Participants: Dwayne Lemon, Lance Wilbur
Series Code: TKS
Program Code: TKS000043A
|
00:28 Hello, I'm Dwayne. And I'm Lance.
00:30 And we'd like to welcome you to another episode of TKS, 00:33 a True Knowledge of Self 00:34 where we get to know ourselves from a biblical perspective. 00:38 As we're going to continue in this episode, 00:40 our discussion regarding cultural expressions 00:42 specifically in the area of fashion. 00:44 I just want to kind of highlight the ideas 00:47 that we've been touching upon thus far 00:49 and we'll bring Dwayne into the discussion. 00:52 We started out by, obviously, highlighting a verse 00:57 that you're going to read in a few moments. 00:59 But then we looked at modesty as well, 01:01 so we looked at this principle 01:03 that we cannot be both at the same time, 01:06 we cannot simultaneously be friends of the world 01:10 and friends with God. 01:12 If we're a friend of the world, we're an enemy with God. 01:15 And if we're a friend of God, 01:19 then we're an enemy of the world. 01:21 And so this fundamental principle kind of feeds into, 01:25 infuse our decisions in our expressions. 01:29 And when it relates to fashion, 01:30 we've talked a lot about modesty as well 01:32 and we're going to kind of talk some more about that. 01:34 We also talked about this idea 01:37 and we reminded our listeners and our viewers 01:39 about a principle in 1 Corinthians 6:19 and 20, 01:43 the idea that our body is a temple of God 01:46 and that He desires us to glorify Him 01:49 in our body and in our spirit. 01:51 In fact, we were bought with a price, 01:53 the verses say there. 01:54 And because of that, we're not at liberty to do 01:56 what we want to do with our body. 01:58 And we talked about it 01:59 in the context of the recreation. 02:01 And now we're talking about this 02:02 in the context of cultural expression. 02:04 So share a little bit more, 02:06 read that verse for us from 1 John. 02:09 And then, you know, continue to touch upon 02:12 these subjects of modesty, 02:13 and how we can apply the principle 02:15 and acknowledge the fact 02:16 that although God allows for expression, 02:20 God allows for individuality, God embraces, and desires, 02:25 and has created beauty, 02:27 there are still guidelines that He gives us 02:28 so that we don't go to either extreme 02:30 or we don't end up engaging 02:32 or indulging in destructive behavior. 02:35 Sure. 02:36 In 1 John 2, the Bible says in verse 15, 02:39 "Love not the world, 02:41 neither the things that are in the world. 02:43 If any man love the world, 02:44 the love of the Father is not in him. 02:46 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, 02:49 and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, 02:51 is not of the Father, but is of the world." 02:54 And so it is that Christ was pointing out 02:56 that worldliness, you know, these things, 02:59 lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, 03:01 and the pride of life, they are not of the Father. 03:04 They are not connected to God. They are completely worldly. 03:07 They are from beneath. 03:08 They only belong and are connected to the things 03:10 of Satan. 03:11 Well, when we think about this, 03:12 another point to consider is why. 03:14 Why should I make these changes? 03:17 Why should I even, 03:18 you know, attempt to take heed to these counsels? 03:22 And by no means, do we, 03:25 you know, we do have to guard against legalism, 03:27 we do have to guard against pharisaism 03:29 And I think there is something 03:30 that's clear that guards against it. 03:32 I like the words that Jesus used 03:33 of the reasons why He served His Father. 03:35 Because when Jesus lived on this earth, 03:37 He is the Son of God. 03:39 But when He lived on this earth, 03:40 He functioned as the Son of man as well. 03:42 And He was willing to humble Himself 03:44 and be a servant. 03:45 Well, the Bible says in John 8:29, Jesus said, 03:50 "And He that sent me is with me. 03:52 The Father hath not left me alone, 03:55 for I do always those things that please Him. 04:00 And Jesus' life of being a servant unto His father 04:06 was based off of a love relationship 04:08 where all He wanted to do was please His Father. 04:12 This is important for us 04:13 to understand as children of God. 04:15 Our desire is to please Him. 04:18 The Bible likens us being married to God. 04:20 And when you think of a marriage, 04:21 and I'm married and, of course, you are as well. 04:23 May 25th of this year, 04:25 I'll be privileged to have been married 04:27 to my bride for 18 years. 04:28 And I praise the Lord for it. Hey, you got me beat. 04:32 And, you know, it's beautiful, man. 04:34 I mean, I love talking about family. 