[Steve Myers] Well, you don't have to look at the church for too long to realize that Christians aren't perfect at all, at all. Unchristian Christians. In fact, it's not so secret secret of Christians that actually, at times, we're not very good followers of Jesus Christ.

Have you ever been hurt that someone acted in a way that just seemed wrong? That's just isn't right? That's unfair? Or maybe you watched a situation from a distance and you saw them act that way. And that wasn't right. What were they doing? What were they thinking in acting that way? Or maybe you just heard of an issue. You heard of a situation that just was wrong. After all, they're fellow church members. What's their deal? Shouldn't they know better?

I mean, obviously, they're not living up to the standard. Does that happen? Absolutely, it happens. You're not perfect. I'm not perfect. And we know when we don't measure up to the standard, it can be pretty obvious, especially when we fall short and when we're challenged with those types of situations. Because the truth is, there is always going to be difficult people. It's always going to be that way.

What do you do about that? What do you with a fellow member of the body of Christ who just rubs you the wrong way? They're just irritating. And maybe you work together, maybe you live together, perhaps you study together, serve together, maybe you play volleyball together. Well, that's the way the circumstances are, you're stuck together.

So how do you react to those kinds of situations when you experience unchristian Christian behavior, especially when you don't particularly like them? They shouldn't be acting that way, right? So what's the appropriate response? What do we do? How do we handle that?

I think, to begin with, we have to recognize that I can't make it my excuse. This is not an excuse for me. And oftentimes, it seems that's the way I have a tendency to take that. What do I mean by that? "Well, I saw that. I know how they are. I know why they did that. I saw them do something like that a couple of weeks ago, that's obviously who they are. And, you know, I might forgive them, but let me tell you, I'm not going to forget what they did. I'm not going to forget what they said. And after all, that justifies my attitude towards them, because just look at that. I can obviously criticize them because they deserve it. They deserve it, after all, right?"

Well, does that wrong behavior, if it even is, does that justify my unchristian attitude? You see, the challenge is I'm accountable before God for what I'm supposed to be doing regardless of what anyone else is doing. And I can't let my feelings, I can't let my emotions, I can't let my decisions be ruled by somebody else's actions.

I ran across a meme that maybe you saw on the internet as well. They're all over the place. But when we think about it, don't make their behavior my excuse, when we think about that, I think this meme comes into play. This one's been shared hundreds and hundreds of thousands of times. And it goes like this, "Life is too short to spend time with people who suck the happiness right out of you."

Have you seen that one? Maybe you gave it a thumbs up? "Yeah, that's right. Don't let them do that to you." Well, wait a second. What is that really saying? I mean, that's saying, "I deserve better. I deserve better than that. I deserve to feel good all of the time. That's my right that I should always feel good. And so I can gauge somebody else's behavior. And if I don't like it, they're out. I mean, I'm the umpire, right? I get to choose, I get to decide, I can label them. And I don't like that. And I want to feel good. So forget them. Forget them. I don't like that. And I'm not going to hang out with them."

So what do you do? What do you do when it's a difficult friend? Maybe it's your annoying neighbor. Maybe it's that needy person right here in this room. They just kind of get under your skin. Yeah, they're a fellow church member, but, boy, it's a trial. So what do I do with that?

And the Bible is pretty specific. And it gives us instruction after instruction that it's not really hard to follow. It's not difficult to understand. It's not overwhelming. Pretty crystal clear when you get right down to it. And it doesn't just tell us once, it tells us the same thing over and over and over and over again.

One place, Romans 14, let's take a look there for a moment. You see, all too often, I make it my excuse for putting the finger on somebody else and absolutely understanding their motivation and why they did what they did so that I can blame them. And I can treat, at least in my mind, I can come to some conclusion about what a lousy Christian they are.

But instead, God inspired Paul to remind us that's not the way to be. That's not the way to be. Romans 14, right at the beginning of the chapter, we're reminded, "Receive one who is weak in the faith." Now, that's assuming they're the weak one. Maybe I need to turn that mirror around and think, "Well, maybe I'm the weak. Maybe I'm the one that's weak." And it can mean a little one, no doubt.

But it doesn't say kick them out, label them, destroy their character, talk about them behind their back, assume that you understand everything about why they did what they did. No, it doesn't say any of those things. It actually says welcome them.

When you look up this word to receive, some of the other translations say, accept them, don't put them off, don't refuse them. You see because so many things go along with that. When we make an excuse for our behavior, what is that really doing?

