(Further reflections on "Two Faces"--Sunday 10-Sep-2023)
Reflecting on Acts 6:8-15, we see that if we do not pursue Jesus and live a "godly face," we will be morphed into a "religious face," which is an ugly face, to say the least. Read Acts 6:8-15 again and slowly in its context.
If you have been a follower of Jesus, a student of the Bible for years, and living out a disciple's life, it won't take you long to recognize the "religious face," which is not uncommon. They are everywhere and in every church.
The "religious face" is inclined at desiring disputes. They are good at spiritualizing complaints. For example, instead of going to the pastor, they tend to go to others, saying, "I just want you know these concerns, so that we can pray for him/her. When they want to argue on something, they tend make their personal felt needs/problems as the church's needs/problems in a very subtle way. Most of the time, it sounds very spiritual and helpful but if you pause and think of it for a while, you will see that their complaints and arguments have nothing to do with the Gospel and God's word. When they can't advance their agenda or get noticed or don't have enough attention, they will instigate and get others involved, especially key people in the community. The goal is to accuse someone on the things that they want to see or keep and oftentimes it has nothing to do with Jesus and His kingdom advancement. One clear sign that we can easily recognize their "religious face" is, their accusation aims at those with "godly face" who are being used by God as messengers for His kingdom advancement with full of grace and power. In short, the "religious face" wants to keep the status quo, the "good old days" when they got all the attention. It is perplexing when we come to think of it. They are not totally happy about the lost being saved in an unusual way. They tend to only care why their felt needs are not met.
So you may ask, How do we deal with this "religious face?" We don't have to do anything. The Lord will expose this "ugly face" as He will send the "godly face" to be "crucified" with Christ, so that others may see and understand deeply the message of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now what? Let us continue to heed the word of our Lord Jesus, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me." (Matthew 16:24 NASB)
Lord, please help us!
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Pastor Lap
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