How often are we scared, ashamed or shy-failing to share our faith when we know we should. Our modern world is very similiar to the day when the Apostle Paul walked the streets of Corinth with a bold faith. Using Paul as our example, let’s worry more about living out the true message of the Cross and a lot less about what people think of us. 

THE DAYS OF CORINTH

During the Apostle Paul’s ministry, the city of Corinth, similar to many U.S. West and East Coast port (and non-port) cities was the most strategic city in Greece. Not even Athens was as strategic as Corinth during the time in history. This had to do in part with ships having to sail around Corinth and into some of the most dangerous waters in that part of the world. As a result, most ships avoided the waters by moving ships and cargo over land in one of two ways.

WAY #1: If it were a large ship, they would dock and move the cargo over land manually to a second ship parked on the other side.

WAY #2: If it were a smaller ship, they would move the entire ship over land to the other side.

As a result of being such a strategic location, there were upwards of 750,000 people living in Corinth at the time of Paul’s ministry. This takes us to Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians). 

1 Corinthians is a unique letter. Some call it Paul’s best sermon while others-his worst. The lesson in 1 Corinthians it simply that while we can RE-PACKAGE the message of the Gospel, it is an OFFENSE to the non-Authentic Christians of this world. It was an offense to the flesh in Paul's day and is the just the same to the people of the world today in the 21st Century. 

As a result of his reputation, Paul was invited to preach (in 1 Corinthians), trying to appeal to some of the world’s most highly educated, philosophically astute individuals. The people were wealthy, and self-reliant.

A RE-PACKAGED FAITH

Over the ages, the Word of God has (and cannot) change one iota, not a dot (Matthew 5:18). But, while God’s Word does not change, how we present it through the generations has. Sadly, in some cases, the re-packaged Gospel had left out the offense and power of the true Gospel message. 

PRESENTING THE GOSPEL WITH PROPERLY

When it comes to sharing Christ, we want to be loving, sensitive, gentile, relevant and respectful. But MOST of all, we want to be RELEVANT to the true message of Jesus Christ who went to the Cross for you, me and all who would receive Him.

THE CONSEQUENCE

When sharing your faith, people will at some point accuse you of being intolerant and judgmental. WHY? The answer is found in 1 Corinthians 4:10 whereby Paul says that we are considered fools for Christ for sharing the Gospel. 1 Corinthians 1:18 says, “for the message of the Cross is foolishness for those who are perishing”. For the spiritually blind and dark, they will see our message as foolishness. But for those who seek God, He will open their eyes. Look at it God’s way-If someone considers you a fool for sharing Christ-at least you are in good company!

When we share the Gospel message we are often considered fools. It’s not the Gospel’s fault and it’s not God’s fault. The problem lies with the heart of the person you are talking with. Our message is not foolish-it’s the people who listen but fail to accept Christ who are foolish. 

“For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believers. To the Jew first, but also to the gentiles” (Romans 116).  

It’s in the uncompromising Gospel where the power of God resides. And its in the uncompromising Gospels is where the power to save and to change people’s  lives is.

So, let’s worry more about giving out the true message of the Cross and a lot less about what people think of us. If we do that, lives will changed and the world will never be the same-but for the better.

I was reading through the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:1-5 in the ESV regarding judging others when it occurred to me that this verse is almost exclusively studied regarding “judging others”. I must admit that this is the focus of the passage, and I will speak to that briefly-but the last verse in this passage brings it home in that in place of judgement, we are to help restore our brothers and sisters in Christ.

It’s a rough, torn and broken world we live in. The United States is in a new state of existence; something I am going to speak to in an upcoming entry. For today, I want to look at WHY we often judge one another instead of helping to restore them. 

Jesus says in Matthew 7:1-5 regarding Judging Others:
1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 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? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye."

To be fair to the context of this passage, this does NOT mean that one is never, in any sense or to any extent to judge another person. Verse 5 indicates that when one’s own life is spiritually healthy and pure that he should take the speck OUT OF his brother’s eye. That said, this verse makes clear that as a follower of Christ that we are not to be censorious or critical of others. 

We are (always) called to judge sin, but within the context of understanding that we too are sinners-and with the goal of helping restore our brother or sister who has sinned back to a rightful, healthy relationship with Christ. That takes a lot of moxie in today’s world because people are often unteachable, unapproachable, and arrogant. In other words, most folks today, including many Christians don’t want to be told anything they might not want to hear or may not agree with. 

