modern Day Question

I hear all the time, "Where do you go to church?" Or, "I am going to church" when someone is describing what they do according to their religion.

What I rarely hear is "I am the church, gathering with others who are the church."
I hear, "What church do you attend?", but never hear "who do you gather with to edify one another?"

God commanded us to gather together, wherever we choose, to edify one another in the Lord. No fansy building, no pulpit just people who love Jesus Christ all interacting together, each one led by the Holy Spirit without a progam or script.
Edifying one another means building up one another in the faith, so that we grow and become more effective as ambassadors of Christ in the world.

 
Sometimes they say, "What does your church believe?" rather than "What does Jesus Christ teach?"

All of this verbiage that demands that a born-again believer go to a place called church has led people to believe they must attend a building led by an authorized preacher educated by men in a place called a seminary. None of this is mandated in God's Word. It has destroyed edification because the focus is not on Christ but who is in control and the ritual of the gathering focused on one man and now "worship leaders" who have taken the place of the Holy Spirit in leading the gathering.

 
Most of these gathering places led by a hireling, educated by men, disobey more of the scripture than they obey, violating God's principles while upholding cultural concepts mixed with some scripture out of context to justify the violations.

 
And, worse yet, the program-oriented places forbid anyone from the pews from participating.

 
2 Timothy 4:2-4 "…2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. 4 So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths."

This passage was written to ALL believers, not a special class educated by special schools that God never commanded.

 
John 16:12-14 "…12 I still have much to tell you, but you cannot yet bear to hear it. 13 However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come. 14 He will glorify Me by taking from what is Mine and disclosing it to you.…"

In these days of apostasy, the paid man who is educated in man's schools is revered over and above the Holy Spirit. People will talk all day long about their favorite "pastor" and never mention the name of Jesus Christ or the Holy Spirit.

 
Those who attend these ritualistic gatherings led by men often speak of the activities or the music they enjoy, but never utter from their mouths what the Holy Spirit taught them.

 
John 14:26
"But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you."

When the Holy Spirit is in fullness within a believer, they will be growing and learning to teach others.

 
When the Holy Spirit is the teacher and leader within the church gathering, Christ is magnified. When there is a man chosen by men to teach as long as he is educated by man's system, then the man is magnified.

 
1 Corinthians 3:1-2
"Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual, but as worldly—as infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for solid food. In fact, you are still not ready."

Those who depend on men as their teachers are always learning man's ways but not necessarily God's.

2 Timothy 3:7 "who are always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth."

When we are growing in wisdom according to the Holy Spirit, then God is glorified. Those who gain knowledge without the guidance of the Holy Spirit will be puffed up, arrogant, and impossible to be taught.

 
We are living in the end times when there is more wrong in the churches with their buildings than there is right. They have become lumps in the pews listening with ears that are dedicated to hearing what they want, not what is true. They have little ability to question what is being said from that pulpit because they are not engaged at home with their Bibles or the fellowship of those who do obey the Bible.

 
Prayers are only uttered by most when there is a disaster from which they need to be rescued. The prayers from the pulpits are offered by the designated "Pastor", while the people in the pews remain silent. In other words, these designated men do their praying for them, tell them what songs to sing, and demand money at the end of the gathering to fund the activities of the church.

 
Those in the pews do not interact with the others in the pews during the week. They don't even know the lives of those who attend because the gatherings are too large and the people tend to hide in their section of the pew so as not to be bothered.

 
Many years ago, I was visiting a woman at her home. When I began to speak about the Bible and Jesus Chris, she told me "religion is a private thing, that we shouldn't push it onto others." This woman attended a protestant church for over 50 years, and yet she wanted to remain secretive and separate from others in the church. She knew very little of the Bible, only her favorite comforting verses that she clung to for a sense of safety.

 
This same woman told me she heard it was right to worship angels. Just the opposite of what God teaches in His Word. When I corrected her with Scripture, she went silent and showed no interest.

 
Is it any wonder I am convinced we are in the end times, in which most people want to make up their own religion of their choosing and call it Christian?

Repent and Do the First Works

Correction the New Hate Speech

In our culture, it is considered a personal attack to correct or rebuke someone who is sinning or off base in their theology.

 
It is not an attack to correct someone in error.

Proverbs 27:5 "Better is open rebuke than hidden love."

1 Timothy 5:20 "As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear."

Titus 2:15 "Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you."

2 Timothy 4:2 "Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching."

The irony of those who feel attacked is that they correct others all the time, playing the hypocrite to allow themselves the right to correct, but not allow others to correct them if the correction is toward them. They will correct us for correcting, irrational at best.

Luke 17:3-4 "Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

Notice the criteria for extending forgiveness is repentance. Relationships cannot be mended without the offending party caring enough to be sorry about their offense to confess it.

1 John 1:8-10 "8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us."

Railing on People Is Based in Pride

Railing on people after one rebuke is trusting in oneself to batter hard enough to change another person. We are not responsible for changing anyone; we are only responsible for giving them the information that allows them to make their own choice.

 
The problem with this is that we are not called to change a person's heart, only to speak the truth in love and leave their decision to God.

 
Sure, someone could treat another person disrespectfully enough that a weak person would give in and change their behavior around their persecutor, but it would only change behavior, not the heart, and only around that one person.
Someone who is in sin will not listen better because we bludgeon them with disrespect. Speaking the truth in loving warning and leaving them to decide is God's manner of rebuke.