If we skip down to verse 10, this is exactly what we're doing, "Why do you judge your brother?" "Oh, I'm not judging. I'm just discerning their wrong behavior." Well, we like to get away with that, don't we? No, this word here is krino in the Greek, that's not discernment, that's condemnation. That's pointing to the put-down. That's pointing to the label we place.

"Why do we judge our brother? Why do we show contempt?" Because do we really know the whole story? He says, "For we all shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ. As it's written: 'As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, every tongue shall confess to God.’" Don't make it an excuse for wrong behavior. He says, "Each of us shall give account of himself to God."

And so, when I see unchristian Christian behavior, what's my first reaction to that? Is it to step back and own up to my own life? Or do I tend to get sidetracked because somebody else's may be sidetracked a little bit? Or do I really understand that everyone, every one of us is fighting our own battles? Everybody's going through something, every one of us.

Can we say that "I've never had a bad day?" Everybody had a bad day. And over and over and over again, God's Word tells us to receive one who's weak in the faith. And maybe uses different words at different times, but the message is clear.

Just a page back in my Bible, Romans 12:10 is another one of those passages that says much the same thing. Romans 12:10, "Be kindly affectionate to one another,” receive one, same concept, isn't it? "Be kindly affectionate… with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another."

So instead of making an excuse for my wrong behavior, I'm supposed to receive them, I'm supposed to be nice to them. I'm supposed to honor them, I'm supposed to, well, sometimes, it says esteem them better than myself. Isn't Philippians say that? That's what I'm supposed to do, and it tells us that over and over and over again, instead of making an excuse for why I do what I do.

I mean, do we really get it though? And that's the challenge. Do we really get it? Okay, I've heard that. I understand that. But have I really learned how to apply that to my own life?

I was taken back a little bit. A while ago, when I read an article online, it was at GQ.com, and a little notification caught my attention because of the title, you know, the clickbait that's out there sometimes that gets your attention. Well, you know, the line that got my attention? It said, "21 Books You Don't Have to Read." It's, like, cool. I'm in the saving time. That's great. I don't want to have to, I don't like reading that much anyway. So what do I have not to worry about? So it got me.

So go to GQ.com, 21 books I don't have to read. I start going down the list. One, yeah, I don't care about that. I don't care about that. I get to number 12. Guess what number 12 of the 21 books that you don't have to read was? The Bible. The Bible. I said, “Whoa, wait a second.” I mean, it even took it a step farther in the little description of why you don't have to read it. It said, "It's probably the most overrated book of all time."

When we go, "Oh, wow." Why would they say that? And should that really take us back? See, that doesn't sound right, because I'm supposed to be a Christian. But the article went on and it said, the Holy Bible is rated very highly by all the people who supposedly live by it, but in actuality, have not read it.

Now, you might say, "Yeah, that's their opinion. You can't believe everything you read." It's a fact. It's a fact. They've done studies after studies after studies. American Bible Society, they did a survey, how many American households own a Bible. What percentage? 87% of American households own a Bible. Okay, the Bible is revered in America, right?

Now, wait, not so fast. LifeWay Research did a survey not very long ago. And that survey found a number of interesting things that I just want to bring to your attention. Well, we think we know what the Bible says. And the disconnect there is between what we think it says and actually knowing it, reading it, and then applying it to our lives becomes a whole different thing. LifeWay Research found this, they said “Americans have a positive view of the Bible and many say Christian scriptures are filled with moral lessons for today.”

But we'd agree with that, right? Of course, the Bible's valuable. There's so many lessons we can learn and apply its moral teachings, no doubt about that. But you know what else they found? When it came to actually how many people have read it, more than half of Americans have read little or any of the Bible. None of it. None of it. Except it also found in the survey that 4 in 10 Americans say it's a book worth reading. In fact, not just reading once, it's a book worth reading over and over and over.

But do we? But do we really? And here's the kicker. Talking about religious people, the survey said, almost one in five churchgoers… How much do you think they read the Bible? One in five churchgoers say they've never read the Bible. It's kind of a scary thought.

Now the challenge is, if it's out there, is it in here? I mean, could this be us? You see, when it comes to feelings about the Bible and actually reading it, then putting it to use, and applying its teachings, I think it's fair to say that there is a major disconnect. We have a cognitive dissonance in the church when it comes to the Bible, especially if we say, "Well, society, they're so terrible. The culture today is so awful, they should recognize that the Bible is a relevant book."