04:36 That's another thing that I'll hope 04:37 we can get a chance one day, 04:39 you know, really talk about is the true knowledge of self 04:41 of understanding ourselves as husbands and fathers, 04:44 you know, in the home 04:45 because there's a lot to be said on that. 04:47 But I will say that, you know, my love for my wife 04:50 is of such a nature that I love doing things 04:53 that put a smile on her face. 04:55 I actually enjoy it. 04:56 I mean, I actually get a lot of enjoyment planning 04:58 and putting together surprises for her 05:00 and all those type of things. 05:02 And never did I have to feel like, 05:03 "Oh, man, I got to please my wife 05:06 or I got to stop doing this 05:07 because this might hurt my wife." 05:09 I mean, back in the days, you know, I can say we 05:12 because, you know, I know your story. 05:13 We were players. 05:15 I mean, we were individuals that did not know 05:17 what it meant to just stay with one person 05:18 but, you know, can kind of go around 05:20 and be with this, that, and the other. 05:21 But when I met my bride and when I met my husband, 05:24 you know, Jesus, when I met the Lord 05:26 and entered into a relationship with Christ 05:29 and experienced the power of transformation, 05:32 and then I met my wife and got married to her. 05:35 I didn't feel like, "Oh, man. I can't commit adultery. 05:38 I got to stay faithful. 05:40 I mean, those were the last things 05:41 on my mind. 05:43 All of my "I got tos turned into I get to." 05:45 I get to stay faithful. I get to please my wife. 05:48 I get to do these things. 05:50 So it is that this is what happens 05:52 when an individual, you know, loves their spouse 05:55 or in this case, loves God. 05:57 When you love God, 05:59 you want to do the things that please Him. 06:01 You want to do the things that can make Him happy 06:03 and put a smile on His face. 06:05 That's right. It's important. 06:06 So it's from that context, 06:08 this is why we obey these councils 06:09 that we're talking about. 06:10 We obey these councils because God is making it clear 06:13 that, "Listen, I love you Lord, 06:14 and that's why I do the things that I do." 06:17 Well, when we think about this dress or fashion 06:20 and all these things, 06:22 God gives us counsel in His word 06:24 because we love Him, 06:25 we want to do the things that please Him 06:27 and we don't want to do the things that displease Him. 06:29 So this is the reason 06:31 why we're going over the subject 06:32 of biblical principles for fashion 06:34 in comparison to worldly. 06:36 Well, we covered modesty in brief. 06:39 We covered it, you know, things like the cuttings 06:41 and carvings and so on. 06:43 But another item that really has to be addressed 06:46 when it comes to hip-hop culture 06:48 and generally the fashion culture at large 06:50 is adornment. 06:52 You know, adornment as it relates to, 06:54 you know, a lot of the jewelry and these type of things 06:56 which is very much a part 06:58 of not only just simply hip-hop culture 07:01 but it's connected to what's typically called 07:03 the pride of life. 07:04 You know, this is where everybody gets to show 07:06 as has been stated in times past the bling, bling. 07:08 You know, this is where everybody gets to say, 07:10 "Look at my big fat ring, my neck chain, earrings," 07:13 or whatever else they like to wear. 07:14 And the question is, 07:16 what does God say on this matter? 07:17 What counsel does the Lord give as it pertains to, 07:20 you know, adornment and all these things 07:23 as it pertains to jewelry? 07:24 Well, the Bible gives us several verses. 07:26 Now, for our viewers, what we want you to do is 07:28 you want to grab your pen and paper at this point 07:32 where I'm going to give a few verses 07:35 that we can take down and review them 07:37 in our spare time reading. 07:38 But there is one verse that I'm going to, 07:40 kind of, hone in on 07:41 and really see what God is saying to us on this point. 07:45 A few verses that we could consider is, number one, 07:47 1 Timothy 2:9. 07:49 We read that earlier 07:51 and it did talk a bit about jewelry. 07:53 1 Peter 3:3 as well. 07:57 I definitely would like to encourage you 07:58 to do a comparison of Revelation 12:1-4, 08:03 and then also Revelation 17:1-5. 08:06 And you'll see that 08:08 when you look at that comparison, 08:09 they're both talking about symbolic churches, 08:11 but one is adorned with things that are natural. 08:14 The other one is adorned with a lot of the artificial. 08:17 Then, of course, Genesis the 35th chapter, 08:20 Exodus the 32nd chapter, 08:23 Isaiah 3:16-26 which is really profound, 08:29 Hosea 2:13. 08:32 But then there's Deuteronomy 7. 08:34 Now Deuteronomy 7, I have to admit, 08:36 this text of scripture got my attention 08:39 because I remember years and years ago, 08:42 you're talking over 20 years ago 08:44 when I came into the church, 23 years to be exact. 