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Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Today's Frontline Devotion January 9, 2006 Don’t Condemn Yourself |
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FRONTLINE DEVOTION FOR MONDAY, JANUARY 9, 2006 by Fritz Foltz
It is great to read this text. It proves that nothing changes. Even back then there were some Christians always ready to put guilt trip on others. The passage includes a long list of requirements some Christians insist are important and use to show other members of the community are not really good enough. Paul says these are just the appearance of wisdom. They are not really God’s directions but only human traditions. However, they do offer some people the chance to say, “Look at me. I am a real Christian----and you are not”
Paul tells us not to condemn ourselves because of what these false prophets say is essential Christian doctrine and practice. We should never let anyone else disqualify us from God’s realm because of their human takes on what God demands. That is God’s business and it is best to leave that to him.
We certainly have a lot of that today as well. It can be a television evangelist or a parish pastor or just the lady down the street. They all act as if they know something about God we don’t, and they obviously get a boost in letting us know. It can be anything from supposedly correct doctrines to gestures used in worship, from proper music to positions on social issues, from right days of worship to celebration of holidays, from a special personal relationship with Christ to a kind of conversion. Usually these are power plays that attempt to manipulate us.
This kind of thing always seems to happen in periods of uncertainty when people are not quite sure what is right and wrong. Some people insist on certainty where there is none. They usually end up promoting a lot of rigid rules and regulations they use to test the faith of other people.
Paul claims most of these are simply forms of self-abasement that God does not desire. It is more important to appreciate what he does for us than what we are to do for him. God’s forgiveness depends on what Christ has done for us, not on our doing special esoteric actions for him. So Paul counsels us to have faith that in our baptisms our old self with its human traditions is drowned and we are raised up to a new life with Christ. That new life grants us the faith to operate in an uncertain world.
Self-evaluation always stinks, but we also have to be careful about accepting what others say about us. Best leave the judging to God. And Jesus makes clear he loves us.
Let us pray: Loving Father, grant us the faith to concentrate on the gifts you freely give us, rather than on searching for strange ways to prove our faith. And grant us the courage to use those gifts to care for other people and this world. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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All are welcome to join and share in our Devotional Ministry on the "Frontlines" of the world. Frontline Devotions are sent via email daily. Sign up by clicking on the box to the left. Pastor Dave welcomes feedback. Contact him at pastordave@goodshepherdonline.org. |
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