I mean, isn't it our responsibility to actually act like the Bible is a relevant book? And yet, when it comes to dealing with each other, when it comes to dealing with unchristian Christian behavior, do we really put the principles of the Bible into effect? Honor one another, esteem one another, give preference to another. How many times do we have to be told to do that and actually get it and understand it?

I mean, 1 Peter 2:17 is one of those that really should cause us to pause and maybe step back just a little bit to see the significance of what God is reminding us of in this particular passage. I mean, it's another one that reminds us, "Okay, we got to treat each other kindly."

Yes, we have to do that. Peter puts it in terms of honoring one another. Notice what he says, 1 Peter 2:17, he begins, "Honor all people." Okay, not just the ones I like, not just the ones I get along with, not just the… no, even the ones that irritate me, even the ones that may not act properly all the time.

"Honor all people." He says, "Love the brotherhood." Take honor to the next level, take it to love. Love your brothers and sisters in Christ. He said that demonstrates the fear of God, fear God. And then he says, "Honor the king." That's kind of, "Huh? Really?" kind of a statement, isn't it?

I mean, put yourself back in the first century, what king are we talking about here? We're talking about the Roman Caesars. We're talking about the emperors. I'm supposed to honor them? Talk about unchristian behavior. They're slaughtering us. They're killing Christians. And yet here is God directing the early church to honor the leader of the known world who's persecuting and murdering Christians. And I'm supposed to honor that? I'm supposed to find anything to honor in that? I'm supposed to honor a wicked leader.

That's what it says. We're supposed to honor everyone we come in contact with. Can we find a way to do that? Because, after all, it's a lot easier to put people down. Maybe we don't do it directly. Maybe we don't say it out loud. Maybe it just goes around in our minds. But if we've been doing that, we've got to stop. We have to stop that and we have to truly repent. We have to stop making excuses, "Well, because they did that it gives me the right to do this."

And God is telling us it is possible to honor people. Even if you've been mistreated, even if they haven't acted like a Christian, even if I disagree with them, I can find a way, even if they've misbehaved. God says, "Yes, it's possible." And if we don't show honor, if we don't respect one another, if we don't give preference to each other, we are not representing our great and honorable God.

And that's the challenge that lies before us. How do we react? How do we act when we experience unchristian Christian behavior? Can't use it as an excuse. So what's the right response?

We've got to keep in mind, I don't see everything. I don't see the whole picture. Could there be a side that maybe isn't obvious to me that I don't really see it? I mean, how many times does the Bible tell us about another behavior that should be on our mind constantly? I mean, it tells us don't judge by appearances, right? We got this saying, "Don't judge a book by its cover." Don't judge by appearances.

Well, hard not to. I mean, do I really believe the best in people? Do I do have a tendency to believe, "Well, I saw it with my own eyes. That must be the case, it's got to be that attitude, it must be." Or do I believe everything that I hear? Is that my perspective? Should it be?

I got to remember, I don't see everything. Colossians 3:13 is certainly a reminder of this principle. Colossians 3:13. Here's another one of those passages. Wow, it's straightforward. It tells it straightaway. It's not anything surprising, you know or would send earthquake waves through my thinking. It's just a practical everyday Christian point of view that has to be how I should think and how I should behave.

Colossians 3:13. You see because God knew we're people, and we have issues and we have problems. No wonder He says this. Colossi, the church had that, and so Paul reminds them bear with one another, we should be “bearing with one another, and forgiving one another." And that bearing, we've talked about this before, it means putting up with each other, putting up with people. And then taking it to the next level, and forgiving them.

It says if anyone has a complaint against another… Oh, of course, that never happens. I never have any complaints about anybody. I love all people. Well, sometimes we kid ourselves and like, "Yeah, I'm a whiner. I'm a complainer. I'm going to be honest with myself." Well, if I do, “even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.” Not, "It would be a nice if you tried to do…" No, if I claim to be a Christian, I must do.

You mean I have to make allowances for other people and their problems and their issues and their behavior, their faults? That's what He's saying. But that's a hard thing to do because it doesn't come naturally, does it?