08:48 My elders, I had mentors and they would... 08:50 I love jewelry especially silver. 08:52 Silver was my thing. 08:54 I mean, I didn't like gold or anything else. 08:56 I didn't like wearing wood stuff 08:57 but I loved silver. 08:58 So I would have silver rings, silver earrings. 09:01 I mean, if people look closely, 09:02 they could still see the piercings on my ears, 09:04 you know, neck chains, all of it. 09:06 And I remember when my elders were studying with me, 09:09 they were trying to show me 09:10 that God did not want His people 09:13 to adorn themselves in this way. 09:15 So I said, "Well, you know, you all need to prove that." 09:18 And they said, "No problem." So we sat down. 09:20 And I mean, they pulled out every Bible verse, 09:24 every historical reference. 09:26 They pulled out all sorts of inspired quotes 09:30 from inspiration Spirit of Prophecy. 09:32 I mean, just a ton of information. 09:34 We studied for three hours. 09:36 And I remember at the end of it all, 09:38 they said, "Dwayne, what do you think?" 09:40 And I was like, 09:41 "Well, I really appreciate all this information 09:43 but I still don't get it." 09:45 And you know, and I was making it clear 09:46 that I don't see what they see. 09:49 But there was one verse that did catch my attention. 09:51 It was Deuteronomy 7:25 and 26. 09:55 And when I looked at this, 09:57 I said, "Wow, this is pretty interesting." 09:58 And here's what it says. 10:00 In Deuteronomy 7, and just the background real quick, 10:03 you know, God was instructing the children of Israel 10:07 that when they overcome a nation, 10:09 when they take over the land, 10:10 that God was telling them what to do with the things 10:13 that they come in contact within the land. 10:15 So not only were the people destroyed or any of that 10:18 but there were also things 10:19 that were possessions of the heathen. 10:21 And God was giving them instruction on what to do 10:23 with these possessions. 10:24 Well, in verse 25, here's what the Bible says. 10:27 It says, "The graven images of their gods 10:31 shall ye burn with fire. 10:34 Thou shalt not desire the silver or gold 10:39 that is on them." 10:42 Now let's pause right there. Yeah. 10:45 It just... this is... I don't know. 10:47 Some people might read this 10:49 and think it was just a single fold instruction 10:51 but it was actually twofold. 10:53 The first instruction was the graven images 10:56 that you come in contact with, the various statues, the idols. 10:59 God says, "Burn them down with fire." 11:01 But I don't know about you, 11:03 I know you've been to Chinese restaurants, 11:05 Indian restaurants 11:07 and have you ever been 11:08 in the Chinese or Indian restaurant 11:09 and seen a little idol 11:11 that's typically on the counter of somewhere? 11:14 What is, I would have to say 100% of the time 11:18 on those idols? 11:20 Yes, jewels or money, or something, 11:22 some kind of adornment of some kind. 11:24 Absolutely, you know, 11:25 you usually going to see a ring, a neck chain. 11:28 There's something that's going to be on them 11:30 outside of the money. 11:31 And that is what we typically call jewelry. 11:33 Well, notice what the verse says again. 11:35 "The graven images of their gods 11:38 shall ye burned with fire. 11:40 Thou shalt not desire the silver or gold 11:42 that is on them." 11:44 Well, what's the 'them'? It was the graven image. 11:47 So what's the silver and gold that's on them? 11:50 That's the jewelry. Yeah. 11:51 So God is saying, "The silver or gold that's on them, 11:54 I do not want you to desire it." 11:56 Then it goes on to say, "Nor take it unto thee, 12:01 lest thou be snared therein, 12:03 for it is an abomination to the Lord thy God. 12:06 Neither shalt thou bring 12:08 an abomination into thine house, 12:10 lest thou be a cursed thing like it, 12:12 but thou shalt utterly detest it, 12:14 and thou shalt utterly abhor it, 12:16 for it is a cursed thing." 12:19 So God's word, I mean, 12:20 when I looked at all of these verses 12:22 and saw the weight of scripture, 12:24 the Bible emphatically speaks 12:26 that God does not want His people to adorn themselves 12:28 with these various articles of jewelry. 12:30 He does not want it. 12:31 It was not His will for His people. 12:33 When I looked at this verse in particular, 12:34 it just kind of brought it home in a very powerful way. 12:37 And so it is that we must understand 12:39 that God wants to make it plain. 12:42 "I have a design for My people." 12:44 It's not that He doesn't want us to be adorned 12:46 but it's what we are adorned with. 12:48 So now let's look at 1 Peter 3 and let's consider it. 12:51 In 1 Peter 3, while God does not want us 12:54 to adorn ourselves with the artificial, 12:57 there is something that He does approve of. 12:59 And let's notice what the Bible says here. 13:01 In 1 Peter 3, 13:03 notice what it says in verses 3 and 4. 