To be challenged is accept the opportunity to be corrected. If we are challenged, most of us believe that our failure is implicit in the challenge. If one is asked to do more, often one believes they are failing to do enough. If one is asked to do something different, often one believes that what they are currently doing is wrong. If one is shown a faster or a simpler way, often one assumes they are incompetent because they had employed another way. As we look at our lives and our church it will be easy for us to wonder if any change we are asked to make masks an underlying statement that we are not good enough. For many the biggest battle is not the change but rather the hurt that is taken on when someone suggests we need to change. It can become even more devastating when the call to change points out that we have fallen short thereby displeasing God.

If you journey through 1 John …

…it should not go unnoticed that for some the corrections John was making to their faith would be ignored as it did not suit the way they wanted to live. For others, the corrections would be embraced because they brought clarity and direction in areas that were not sitting right with some of the followers of Christ. Then there are those who objected to John, not out of disagreement or a strong conviction but rather an unwillingness to change. They may not have agreed or disagreed with the strong words of John but they did not want to be wrong.

Whenever we speak strongly against a practice…

…there will be opposition. It is to be expected and I believe most of us are not shocked when people say, “I do not agree”. If we pursue further the reasons for the disagreement, engaging in debate, often we find the objection is stronger than the merit of their argument. Being right in what has been done is more important than truly being right.

As I read and challenge you to read through 1 John…

…I hope you will pray for yourselves as I am praying for myself, that I will not be afraid of being called out for being wrong, so afraid that I will argue that wrong is right. I never want to hold onto my belief system out of a fear of being wrong because my desire to be right leads me to stay in the wrong.

As you read through 1 John and meditate on John’s strong statements, maybe you wonder to yourself why anyone would reject what John is saying? There are almost always three groups. The first sees the correction and embraces it because they seek to do what is right. The second group sees the correction and fights it because they think their way is right. The third group fights the correction not on its merit but out of fear that they could end up being wrong.

If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 1 John 1:6

This is my second post after returning to blogging – sorry I still have not had a chance to start reading your blogs – getting there but not quite yet!