You see, we have a tendency. Do we do this? We have this tendency to put people in a box. We put people in a box. And I've got to admit to myself, that's what I do. Because I have my perspective. I have my opinion. I have my prejudices. And if I'm going to deal with those things, I got to recognize the fact I do that. That's what I do. I want to frame people and put them right there because I want to boil down exactly who you are and bring it down to that characteristic, that trait, that attitude and categorize you, and put you in this box because then I have defined you. This is who you are. This is who you are.

And we tend to do that because it makes it simple. It makes it simple that way. And, you know, I kind of like to do that. I have to admit that. But that's wrong. And it might not be that box, but maybe it's this box.

People love boxes. People build boxes. And boxes are simple and they're convenient because I don't have to look at the whole thing. I can look at that little action, that thought, that assumption that I made. That's them. That's who they are. That's what they're all about. Nice, neat, little box.

Let me give you an example. Okay. I got aggravated, I got upset. It was a difficult situation. Someone was watching and, all right, maybe it wasn't very Christian, but, boy, I found out that's who I am. And that one issue became my identity in their eyes. That problem defined me in their eyes.

I mean, was that fair? Was that fair to judge me? Was I accused unfairly? I mean, I'd like to think so. I mean, obviously, that individual didn't know the full picture. They didn't know everything about me. I was judged by one circumstance, okay, one piece of evidence, but suddenly, that's who I was. That was the definition of my character being defined by that one issue.

And they didn't know the full picture. They didn't really know much about who I am. But I was reduced to that one flaw, that one issue. That's who I was. And that's where they were going to keep me. And that opinion was just imposed right upon me. But what about the rest of my character? What about these other things that I'm made of? Ignored, put aside, really taken away from me.

And you see, these kinds of circumstances come up fairly often, don't they? And how do we handle those things? I mean, that kind of hurt. It kind of hurt. Okay, maybe I wasn't that perfect. But to frame my life as that, that's not who I am. That's not who I want to be.

Another example. It wasn't told to me by the person, but it came from another person who was told this very thing. You know, what they were told? Steve Myers couldn't give a serious sermon if his life depended on it. It's true. It was said. It was said.

Now, the interesting thing is the person that they said this to said, "Oh, have you listened to some of his sermons?" And you know what the answer was? “No. No.” All right, I like to joke around, I tell jokes here and there. You know, I like to have fun. But am I that person? No, I just was taken, put into the nice little box. That's who I am.

And you see, that happens to all of us. And sometimes we're the ones putting the people in the boxes. We're the ones recognizing this misbehavior that we assume is misbehavior, maybe we don't even really know or we saw this and assume that or label this. And we say that's who they are. And these boxes, they push us aside and they divide us. They divide us.

And we've got to come to the conclusion that this is what we do. This is what we do because it's our natural tendency, isn't it? Or maybe you can think of it a different way. This is human nature. This is human nature to do this very thing. Our brains, in a sense, are hard-wired to categorize people and minimize them. And our human nature gets the best of us at times. And we want to reduce those people to that one quality or those two things that they did, and put them in that box. It gets smaller and tighter and more of a ring around who they are.

And when we reduce someone to that level, we've defined who they are, at least in our minds. Is that their best moment? No, do we do this? What about those offhanded kind of things we say? I mean, I never reduce people into a box, do I?

I mean, I couldn't help it, but that jerk on the highway cut me off. I just reduced them, didn't I? Oh, I never do that. I've never cut anybody off. Have I? I wouldn't do that. They're just a basket case they couldn't handle it. You know, they could…

Well, wait a second. Do we say those things? Do we think those things? Nah, they couldn't organize their way out of a paper basket, right, a paper bag?

Yeah, we do those things. And we take the low points of a person's life and then we assume that's who they are. Well, have we done that? Do we continue to do that? I mean, if we're honest with ourselves, I think we have to say, "Yes. Yes."

I was reminded of this a while back by doing something I really don't like to do because I put these things in a nice box myself. You know what that was? Watching a chick flick. Okay, guys, you got to admit it, you probably done it. You probably done it. I had to watch this chick, at least the first time anyway. And you know what that flick was? Legally Blonde. Legally Blonde. Talk about categorizing people.

This was kind of an interesting movie in that regard because, of course, the star of the show is Reese Witherspoon, blonde. It was definitely a chick flick. And she is the ditziest girl at the beginning of the show, and you just put her in that box. Yup. Of course, all blondes are like that. You know she's just wacky, don't have it together.