13:07 Well, I guess we can go ahead and look at verses 1 to 4. 13:11 "Likewise, ye wives, 13:12 be in subjection to your own husbands, 13:14 that, if any obey not the word, 13:16 they also may without the word be won 13:18 by the conversation of the wives, 13:20 while they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. 13:24 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning 13:28 of the plaiting of the hair, and of wearing of gold, 13:31 or of putting on of apparel, 13:32 but let it be the hidden man of the heart." 13:35 So we're talking about an adorning now, 13:37 that's different. 13:38 "Let it be the hidden man of the heart in that 13:41 which is not corruptible, 13:43 even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, 13:48 which is in the sight of God of great price." 13:52 This is a value system that God is trying to put 13:54 towards His daughters and towards our sisters 13:57 is that while we put these things on, 14:00 many a times, we're trying to look good 14:02 in the sight of others. 14:04 But God says there is a kind of adornment 14:06 that looks beautiful in the sight of God. 14:09 And that adornment is a meek and quiet spirit. 14:12 And this is what the Lord wants 14:13 to bring to our attention of biblical adornment 14:16 in comparison to a lot of these artificials. 14:18 And I think, you know, this point needs repeating 14:21 because in a previous episode, you showed this point 14:25 from a different perspective from the sanctuary. 14:27 And we saw that all of the precious jewels, 14:30 all of the gold, all of the expensive items 14:34 were inside the sanctuary. 14:36 And if you are just a passer by and looking at the sanctuary, 14:40 it was kind of draped and outwardly covered 14:42 in very common things. 14:45 It didn't look like something that you wanted to go in 14:47 because there were, you know, millions of dollars 14:49 worth of goods inside. 14:51 It looked like just some kind of common tent, 14:53 you know, with low grade drapings on the outside. 14:59 But when you peel back the layers 15:00 and if you got a chance to go inside, 15:02 you saw all of this immaculate beauty. 15:04 So here again, it's really the character 15:08 that are the true riches. 15:10 And the outward adornment is supposed to be neat, 15:14 you know, beautiful, still clean, 15:17 and something that you desire. 15:19 But the adornment is supposed to be inward. 15:25 And so it's kind of in the world, 15:28 it's kind of the opposite 15:29 where the inside is kind of not really a concern. 15:32 It's the superficial, it's what you present. 15:34 And there's more concern in all this energy, 15:36 and money, and devotion 15:37 put into how we present ourselves outwardly. 15:42 And really we're broke down, and hurt, and miserable, 15:45 and struggling inwardly. 15:48 And there is no amount of money 15:51 that you can spend to address that. 15:52 And this is why God wants to take our minds off 15:54 of being what's typically called men pleasers. 15:57 You know, and this can apply to both men and women. 15:59 You know, we don't want to live a life 16:01 where we're constantly trying to please those 16:04 whom we come in contact 16:05 with more than we're trying to please God. 16:07 God wants us to understand that He should come first. 16:10 And Jesus spelled it out in very forceful language. 16:13 One time, Jesus was giving counsel 16:14 about the qualifications of discipleship. 16:17 And He said in Luke 14, 16:20 something that is pretty strong language 16:22 but He was trying to get a point across. 16:23 And this can happen, and I'm thankful 16:25 it's happening in many lives including my own, 16:27 and I'm sure yours. 16:29 But the Bible says in Luke 14:26, 16:32 when Jesus was giving a counsel 16:34 as it relates to being a disciple 16:37 and what is involved, 16:38 He said something in verse 26 16:40 that if you read it just for face value, 16:42 you would almost think to yourself, 16:44 "Did He just say what I think He said?" 16:46 Which is this, it says, "If any man come to me..." 16:48 Luke 14:26, "If any man come to me 16:52 and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, 16:58 and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, 17:02 and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple." 17:07 I mean, you read something like that, 17:08 you're thinking, "Is Lord promoting hatred?" 17:11 You know, He just said, 17:13 if any man comes to me and hates not, 17:14 does not hate his father, mother, brother, sister... 17:17 Well, we know the Bible is very clear. 17:18 The Bible tells us that, 17:20 "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, this is right. 