That being said, I want to focus on the very last verse (v.5) which says:

“You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to TAKE the speck out of your brother's eye” (v5).

The word “TAKE” here is a VERB. Remember from elementary school that a “VERB” is an ACTION WORD not a “NOUN” which describes what ought to be done-presumably by others, namely the church. Remember, we are the church.

LIVING OUT THE VERB
“…then you will see clearly to TAKE THE SPECK OUT OF YOUR BROTHER’S EYE”. We must be right before and with God as a start point. But once we are properly in line with God’s Word and in relationship with Him, we are CALLED to HELP others find their way back, perhaps leaving a sinful thing to return to God. Again, this is an action YOU and I are to take to help others. It’s easier to stay quiet and keep to ourselves. That’s not a true friend and that’s DEFINITELY not acting biblically. It takes ENERGY and costs something. We can’t put a tithe in the box and pay the church to fix the world because we ARE the church.

SO WHY DO WE TEND TO JUDGE OTHERS and throw our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to the judgmental heap pile? Because most of us are scared, sometimes a coward, and more often than not-too lazy to want to use the emotional, physical and spiritual capital (it will cost us) to help another person. In other words, it’s easier to either ignore the issue or dispose of them as a person rather than jump into the mud pit and help restore them.

I see this all the time in the Christian community. For example, famous author and speaker Dinesh D’Souza is one that stands out. Dinesh was in the final throws of his divorce when he took a girlfriend when he got caught with his new girlfriend before the divorce was final. While a sin, it was not handled properly, and we lost a great soldier for Christ due to two self-righteous Christian national leaders who decided to play Jesus-police instead of helping confront and restoring Dinesh. How do I know this? Because I spoke with both Dinesh and the two men who exposed Dinesh.

I spoke with the two gentleman who exposed his seeing Dinesh with the girl who he shortly there-after married and he told me his side of the story. My conclusion was that instead of approaching Dinesh to help him tweak his approach with the girlfriend, these two nationally known figures exposed him to the public with the goal of destroying his reputation-with no desire to restore him-but to take him down. What a shame. If we were to take down every pastor who sins, all of them would be taken down. The same is true of you and I.

The proper way to handle a person who is out of bounds biblically speaking is to sit with them, see if they are teachable, and lovingly and directly confront them with the goal of restoring them. At the very least, we should privately speak with them to show them their lost way and give them the chance to self-correct. In the end, the biblical mandate is for us to “…take the speck out of your brother's eye” (v5) and not beat them with the log in our own eye.

IN CLOSING I want to bring to light one simple truth which is that we often think of ourselves much higher than is truthful. This includes you, me and all of us as believers in Christ. We tend to see ourselves as saved and superior as opposed to lost and lingering toward hell. And if honest we tend to demand “justice” for others but expect mercy from God for ourselves. Please think about this passage the next time you encounter a fellow believer who needs your help to course correct. Let’s make sure that we are taking the energy to GIVE and not simply TAKE from them.

PART TWO- GOD REWARDS PRAYER-But NO Double Dipping

In the United States and countries around the world, people get ahead by double dipping. They may work two jobs, work the system to get two pensions plus social security, and in some cases, illegally and immorally take two or more wives or two husbands in marriage.

TODAY, I am going to show you through the words of Jesus himself that God doesn’t double dip when it comes to hearing and rewarding our prayers. You either claim the reward for yourself here on earth or you depend on God to reward you supernaturally. The choice is yours.

In Part One of this “REWARD” series, we looked at when God rewards us through giving to God and others. In total, there are three specific areas Jesus addressed in Matthews 6 regarding when God rewards His people and when they “have no reward” (Matthew 6:1).

Those three areas include: 1) GIVING 2) PRAYER and 3) FASTING. Now that we have already addressed “GIVING” in the last episode, today we will discuss “PRAYER”.

Whether GIVING, PRAYING or FASTING, the principle of receiving God’s reward(s) are exactly the same in that He disallows “Double Dipping”. By this I mean that God disallows for us to claim our own reward by way of taking credit on earth as well as receive God’s reward directly from Him. It’s one or the other.

In Matthew 6, Jesus lays out for us when we are eligible for God’s reward or when we forfeit receiving that reward.

In Matthew 6:6-16, Jesus addresses when God rewards us through PRAYER. To clarify, God is not a vending machine that we can mechanically plug a prayer into and pop out some sort of supernatural response. On the contrary, God answers our prayers in His time, according to His will.