And her boyfriend dumps her because, "You know, if I'm going to be a senator and a big shot, I can't be married to some ditzy blonde." So he dumps her and he goes to Harvard. Well, she decides she wants to go to Harvard. He's like, "Oh, yeah, what a joke. No way, that's not possible."

Well, she goes there. And she comes to the conclusion, "Boy, people have put me in a box." At one point in the show, she says, "All people see when they look at me is blonde hair." And yes, she was into fashion. And she carried around a little doggy and different kinds of things that…

But you know what? She gets into Harvard. And she doesn't quit. And she proves herself and she's perceptive and her teachers are shocked because they had her in a box too. And then, this boyfriend who she used to have is a real loser and he ends up being on the other end of the spectrum. But she answers the hard questions in class and she's pretty amazing with her intuition.

And she gets into the courtroom because she becomes a lawyer. And she ends up winning the court case. And everybody's impressed with her. And yeah, she's blonde and her voice is kind of squeaky and kind of high and definitely girly, girly. No doubt about that. But she was smart. You couldn't really put her in a box. In fact, she breaks out of that mold and becomes the valedictorian of the class.

I think it's just such a good reminder of just our human tendencies. And we do that to each other. We have this superficial judgment that we've concluded things and this must be right because I pass judgment on them. And what is it based on? "Well, that time, they did that, and did you hear what? I heard about that."

When we pass judgment on appearances, what does the Bible say about that when we don't see the whole picture? John 7:24, here's an example of Christ. We're familiar with this. We know what He says here. Just to remind ourselves, in this scenario, of breaking out of the box, and not placing people and forcing them into this label that we've created, Christ says very clearly, same thing that He told Samuel way back when he was going to anoint a new king. We see this over and over again through Scripture.

Verse 24, Christ's own words, "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment." So when we do this, and we come to our conclusions, it's sinful. Don't say it's just my opinion. It's not that big of… No, it's sin. It is sin. It's not fair. It's not right. That's unchristian. That's unchristian. And especially when we see these situations, and we assume this or we've made this defining issue the overriding character trait of this individual.

Well, that's not the case. And if that's not the case, what is it? It's a lie. It's a lie. Your interpretation is wrong. And it becomes a lie. When we accuse someone, whether it's even only in our own mind, "of that's who they are, that's what they do, I saw that one time they did this," that is an outright lie. And you've made an accusation against a fellow brother or sister.

Who is the accuser of the brethren? We know that. We know that's Satan and that is sinful to do that because we put them in this box. And that gives them no opportunity to change, no opportunity to grow, no opportunity to really even be themselves, to be who they really are.

Aren't you glad God isn't like that? God's not like that. What a blessing that is. And I've got to catch myself when I start categorizing people in that way. I've got to recognize the fact that they're on a journey too. They're on this grand journey to the Kingdom. And I've got to recognize that fact that the story's not done yet. The trip isn't over yet. And I can't label them in that way because I don't see the full picture.

And that's a reminder, who does? Who does see it all? Who sees it all? Well, God, the Father, and Jesus Christ see it all. So I've got to step back and recognize, "Yeah, they're under construction. So am I. So am I." You've probably seen that sign, “Christian under construction” and the subheading is, “God's not done with me yet.”

You see, we've got to keep that picture in mind because that's how I hope people would view me. I hope people see me that way because it really comes down to treating others the way that I want to be treated. It's being merciful, showing graciousness, especially when we need it because we do need it. We do need it.

Even though we're all on this journey. We're heading to the same destination. We're heading to the Kingdom. And yes, we fall short. Yes, we're sinners. And that's part of the reason we're here. Probably, the reason we're sitting here at church today so that we can stay on task, we can have the right perspective, so that we don't give up on each other because we know God's not giving up on us. He's not giving up on me. And so I need to continue to love and continue to serve even if there's unchristian behavior.

It is interesting when you consider how we deal with that, how I react to unchristian Christian behavior. I mean, when we consider the fact that it's not my excuse, I can't use that as an excuse. I don't see the whole picture.

But a third thing that comes to mind is also working against the inclination to distance ourselves from them. Don't we have that tendency? Don't decide to distance yourself from people in those kinds of situations. "Yeah, but I wouldn't want to deal with them. They're obviously in a bad attitude." Or, "How could they do that thing?" Or, "Why did they say that?" Or, "It seems like they acted that way?"

