April 27, 2009
Your Own Strength
I’ve known some gentlemen who weren’t very gentle when it comes to shaking hands. When greeting them each week I’d try using various techniques to keep from getting my knuckles crunched…patting them on the arm, waving from a distance or even having my hands full. I even tried matching their firm grip as I grasp their hand, but that only seems to encourage a tighter squeeze on their part. While some of us underestimate our own physical strength, there is no doubt that we all underestimate our Christian strength. I think the Spirit within us could and would show more strength if we'd allow Him to flex a little more spiritual muscle.
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Gail;
-----Paul was quite dutiful in reminding us to be gentle with each other. He enumerated gentleness among the fruit of the Spirit. As an old hot rod enthusiast, I know that a GMC diesel exhaust scavenger can be mounted on top of a 392 Chrysler hemi to force in the fuel-air mixture and produce a lot of power. But without beefing up the crankshaft assembly you will blow piston and rod pieces all over the street. So after bolting in a good forged steel set, you drop the durable power plant into a cute Model-T and you will scatter the transmission in a hurry. Curing that problem with a solid Powerglide snaps the T’s little differential like a toothpick. So in goes a Dana third member and a set of wide slicks, then a couple launches off the starting line and the frame resembles a pretzel. I am glad the Holy Spirit enters our lives with care, beefing our souls to handle its power before fully engaging the pavement.
-----But many beefed up hot-rod Christians hit the pavement in church leadership roles without understanding another principle. The Holy Spirit needs its hot-rods to be as gentle and patient with their brother and sister Model-T’s as it was with them. You and I together saw the scattered parts and pieces of brothers and sisters after hot-rods for the Lord tried to jazz up the fellowship we enjoyed. They failed to understand that the Holy Spirit gave the blue-print for spiritual hot-rodding in the Bible, and that the blue-print called for a lot of meticulous love and care to go into the modification before twisting a single wrench, let alone cracking the throttle and dropping the clutch.
-----In the end, though, as you pointed out in your blog, there eventually comes a fit that works for the Lord. After hot-rod Christians carelessly blow a fellowship’s weaker parts across the landscape, they continue in what they perceive to be stronger fellowship, from which the Lord is able to extract benefit anyway. And also, the blown away parts usually are, quite beneficially, built into other fellowships. Whether or not we recognize our own strength and use it with caution, the Holy Spirit does His.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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