In Matthew 15:15-20 Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are [the things] which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.
When you really look at this passage of scripture, you see that Christ for the most part, is telling us that the things that we put into our mouth is not what causes us to sin. No one ever sinned from breathing in the air they need to live. But when a person opens their mouth is when the problem begins. For you see when we open our mouths, that's when we have made a conscious decision to say something or act upon the words we are speaking or the thoughts we have had. That's where the real problem comes in. you see a man cannot sin without an act of saying OK I'll do it. That agreement may not be verbal, but somewhere in that thought process he has spoken to himself and already had the conversation that OK I am going to do this, and then BAM he /she does it. This is nothing knew for most people who are reading this blog today. This has been preached for years but what I really want to do is get into the meat of what I feel in my spirit that God is wanting to say.
Do most of you reading this realize who Jesus is talking to in this passage.He is talking to the 12 Apostles, the ones who he has hand picked to be "the Church" of that moment. That's right he is talking to the Church and he asks them a very important question. DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND? Wow , these are the ones in the trenches with him, who have watched miracles take place on so many occasions, and yet he ask them if the truly understand? How much more is he asking us that today.
We have "social networking" today like I talked about earlier and ,don't get me wrong it's a great thing to keep up with family and friends. When someone is sick we can get the word out quickly so people can pray. When someone we know does something wonderful or has a great blessing bestowed on them , we can all share in that moment almost immediately. We have Facebook pages or myspace pages for the Churches to disseminate information and for the brethren to be able to keep up with each other,but unfortunately that also leads to those who we are "friends" with on these sights being able to see what is said as well. This is where the social networking can tell the real story of a person.
Take this Scenario, a well liked member of the church, who happens to be a Sunday school teacher, or a Deacon, or a Deacons wife, or Youth leader, or some kind of Dept head in the church, is online and they are posting in response to another post. Everything seems fine and then BAM right in the middle of the post they come out with a curse laden rant, or they say hey lets get together for a beer or two, or hey lets get together Friday night and get hammered like last time we hung out, what would you think. Better yet, what would the ones reading the post who are not saved think. They know this person is always going to church and always telling them they need to get saved, and then they see them cursing and talking about getting drunk. Or what if you are having diner out with a bunch of friends and you get to talking about members of the church, how this one is doing this and that one is running around doing this and that, and some unsaved person is sitting in the next booth listening, do you think they are going to want to come to church, let alone become a "Christian" like these people are. I can answer that , and the answer is NO. they're not.
I think that God is asking us, DO WE UNDERSTAND? Do we understand that we are being looked at under a microscope by the world. Do we understand that we could possibly be the only bible someone ever reads? Do we understand that we might be the first and the last "Christian" person or influence that a person ever meets? I wonder at times if we do understand. DO we understand that everything we do and say should be done with the thought "is this representing Christ in a true light, or could it turn someone away from Christ and cause them to die lost and unsaved?" These are the Hard questions I believe Christ was asking the 12 when he said do you not understand.?
Brothers and Sister's we live in a time when communication with your neighbor as never been so easy, yet we live in a time when sharing the Gospel seems to be hard to do for most people. So i leave you with this question, DO YOU TRULY UNDERSTAND? When I decided to renew my walk with Christ, the first thing I had to ask myself was this question, and at that moment I had to say no Lord I didn't. Oh don't get me wrong, I am not perfect and as long as I am on this earth, I never will be, but I am learning daily and I am striving to be the best servant to the Lord I can be,do i understand, I believe I do. Contemplate the Question my brethren and remember I am always here if you need me.
In Christ's Love,
Bill
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