Well, think about it for a moment. Our ultimate example is Christ. What did Christ do? How did Christ react to unchristian Christian behavior? Well, who did He hang out with after all? Okay. He had the 12 disciples. Yeah, the guys that became apostles. Yeah, those guys He hangs out with them.

But other than that, who did He hang with? Sinners, prostitutes, maybe the worst of all, tax collectors. That's who Christ hung out with. And when we consider His behavior, it wasn't just that He thought that was a good idea or He was making up for their deficiencies. He wasn't just talking the talk, He was living it and showing it. In fact, He went the full distance that He girded up His loins and He gave His life and died because of that kind of behavior. And it's such a reminder.

I mean, people would look on and criticize Christ for doing that very thing. And they see, "Oh, that's terrible. How could a righteous man be with these kinds of people?" And we find ourselves in that same frame of mind at times, don't we? That we find the faults, and we see the problems, and we see the bad attitudes. "Well, I saw that action." And we look for it. I mean, what are we looking for? What are we looking for?

I was reminded of that when I was reading an article about racing. We just had the beginning of the race season, just about a week or so ago. And I was reading this little article about Mario Andretti. And for those of you who are not into racing, he won all kinds of races: Indianapolis 500, the Daytona 500, the Formula One World Championship. The guy was amazing, you know, many, many years ago. In fact, he was only one of two drivers to win Formula One, IndyCar, World Sportscar Championship, and NASCAR as well. So the guy knows how to race, right?

So they asked Mario Andretti, "What would be your one tip for success in race car driving?" Now, if you think about that, I can think of all kinds of things. Keep your hands on the wheel, you know, and finish the race faster than everyone else. That would be good. Right? Yeah, that'd be a no brainer.

But he didn't say any of those kinds of things. You know what he said? He's number one tip for success in racecar driving. Mario Andretti said, "Don't look at the wall." Don't look at the wall. He said, "Your car goes where your eyes go." Your car goes where your eyes go.

And so he went on to say when young drivers are starting to race, this is one of the most critical lessons that they learn, when you're driving 200 miles an hour, you better focus on the road in front of you because if you look at the wall, you're going to end up hitting it. It makes sense. That makes sense, doesn't it? You start looking at the wall, you're going to see it and you're going to hit it.

Doesn't that apply to us in the spiritual sense? You want to look for faults? Why you think you'll find them? Yeah, easy to find that wall. I mean, we all have those kinds of walls in our actions and our attitudes and our behaviors. And we sure don't need a magnifying glass to find those faults right here in the Body of Christ. Get that magnifying glass out too much?

Maybe we can flip it around a little bit. Take that magnifying glass. But instead when we're examining others, is it possible to look for the evidence of God at work? God at work in their life? Can we look for that instead of seeing, well, the obvious thing that's just not Christian? Do we find evidence that God is at work? I mean, no matter how messed up my actions might be, is it possible to detect God's doing something in their life?

"Yeah, okay. Maybe He is working there." If I really look for it, can I find it? Would I see it especially if I get out that magnifying glass? Absolutely. I mean, after all, how many of us have entirely put on the character of Christ? I mean, the Bible says that a lot put on Christ. Is that like getting this gigantic spiritual jumpsuit, "[Vocalization] I've got it."?

No, you put on clothing. You put it on a piece at a time, don't you? Pull-on your socks, you know get on your shirt, put on your… And that takes time. It takes time to put it on and yet we want to catch someone that went, "Oh, look at that. Look at that." Well, do we see the spiritual socks and the spiritual shirt that are there?

I mean, even using that, magnifying glass to find even a glimmer of hope rather than seeing the negative, rather than seeing the problem, maybe it's just a flicker. Maybe it's just a hint of the fruit. But can we highlight the hint? Can we focus on that and appreciate that and even thank God for that?

You see, I think that's exactly what Christ did. He did that very thing. He focused on those strengths that people had. And that takes away then our ability to criticize and condemn others. And we can't let what someone else even did to me linger. If that's been a hurt, I can't let that hurt stay because then I'm going to become bitter. And it's going to take root. And I've got to find a way to let that pass thing be in the past.

No matter how tempting it might be to say, "You know, what they did? You know what they said? You know, how they acted? You know, what they did on the basketball court? You know, what he said? I overheard him do that." You know, it's easy to say, "Well, I could just tell other people, I could smear their name around the congregation. I mean, people do it online all the time, don't they?"

