Go Along to Get Along
A reading for Monday, April 20, 2015: Luke 4:14-30.
"When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear." -Thomas Sowell
One of the great temptations of our faith is to be a "go along to get along" Christian. We are a people of peace and want desperately to bring harmony to all situations. So sometimes we take the easy path by telling people what they want to hear. That way we can be a peacemaker and everyone can feel good... Right?
In Luke 4 Jesus went to his own hometown and was applauded for his wisdom and his faithfulness. But then Jesus had to tell some hard truth, and nobody in his hometown wanted to hear it. He said others were more faithful than their hometown heroes, and the grace of God was beyond their control and their imagination. They almost threw Jesus off a cliff in their anger and frustration.
The world doesn't need more "go along to get along." The world around us and our neighbors need us to tell the truth in every situation, even if it's hard truth. Especially if it costs us something. That's the way we can truly help people in the most important situations of life. This is they way we too, "proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
"When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear." -Thomas Sowell
One of the great temptations of our faith is to be a "go along to get along" Christian. We are a people of peace and want desperately to bring harmony to all situations. So sometimes we take the easy path by telling people what they want to hear. That way we can be a peacemaker and everyone can feel good... Right?
In Luke 4 Jesus went to his own hometown and was applauded for his wisdom and his faithfulness. But then Jesus had to tell some hard truth, and nobody in his hometown wanted to hear it. He said others were more faithful than their hometown heroes, and the grace of God was beyond their control and their imagination. They almost threw Jesus off a cliff in their anger and frustration.
The world doesn't need more "go along to get along." The world around us and our neighbors need us to tell the truth in every situation, even if it's hard truth. Especially if it costs us something. That's the way we can truly help people in the most important situations of life. This is they way we too, "proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Comments
Post a Comment