Encouragement

The spiritual gift or discipline of encouragement is one of the more neglected gifts in the current day. We are called to encourage others.

To encourage them in their faith, in their faithfulness to flowing Jesus, and in all matter of importance of life. We are called to up build others around us.

The church is a place for sinners to grow in grace and in mutual up building. We do not have or lives fully together. No one does.

To the degree the church acts as if everyone in it's membership either has their life together or really should have their life together the church fails its membership. The pressure for perfection in the church often doesn't lead to perfection but a hiding of issues.

It is difficulty to grow in a place where people hide their sin. If the church is not a safe place to be honest than the church is not a safe place to have authentic relationships.

And this is the flaw in many churches. In encouraging community the community often is hollow and lacks power. Because community is only of real powerful benefit if authenticity is safe.

We have a God in heaven who is not confused about our state. We he knows our faults and beckons us to him. The question is if the church has learned the nature of God and is willing to have the degree of grace and understanding that God has?

The Authentic Truth Seeking Church

There are many things written today about drawing people into church.  Should church be relevant or stick to tradition.

The answer is rarely easy.  There are many authentic ways that a church can do many things.

But in all things the church must be authentic to itself and its call to be God's hands in the world.  The church may reach out in many ways and there are many ways the church can authentically look.

But the church must always reach out in a way which is authentically biblical.  The church is served by considering how to reach out, but always reaching out in an authentically biblical way.

The world will only be drawn to a the church if the church offers something the world cannot find outside of the church.  The gospel is where the church stands or falls.

The church needs to learn to authentically preach and live out the gospel.  To have the concern for truth that Jesus had without the harsh edge of judgement for those who seek truth.

To have the criticalness of the "members" of "the church" who do not seek the truth the way Jesus had of those only pretending to seek the truth.

The church must always look to the heart of matters.  And judge spiritually, scripturally, and biblically.

Authentic Positivity

Post by
Michelle Dowell, Co-Contributor

Every person has a wealth of stories and details that can be shared in everyday conversation. Some sad, some boring, and some happy or interesting. Too often stories or details are shared without thought being taken to see if the end result of telling a story or details is truly beneficial to anyone.

If you've ever had a conversation and felt exhausted after, it could be that the person--or even yourself--has been talking non-stop about a sad event. To clarify, sharing about needs when asking someone for prayer, or sharing with a trusted friend about something that's bugging you and you think sharing will help is fine and healthy.

But it's the many times when people decide to talk about a sad event just because they find it interesting or they are complaining (often people don't admit to themselves when they are complaining). They don't realize that the people who had been listening walk away tired and sad, possibly without realizing that's why they're sad.

I also want to clarify that I don't mean people should pull out fake smiles and pretend to be happy in what they say when they're not. That is not good. First of all it's creepy: people who aren't doing that feel lonely around people who are doing that--they sense an inauthenticness, the odd wall the faker is putting up so you can't see their true feelings. Another reason it's not good is that people who are following these people faking to be happy may become depressed in thinking that they can never figure out how to be happy like that person (not realizing it's all fake).

The Bible tells us to think on good things. So when we talk, we should try to stick to good things too as much as we can. There are so many bad things in this fallen world. God doesn't want us to be looking down at those or focusing on those. He wants us to look to him and hope and the beautiful gifts he's given us. If we focus on negative things, it's like being given a gift at a birthday party but instead of enjoying it and thanking people and talking about it, right away focusing on how small details in the party are wrong or some person is wrong.

Living in this way of being authentically positive as much as we can helps the person doing it, but it also encourages and helps others. If you want to encourage people, it's much easier to do it when you're in the habit of focusing on good things, compared to focusing on all the sad things.

Joy, happiness, and honesty

In life we meet many Christians who try to fake happiness. They feel commanded to be happy and so they go around with a smile on their face when they are clearly miserable. It is as if it is a sin to be sad.

You see they miss the fact that joy (which is commanded) and happiness (which is not commanded) are very different. You see joy is at a much deeper level and it is a state of character and faith more than an emotion.

And the issue is greater that we are commanded to morn with those who morn. You see we can be expected and godly to be unhappy! We can have joy and morn. God's commandments are difficult and we always fall short and have a sympathetic high priest in Jesus.

Scripture challenges us always. It defines things as God sees them rather than as we see things. Many things we see as exactly the same God sees differently. Many things we see as completely different God sees as interconnected.

It is always that we are too small and too nearsighted to see all the realities. That is why we need for God to tell us of the realities and later we usually figure out why God was right all along for ourselves.

John Piper Quote on Authenticity in the Christian Life

A John Piper quote of the day that I liked:

"O how serious is this matter of authenticity in the Christian life! A decision
for Christ is not nearly so crucial as a life for Christ."