We've got to resist that temptation and we can't act the same way that they may have acted. And yet, we have kind of this little desire to want somebody else to hear about it, somebody else to agree with me, and then join me in commiserating about how unreasonable or how immature so and so is? You see, we have that tendency to want to spread the pain.

But that's not the answer. I mean, even if it might make us feel better for a little bit, that is definitely not the answer because gossip damages our relationships. God says love is forgiving. And if we repeat that offense through gossip, through sin, yeah, we got them in that box, and we're not going to let them grow right out of that. And so, we've entrenched this person in our mind, in this negative image. And ultimately, we deny the gospel through our actions.

And we're told very clearly, Proverbs 17:9, just a short, little insightful comment that really gives us the direction when we have that temptation to label, to categorize, to put people in a box, to forget that I don't have the big picture, to try to distance myself rather than to build bridges, Proverbs 17:9 comes into play. I mean, just the beginning of this passage, it reminds us, it says, "He who covers a transgression seeks love," seeks love. So what's our view? What's our view?

Have you ever had a caricature done? Anybody ever have a caricature done? We used to live in New Orleans, and they used to make money, artists would be out on the square and they would do caricatures. Yeah, it can be kind of fun, kind of interesting.

So one day, Kathe and I went to get our caricature done. What could be more fun than that? Now, I know, I don't have the smallest schnoz in the world. But why did that guy have to make it like three feet long? It's like, "Come on. That's not who I am." And then to add insult to injury, down at my foot, he drew a little doggie. And it was lifting his leg on me.

It's like, really? Is that who I am? Well, we do that to people, don't we? We see that glaring thing, that issue, that problem, that thing that I can't avoid looking at because look at how big that is. But we got to get rid of the… We were not godly artists when we do that kind of thing. I mean, we've got to make a conscious choice not to see the caricature, don't we? We can't look at others in that way.

God reminds us that He doesn't look at us that way. A beautiful passage over in Isaiah 43. Let's take a quick look there. Isaiah 43:16. Here we have God's perspective. Well, you talk about the opposite of caricature and putting in boxes and labeling people, here God says that is not the way that He is. It's not the way that we should be. And He uses His own perception as our ultimate example.

Look at verse 16 in Isaiah 43, "Thus says the Lord," so here's God Himself talking. It says, "He makes a way in the sea and a path through the mighty waters.” He says He “brings forth the chariot and the horse, the army and the power (they’ll lie down together, and they won't rise."

Okay, that takes us right back to ancient Israel, escaping out of Egypt, God took care of the Israelites and caused the sea to come back together and wipe them out. Right? They weren't going to get out of that. It says “They're extinguished, they're quenched like a wick.”

But then He says, "You know, you guys were in a box. You guys are slaves. Your identity was an enslaved people. But you know what? I don't see you that way. That is not who you are. That is not the entire picture."

He says, verse 18, "Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old." “I don't see you that way because that's not who you are. That bad experience, that awful categorization of who you thought you might have been, who Pharaoh wanted to put you in that box.” He says, “That's not the real way it is."

He says, verse 19, "Behold, I will do a new thing." Let's talk about our potential. Let's talk about what's on the horizon. Let's talk about what should be and what can be, and you rely on me, what will be, what will be. So we've got to forget, the things of old. That's what God wants us to do.

And ultimately, then, we are His people. Because He says, verse 21, "I've formed this people for Myself." So we can be godly in our perception, godly in our opinions, godly in our character. And so we could put those things behind and quit distancing ourselves from others.

And certainly, as we consider how we react to unchristian behavior…  Boy, Israelites are a great example. How many times could God have said, "Wow, you guys are awful. Really? You got to have manna? Really? You got to have some quails? Come on, can you rely on Me? Am I going to take care of you or not?"

You see, God didn't put them in that box. And God blessed them in spite of who they were. And when we are faced with those types of things, I think it should always remind us the right response is to pray. We've got to pray about these things. I mean, sometimes, "Whoa, look what they did. That's the kind of last thing I want to do. I want to get even instead of pray for them. Are you kidding me?"

But you know, once you turn to God, you put it into His hands. We talk to God. We don't talk to other people. We layout the situation before Him. I think it should cause us to step back and not just point the finger and pray about them, but pray about me, pray about my words, pray about my actions. God help me to continually show kindness to reach out for others, to be a generous person, to try to put on the kind of forgiveness that You have for me. Help me. This is hard, to show love, it's hard to do that, it's easy to see the issues and the problems and hold grudges, but help me to do that.

