J
This is sort of an open letter of gratitude to Ritter. 
God has used something Ritter said recently to make some amazing changes in my life, beginning today. The word was "quixotic". Ritter used it in a romantic sense, but it immediately stuck in my mind as to how I have often viewed my role as a christian in these ways:
1. It bothers me that everyone I witness to doesn't come to know the Lord right away. I'm forgetting that it was GOD who put them on my heart in the first place and it's the HOLY SPIRIT who is wooing them and softening their hearts. He who began the work will be FAITHFUL TO COMPLETE IT, right?
2. When people sit around pointing fingers at the Church and use the word "YOU" as if every single one of us is responsible and accountable for every single thing that every single christian (even those who use the moniker, but know nothing of the Spirit thereof) ever born has done, some of us feel as though we need to whip out the SUPERCHRISTIAN cape and excuse, explain or right every wrong. I've been thinking about that and, as far as I can see in scripture, the Lord only holds me accountable for my own actions AND IN-ACTIONS. (James 14:17 Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.) But, the Lord has clearly shown me that oftentimes the fingerpointers are those who want to whine, sit back on their haunches and attempt to bully the rest of us into taking up the slack for them. Matthew 25 tells me that this is not God's plan, so I need to leave this sort of time-wasting, distracting thought process in the dust and see it for the evil tool against the Kingdom that it is.
3. We all have our gifts and callings. Some of us get the idea that we have to try to write cards to every single person in our churches who need to be encouraged, call everyone we didn't see at church to make sure they are okay, spearhead every fundraiser, be the first to volunteer with every charitable or church project, teach as many classes as we can, attend as many Bible studies as possible, listen to every problem/gripe every friend/co-worker/stranger on the street (or in a chat forum)/relative we have has until our prayer lists become so long we can't even remember the need, blah...blah...blah. I know some of you know exactly what I'm talking about. The end result: BURN OUT. We become ineffective and nearly braindead (AND EVEN DANGEROUSLY GRUMPY HAHA) because we're down to 2-3 hours of sleep per night because we've been out tilting too many windmills God didn't put in our path. We are NOT called to EVERYTHING. I think I need to write THAT on my forehead.
So, thanks, Ritter, for the word. Perhaps now we can all understand why every word that comes out of our mouths is so very important to God and why we're accountable for them, huh?
For those of you out there like me I would say, yes...it's important for us to be the change we want to see in the world, but we are the Body of Christ, not one man bands. If we don't learn that, we might become so discouraged one day that all the world will hear will be our clanging cymbals.....and we know what the Word says about those....
Don't fall into the trap, beloved ones
God has used something Ritter said recently to make some amazing changes in my life, beginning today.
The word was "quixotic". Ritter used it in a romantic sense, but it immediately stuck in my mind as to how I have often viewed my role as a christian in these ways:1. It bothers me that everyone I witness to doesn't come to know the Lord right away. I'm forgetting that it was GOD who put them on my heart in the first place and it's the HOLY SPIRIT who is wooing them and softening their hearts. He who began the work will be FAITHFUL TO COMPLETE IT, right?
2. When people sit around pointing fingers at the Church and use the word "YOU" as if every single one of us is responsible and accountable for every single thing that every single christian (even those who use the moniker, but know nothing of the Spirit thereof) ever born has done, some of us feel as though we need to whip out the SUPERCHRISTIAN cape and excuse, explain or right every wrong. I've been thinking about that and, as far as I can see in scripture, the Lord only holds me accountable for my own actions AND IN-ACTIONS. (James 14:17 Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.) But, the Lord has clearly shown me that oftentimes the fingerpointers are those who want to whine, sit back on their haunches and attempt to bully the rest of us into taking up the slack for them. Matthew 25 tells me that this is not God's plan, so I need to leave this sort of time-wasting, distracting thought process in the dust and see it for the evil tool against the Kingdom that it is.
3. We all have our gifts and callings. Some of us get the idea that we have to try to write cards to every single person in our churches who need to be encouraged, call everyone we didn't see at church to make sure they are okay, spearhead every fundraiser, be the first to volunteer with every charitable or church project, teach as many classes as we can, attend as many Bible studies as possible, listen to every problem/gripe every friend/co-worker/stranger on the street (or in a chat forum)/relative we have has until our prayer lists become so long we can't even remember the need, blah...blah...blah. I know some of you know exactly what I'm talking about.
The end result: BURN OUT. We become ineffective and nearly braindead (AND EVEN DANGEROUSLY GRUMPY HAHA) because we're down to 2-3 hours of sleep per night because we've been out tilting too many windmills God didn't put in our path. We are NOT called to EVERYTHING. I think I need to write THAT on my forehead. So, thanks, Ritter, for the word. Perhaps now we can all understand why every word that comes out of our mouths is so very important to God and why we're accountable for them, huh?
For those of you out there like me I would say, yes...it's important for us to be the change we want to see in the world, but we are the Body of Christ, not one man bands. If we don't learn that, we might become so discouraged one day that all the world will hear will be our clanging cymbals.....and we know what the Word says about those....
Don't fall into the trap, beloved ones
