"He's just being showy!"
"He's just trying to build his own empire!"
"All he's really interested in is numbers!"
Seriously, how can you be 100% sure that he's trying to be "showy?" How can you be 100% sure that he's trying to "build his own empire?" How can you be 100% sure that he's only "interested in numbers?" Isn't it possible that he's genuinely worshipping the Lord from a pure yet expressive heart and you have wrongly concluded that he's being "showy?" Isn't possible that his passion really is to see the church reach as many people as possible so they can know Christ and spend eternity in heaven, and you have wrongly concluded that he's only about "trying to build his own empire" or that he "is only interested in numbers?"
I have seen it happen too many times in the church. Dissension and disunity creep into a growing and vibrant church because people begin to do what they simply cannot do accurately - judge other people's motives. They then share their conclusions with others as if they are provable facts and the sad result is that lives get ruined, people get hurt, and the church of Jesus Christ suffers. The Apostle Paul put it this way in 1 Corinthians 4:5:
"Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts; and then each man's praise will come to him from God."
"If we are going to err, let's err on the side of grace!"
2 comments:
Well, Pastor Scott, this is well said! With your permission, I may repost this at some point. Stating opinions as fact is a pride thing when it is second guessing. God help us all to allow the Holy Spirit to teach us learn this.
Permission granted! Thanks for commenting!
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