B22 I Don’t Correct Their Life
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B22 I Don’t Correct Their Life
Occult practices, reincarnations, visits to the fortune teller, angel therapy, Reiki, horoscopes and various gossip, vulgar speaking, unfairness, deception, dishonoring the opposite sex, living together, infidelity, separation, divorce, and so on, and on.
These are just some of the topics that believers here and there either shield themselves from or militantly fight with their acquaintances and with their sinful way of life. Some try to rebuke the unbelievers around for their sinful actions and ideally correct them or at least warn them. Once, I also fought and warned. For some, I managed them to speak a little more decently in front of me! Some corrected a colleague who said something ugly in my presence: „Pavel is here, speak nicely…“ Sometimes it flattered me then! I took it as the Lord Jesus says that we are „salt of the earth“ (Matthew 5:13), which prevents disintegration of society (or at least a group immediately around me).
But in the long run, I have found out that any of my attempts to morally correct the lives of the unbelievers around me has never brought any real fruit! No real change in their lives. The only result of my efforts to correct them morally was their „distance.“ Some spoke more decently in front of me, but in reality it was a way to hide from me. Others apparently avoided me. It didn’t occur to me at the time that by this approach I usually move away from Jesus also! My actions only confirmed to them that they will certainly never set out on the path of such moralistic Christianity.
It took me a while to understand that my Jesus did not place me among them to be their moralist, or a corrector of their opinions or behavior. My job is not to correct anyone or show them their sin! That is the task of the Holy Spirit. My mission is to show them the splendor of living Jesus and of the close contact with Him. And also to convey the power of God’s Word to them. When some come to Discovery, they will also find out the beauty of a small community of Jesus‘ followers. Usually they are astonished that the Good News of Jesus is something completely different from what they have ever experienced in their lives.
To understand each other! This talk of mine does not mean that I tolerate all the bad things they do to anyone. There were situations that I confronted clearly and directly. I asked them not to say or do something; whether in relation to me or in relation to someone else. If necessary, I also expressed the appropriate threat. When it comes down to it, I will visibly and loudly oppose the obvious evil. In some cases, I engaged superiors, the authority, or even police. But I did not do it in the name of „Christianity“! Only as a decent „citizen of my country“, who opposes evil or injustice.
Until people know Jesus, they have darkened discernment of what is objectively good and what is not. And after all, even though many people know or somehow „feel“ that this or that is probably not right, if they are not in a corresponding crisis, they lack motivation to change anything in their own lives!
They need inner transformation in the first place! And to get it, they need to know Jesus personally; accept and experience His love, His sacrifice, and forgiveness. They need to surrender to Him!
When this happens, they begin to perceive His closeness in their life! And they are also experiencing Jesus‘ empowerment to transform. Then I watch with pleasure how their attitudes and their words and actions change naturally. Sure, it may take a lot of work in some areas, but Jesus is working hard to transform them.
Do you remember Jesus‘ beautiful and very natural: „He who loves me will keep my word.“ Gladly I am their guide in change of their thinking and life.
If living Jesus shines over my contact with my unbelieving friends, everything is completely different than in the days when I tried to show them how sinfully they live, and how they should live properly. Even though my Georges live in sin, I am not their corrector or moralist. On the contrary, I bless them and lead them to Jesus in the shortest possible way. Living Jesus is far more powerful in their lives than any of our Christian admonitions!
Lord Jesus, please change our hearts and fill them with your love so that we do not obstruct our unbelieving people from knowing You.