In Matthew, chapter 6, Jesus makes clear that when you pray, you must not pray hypocritically like the Pharisees did. The Pharisees like to stand and pray in public before all the people as some kind of group of privileged religious leaders “seen by others” (v.5).

REWARD RECIEVED PREMATURALLY

The consequence for their doing so means,  “…THEY HAVE RECEIVED THEIR REWARD” (v.5).

In other words, Jesus makes clear that double-dipping is not allowed. You either get your own self-made rewards through attention, credit and worldly honor on earth, or you wait for God the Father to reward you in His way.

HOW THEN SHOULD WE PRAY

Jesus doesn’t leave us in the dark regarding how to pray but provides us a perfect model as to HOW we are to PRAY, saying this:

“But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret WILL REWARD YOU” (Matthew 6:6).

Let’s break this down to see exactly how we are to pray and receive God’s reward.

FIRST: We are to go into a private room where nobody will disturb us. In this way, we will not be disturbed, and we can speak freely and unhindered with God. The alternative is to pray in front of others publicly, drawing attention to ourselves. As a result, the “attention” received becomes the “reward”.

SECOND: We are to SHUT the door and pray to God in SECRET. When we go into our prayer closet, private room, or wherever we go to be in deep and intimate conversation and relationship with God, we need to do TWO things. First, SHUT the DOOR and Second, meet with God in SECRET; not with any other person(s). That said, there is a time and place for group prayer, but not when we meet with our Lord in private.

Jesus says that as a result, “And your prayer to your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (v. 6). But Jesus doesn’t stop there but goes on to give greater clarity as to how we are NOT to pray in that we are not to pray in a mechanical prefabricated fashion, saying:

“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (V.7-8).

HOW NOT TO PRAY BROKEN DOWN

FIRST: When we pray, we are not to pray from a memorized script, but from the heart and mind; laying out our praises to God and our burdens, our requests and our thankfulness to Him.

SECOND: We are not to use TOO MANY WORDS. Why? Because “Your Father (God) knows what you need before you ask him” (v8). God is “Infinite” and “All Knowing”. As such he knows the past, present and future as one. Furthermore, He knows what is in our heart and mind better than we do.

THIRD: Jesus goes on to give us a MODEL PRAYER in verse 9-13. Let’s ready that prayer.

Matthew 6:9-13 (ESV) " Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors, And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:9-13).

I am not going to break down in detail the components of this prayer but simply want to summarize them to say that the components are simply elements that should be present in our daily, organic prayer. The general idea of how Jesus is telling us to pray is that we should praise God, ask that His kingdom come and not our will be done. That God would provide us our daily bread, meaning the things we NEED as opposed to all the material things we want.

We are to pray daily for God’s forgiveness and that He give us the strength and wisdom to forgive others. Lastly, we are to submit our requests to God, including the request that God help us in our sinful nature to avoid TEMPTATION and deliver us from this evil world. In general, these are the key elements that we should pray organically daily.

LASTLY-DON’T BE DERAILED

Jesus closes out His counsel on prayer by being abundantly clear that we are to FORGIVE OTHERS-and that our failure to do so will not invoke God’s reward to us through prayer. Again, the focus on the loss and gain of God’s reward. This is how Jesus put it:

“FOR IF YOU FORGIVE OTHERS THEIR TRESPASSES, YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER WILL ALSO FORGIVE YOU, BUT IF YOU DO NOT FORGIVE OTHERS THEIR TRESPASSES, NEITHER WILL YOUR FATHER FORGIVE YOUR TRESPASSES” (Matthew 6:14)

Let’s keep in mind that the GREATEST REWARD is God’s forgiveness on our lives-covering our own sin.

IN CONCLUSION

God’s reward in and through prayer is very real. But we must remember that we cannot double dip and have it both ways. In other words, we cannot gain God’s reward and also self-proclaim or self-claim attention and worldly honor by our publicly praying and being outwardly religious. In other words, there is No Double Dip-Reward System with God.

The world is run by the prince of darkness (Satan) who rewards double dipping-but not God. In the United States and countries around the world, people often and sinfully get ahead by double dipping.

Today, we looked at the words of Jesus himself to understand the fact that God doesn’t allow us to double dip. In other words, we cannot trick God into giving us His reward if we have already taken that reward on earth through our own means. It simply doesn’t work that way.

Obtaining God’s reward starts with a proper understanding and implementation of the spiritual discipline of “PRAYER” as laid out by Jesus in Matthew, chapter 6. You either claim the reward for yourself on earth or you depend on God to reward you supernaturally in His way and in His time. The choice is yours.