And as we turn to God, and we explain it to Him. I mean, do you think Christ understands what we're going through? I mean, at least we know, He was never mistreated. He never… Oh, man, He was the ultimate example. "Father, forgive them. Forgive them. They don't know what they're doing." I mean, no wonder He could set that perfect example for us and then give us the strength so that we could do the same.

There's that interesting section of Luke 6, I'd like to turn over there. That's familiar? A good reminder, when we have to deal with one another. And I've acted unchristian and, yeah, you have to, you have to. What's my response? Well, as I pray about this, and I put it into God's hands, it makes this possible because otherwise, it doesn't just seem to make any sense. I don't. How could this be? How could this be? Because He says “love your enemies.” Are you kidding? I hate my enemies. I'm supposed to love them?

Well, yeah, remember I said, honor the king? It's possible to do that. It's possible to honor Nero? Really? Well, yeah, because we've got a Roman Empire, it makes it possible that the gospel could even be spread to the entire world, it makes the Word of God go forth so that individuals could be called and come into the Church. Yeah, it's possible to see the good. It's possible even in this way.

I mean, if we look down to verse 32, Luke 6:32, it says, "If you love those who love you," yeah, hang with my buds, we all agree, I don't like them. They rub me the wrong way. They're no fun. He says, "What credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them." He says, "If you do good to those who are good to you, whoopie, big deal, so what? No credit for that since sinners do the same. You lend those who you're going to hope to receive back, well, what credit is that? Even sinners lend the sinners to receive as much back."

He says, "Love your enemies, do good, hoping for nothing in return." Maybe they won't change, maybe they won't get it, maybe they won't understand, but when I focus on me and ask I God and petition Him to help me to see me, the way I really am. He says, "Your reward will be great and you will be sons of the Most High." There's an identity. There's a distinction. I mean, talk about a defining point of view, “you will be sons of the Most High.” I mean, what an awesome identity that is. And these are the kinds of things we can do.

And so, when these situations arise, that's when I step back, I look at myself, and I've got to remind myself to pray all the harder for God's guidance for me. And yes, praying for others, praying for those who, "Well, I have a hard time getting along with them. Yeah, I could pray for them." But maybe I'm the problem. Help me to see it right, God.

And I shouldn't pray just that they'll quit doing the thing that they're doing and quit acting that way. That's not the only thing I have to be concerned about. That's God's job. But how about praying that I'll be more fully committed to following You? How about helping all of us God to be that much more convicted so that our commitment shows on how we treat each other, how we act towards one another, how we build bridges between each other, how we solve problems, how even we can get along with each other, even though they rubbed me the wrong way.

Asking God to help me to have my heart and my mind filled with His love, which is probably going to lead me to, "God, you're right. I need to repent, I need to change. Give me the help to do what's right."

You see, after all, when we consider the other side of the coin, what would please Satan more than for me to hold the grudge, than for me to condemn somebody else, to put them in that box, to characterize them, to gossip about them? You see, we know who the accuser of the brethren is. It doesn't have to be that way. And that's the good news. It doesn't have to be that way. In fact, it won't be that way. When we really humble ourselves, when we see ourselves, who we are, and seek to do His will.

Hebrews 12 is kind of a summary of this whole aspect of how we deal with unchristian behavior. Hebrews 12:1, some pretty powerful words that we find when it comes to our everyday behavior, to our mindset, when it comes to those who, well, they don't seem to measure up. Hebrews 12 is such a good reminder for us. You know, as it begins in this chapter, it reminds us that we look to ourselves, "lay aside every weight,” and when I characterize and when I put people in a box, that's sin, that's sin. "Lay aside the sin which so easily ensnares us," and it says, "run with endurance the race that's set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."

And it's such a good reminder because the bottom line is when these things happen, and people don't act in a way that that they should, and we expect them to, we've got to understand, I have a choice. I have a choice to respond in the right way. I have a responsibility to remember this isn't the whole story. This isn't the big picture of things. And I have to resist the urge to put them into that box.

And I want to decide I can't distance myself from them. I want to be a peacemaker. And I'm going to pray about this and lay this out before our God because, ultimately, we can do this. God has given us this beautiful gift of His Church, the Body of Christ. He's given us the blessings of a relationship with Him and with each other. And ultimately, with His help, we have the power to be Christian even when we experience on unchristian Christianity.