Aug 13 • General discussion
Where to from here?!
We live in a strange society where we think that just because we have lived on this earth for more than 18 years we are all of a sudden a man, or woman. Identity has become the battle cry of this generation. People are running around calling themselves all kind of bizarre things and using those self appointed titles as their identity.
An identity you give yourself is so empty, has no meaning, and truly is a prideful statement that will be short lived and even shorter fought for. I mean if I can call myself a dog today and then the trend changes and I call myself an alien tomorrow can I say I was either? Like I said bizarre.
The things of this world that have the most meaning are things that are earned, not made up, they are given, not taken. Your name, your nicknames, your material possessions, and your job titles are all things that if they were earned you treat them with respect, you take care of them, your work harder to make them important. Look at individuals who were given a car, they never take care of it. They have no sense of ownership.
God is the King of kings, the Lord of lords. Those titles He has earned by creating everything. He earned them by His sacrifice, a sacrifice made to cover our debts cost by our crimes. In doing these things He has bestowed identity and titles on all of His followers. We are His children, we are kings of this world, to have dominion over all of the earth. This birthright we gave to the devil, but we will get it back and now is the time to train for it.
I want to talk about being a child of God. This identity is the most important we can ever have. When we are born to this world our parents give us a name. This sacred thing denotes our identity in the world. When people call out our name it lets us know they are speaking to us. When people slander your name it can ruin your name and effect your relationship with the community, one reason why of the short list of things God hates gossip is on it.
As a child of God we are all called to follow Him, follow our church leaders as they lead us to Him, and to learn. To love God and to learn about Him with a childlike wonder. When I was a teenager my actions were linked to my name and the names of my parents. My mother and step-father once heard “Oh this is the Wiley house, I know these people.” Even those my last name was not Wiley, my step-father’s last name, my actions were tied to the household name. When my mother heard the police refer the neighbor's house as the “Wiley house” she was quick to correct them and say “Oh no it isn’t”. We had not lived in the house in five years and my parent’s had only recently returned, but my brother’s and my actions still tainted the reputation of the property.
These same things happen as children of God, our actions will be attached to His house for many many years after. So many people won’t step foot into the “House of God” because the actions of His children hurt them. This is one reason why this identity is so important. We must be faithful stewards of His name, and know that His adopted children we may have certain privileges, but we have certain responsibilities as well.
Children have one main job, to learn how to adult, to learn how to lead. Being an adult means more than just paying your bills on time, and feeding yourself on a regular schedule. It means taking personal responsibility for your community, your family, and your Father’s kingdom. The best way to learn how to lead is to learn how to follow. That fact is true for everywhere in life, the military, your job, in church, clubs and other organizations.
In the world that has been turned on it’s head a little bit. We are so focused on affirming what our children want that we are letting them take the lead and they have no idea how to follow. No one is born knowing how to follow, we place so much honor on our leaders that everyone just wants to start there, and parents are placing their children in the lead without ever teaching them how to follow. Yes, I am aware I said the same thing twice, I hope you read it at least once. We have to be taught how to follow. Jesus spent three years teaching his disciples how to follow Him, and made them realize that they can never stop following Him.
Great leaders never stop being followers, they know that they always have something else to learn. When Thomas Edison had failed thousands of times to make a lightbulb he famously said what he had truly done was learned thousands of ways not to make a lightbulb. We as follows of Christ will lead others, but will we be great leaders and never stop following Him. (There is more on my Substack at https://pastorjustinmclane.substack.com/p/where-to-from-here?r=3rj252&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web)
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Where to from here?!
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