 
Many instructions in God's Word guide how we do things with others.
One principle is that we speak the truth in love, meaning we approach someone because we love them, not just to make them do what we think is right. Our concern is about their walk with God or lack of it.

 
Another principle is that when we have warned in love, and the person will not listen, we are to walk away and remain absent from their lives until they make the right choice.

God also tells us to be discerning in our friendships that we make no friendship with a rebellious and angry person.

 
Ephesians 4:15
"15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, that is, Christ,"

Most people focus on the word love as though it means to be very careful not to offend, but it really means we approach them with the heart that wants to help them avoid disaster. We ought rather to focus on both the love and compassion for the person's heart, to help, not to act superior to them.

 
2 Corinthians 2:4-6 "…4 For through many tears I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart, not to grieve you but to let you know how much I love you. 5 Now if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me but all of you— to some degree, not to overstate it. 6 The punishment imposed on him by the majority is sufficient for him.…"

Feelings are not relevant; snatching them from disaster is the goal.

 
Galatians 6:1
"Brothers, if someone is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him with a spirit of gentleness. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted."

Ezekiel 3:18-19
"18 When I say to the wicked, ‘You will certainly die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way so that he may live, that wicked person shall die for wrongdoing, but his blood I will require from your hand.
19 However if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die for wrongdoing, but you have saved yourself."

2 Corinthians 2:6-8
"The punishment imposed on him by the majority is sufficient for him. So instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him."

There are those we must avoid because they have no interest in resolving the trouble they caused.

 
Proverbs 22:24-25 " 24 Do not make friends with an angry man, and do not associate with a hot-tempered man, 25 or you may learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.…"

If someone repents, we are to forgive and treat them as though the offense never happened. If there is no repentance, then the relationship remains broken until confession is made and they are forgiven.

 
Luke 17:3-4
"Watch yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. Even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times returns to say, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

Very few relationships today are reconciled because people are more comfortable not bothering to admit their flaws or offenses. They would rather it just go away on its own or pretend it never happened. This never makes for a quality and loving relationship.

 
When we love someone, we want to make sure things are right between us because they are more important than the pride that prevents someone from confessing their bad attitude or behavior.

 
It takes humility and strength of character to confess a flaw; those who are prideful and weak cannot do it.

 
1 Thessalonians 5:14
"And we urge you, brothers, to admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, and be patient with everyone."

Edifying One Another

I wrote this as a comment on another thread today because I believe there are many believers who need to hear it.

 
In the beginning, I deleted my Facebook four times.

 
Then one day, I asked the Lord why I continued to be drawn back to it. The answer from the Lord came back clearly, "use it for Me."

 
I have been on it now for many years because I have felt led to speak about Christ to the unsaved and to encourage believers to edify anyone who needs it.

 
If the only thing we do is speak of Christ, His principles and His heart, we have done what He wanted; the results are not our business. However, there are results, even if only to encourage other believers to keep going.

Each of us has something to offer because we have the Holy Spirit in us, and He drives us to be deeply connected to one another, we are family, the family of Christ, siblings in the Lord.

 
Ephesians 2:20-22
"20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone,
21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord,
22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit."

Hallelujah

Gossips Divide Friends

When we meet someone who is so guarded they only tell you things that they think will impress you we can be sure they are hiding something.

 
Perhaps they gossip among themselves and are fearful that if they tell someone anything, the hearer will gossip about them.

 
There is a difference in telling someone something that happened to you personally and your reaction to it, and what you heard from someone else that you did not see for yourself.

 
We often share things that happen to us with our close and trusted friends. However, it is not wise to share details with those who have a tendency to make judgments and repeat their judgments to others about things when all they have is guesses about what might be the case.

 
I once heard someone tell me they were irritated by the way a father was talking to his daughter. The daughter and father were yards away from the hearer, who didn't know exactly what the father was saying or the life of the daughter on every other day of the week when the observer was never around. Presuming to know what might have been said and the sad face of the daughter, the story was relayed as the father doing something unkind without cause.

 
Personally, it would never occur to me to make a judgment about a conversation between a father and his daughter from yards away, much less repeat to anyone what "might" be happening.

 
Gossip is always relayed to others, liberally sprinkled with the prejudices of the gossiper about the one they whisper about.

 
Gossip is not hard to discern; it is always guesses about what the gossiper thinks might be happening and always tainted in a negative light to demean the person who is being gossiped about.

 
In another case, someone judged a woman as unsubmissive to her husband because she and her husband discussed things together rather than the husband making all the decisions. The gossiper judged things that were none of their business and then passed on their assessment about what they thought was happening, without knowing the dynamics of the relationship, even worse, making up their own details they believed were happening.

 
Perhaps it is best to keep our noses out of the lives of others unless the others bring us in as a friend and confidant. And, if someone does include us as a confidant, then we are to keep the confidences shared with us if we love that person.

 
Gossip is not love; it is an attempt to gain allies against a person who is disliked, and worse, there is jealousy against. Relaying personal matters about others when the others have no need to know is clearly an attempt to turn people against the one who is despised.

I use the word despised because the result of gossip is to harm someone, and it is only hatred that motivates those who do it.

 
Ephesians 4:29 "Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear."

Proverbs 16:28 "A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends."

Be the friend you want others to be to you, love them enough to keep silent with those who have no need to know the muck and struggles of others. And, sometimes even relaying good things will empower the gossip who will twist what they are jealous of.