Hear the Applause?

What do we applaud in the sake of acceptance? What do we accept in the sake of being a people of grace and forgiveness? What do we not say to someone, in the sake of not judging others? Have we lost sight of what God has called us to? Have we lost our ability to stand alone, all because we are afraid of what others may say about us?

Ezra 9:1-2, "After these things had been done, the leaders came to me and said, 'The people of Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the neighboring peoples... They have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, and have mingled the holy race with the peoples around them. And the leaders and officials have led the way in this unfaithfulness.'"

From the beginning of God's word, He has called us to be separate from others around us. He never established a rule that said to rejoice in the things that others are doing, but to stand as a light against it. A light of love and truth, but in this light, celebration with them was never encouraged. We have taken the grace that we see in Christ and turned it against the word and law of God. We now say that we accept everyone no matter what they are seeking. We now say that everything is okay and that no matter how anyone is living or what they are worshiping, it is fine and they do not have to change.

Oswald Chambers, "Deliverance from sin is not the same as deliverance from human nature. There are things in human nature, such as prejudices, that the saint can only destroy through sheer neglect. But there are other things that have to be destroyed through violence, that is, through God’s divine strength imparted by His Spirit. There are some things over which we are not to fight, but only to 'stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord...' (see Exodus 14:13). But every theory or thought that raises itself up as a fortified barrier 'against the knowledge of God' is to be determinedly demolished by drawing on God’s power, not through human effort or by compromise (see 2 Corinthians 10:4).

It is only when God has transformed our nature and we have entered into the experience of sanctification that the fight begins. The warfare is not against sin; we can never fight against sin— Jesus Christ conquered that in His redemption of us. The conflict is waged over turning our natural life into a spiritual life. This is never done easily, nor does God intend that it be so. It is accomplished only through a series of moral choices. God does not make us holy in the sense that He makes our character holy. He makes us holy in the sense that He has made us innocent before Him. And then we have to turn that innocence into holy character through the moral choices we make. These choices are continually opposed and hostile to the things of our natural life which have become so deeply entrenched— the very things that raise themselves up as fortified barriers 'against the knowledge of God.' We can either turn back, making ourselves of no value to the kingdom of God, or we can determinedly demolish these things, allowing Jesus to bring another son to glory (see Hebrews 2:10)."

We must be careful what we are embracing today. We must always take what we are encouraging in our society and compare it with what God's law is saying. What religions are we embracing, so that we can say we walk in love? What are we allowing others to do, all so we will not be judged, by them saying we are judging them? What truth are we not seeing in others, so that we do not have to look at the truth in ourselves?

Luke 6:41, "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."

In this passage Jesus never said to turn a blind eye, for look at what you are doing yourself. What He was doing was showing us how to help others. First, look at the sin in your own life. Look at the truth in that sin and remove it from your own heart. Then, you are to go and help the others around you, for now you can see clearly, and help them in removing their own sin. We are to stand against sin. We are not called to live rejoicing with others in our own sin and in theirs. What are you applauding today? What are we embracing?