17:22 Honor your father and your mother." 17:23 So by no means was Christ saying, 17:26 "Do not love your parents." 17:27 But he was making a point. 17:28 And this is why we have the Bible, 17:30 and this is why you have to compare account 17:33 with account to get clarity. 17:34 Scripture is always the key that unlocks scripture. 17:37 So when you compare Luke 14:26 with Matthew 10:37, 17:42 you get some clarity. 17:43 So notice. 17:45 In Matthew 10:37, speaking on the same vein 17:49 of what we just read here in Luke 14:26, 17:51 let's notice the switch of language 17:53 that I think will make it more clear. 17:55 One verse, Jesus says if any man hates not father, 17:59 mother, brother, sister, yea, even his own life, 18:01 he can't be My disciple. 18:02 But when you look at Matthew 10:37, 18:04 it says, "He that loveth father or mother more than me 18:11 is not worthy of me. 18:13 And he that loveth son or daughter more than me 18:17 is not worthy of me." 18:18 So what Christ was trying to teach is 18:21 that if you're going to be a true disciple of Christ, 18:24 it's not that God does not want us 18:25 to love mother, father, 18:27 brother, sister, or son, daughter, 18:28 or even our own lives, but He says, 18:30 "But when you love these things more than Me," 18:34 that's when it's a problem. 18:35 And the reason why is 18:36 because that's how sin came into this earth 18:38 in the first place. 18:39 It came as a result of a man 18:41 who loved his wife more than he loved God. 18:44 When Adam saw that Eve fell into sin, 18:46 he had a choice. 18:47 He didn't have to join in sin with her. 18:49 Eve was deceived but Adam wasn't. 18:51 And Adam could have made 18:53 an intelligent or more intelligent decision 18:55 by saying, "I'm going to stand on the Lord's side. 18:57 I will not sin against God." 18:58 But his commitment to his wife was stronger 19:02 than his commitment to the Lord. 19:04 And as a result of that, 19:06 it birthed sin into this entire planet now 19:09 of which we are still inflicted and affected 19:11 by it today. 19:13 Christ wants to solve this issue. 19:14 He needs to raise up disciples. 19:16 He needs to raise up workers that will go forth 19:18 and give the straight testimony to the people 19:20 so that we can be a people prepared to meet our God, 19:22 for He is coming again. 19:24 But at the same time, 19:25 Jesus says, "But you cannot put even family before me." 19:29 Well, when it comes to fashion, many a times, 19:32 family and even strangers can come before God 19:36 because God's word can be very clear. 19:38 God will say, "I don't want this type of adornments. 19:41 I don't want this and I don't want that." 19:43 Not because He's trying to punish us 19:45 but actually He's trying to do something else. 19:47 It's found in John 15. 19:50 In John 15, 19:51 the reason why Christ gives all of these counsels 19:54 is because the Bible says something beautiful in John 15. 19:58 And this is why Jesus makes these statements here. 20:01 He says in John 15 20:03 and we are considering verse 11. 20:06 It says, "These things have I spoken unto you 20:10 that my joy might remain in you, 20:14 and that your joy might be full." 20:17 The reason why Christ gives the instructions 20:20 and the counsels that He gives in His word 20:21 is not to take away our joy but to enhance it, 20:24 and to preserve it, to make sure that it remains 20:27 and does not go away. 20:28 This world is fickle, it is deceptive, 20:31 and it is sinful. 20:32 And even if we experience any type of good feeling 20:35 from the world, it's always temporary. 20:38 And that's why you got to keep feeding it. 20:39 And I remember that in hip-hop culture, it's like, 20:42 you know, you can go on that high for a minute 20:44 while you're listening to that song 20:45 in the club bouncing your head, 20:47 dancing, and expressing yourself. 20:48 But it was like once the music came off, 20:50 you almost hated your life. 20:52 You know, sometimes, you literally were not happy. 20:53 You would have to go back home 20:55 and you needed the thrill, the drug 20:59 again to turn the music on 21:00 and blast the beat or whatever, to take our minds away 21:03 from the realities of our world. 21:05 There is a way that God functions by this 21:08 but it's more long lasting. 21:10 It is more fulfilling. 21:11 There are sins in the world 21:13 that we need to get our minds away from. 21:14 But God gave us a beautiful medium, 21:16 it's called sacred music, not hip-hop music. 21:18 It's called prayer, 21:20 and not these false forms of meditation. 21:22 It's called praise and thanksgiving to God 21:24 who is worthy rather than praise 21:26 and thanksgiving to man who is very unworthy. 21:28 It is even dressing in ways that we can honor God 21:32 and receive the benefits of health, true happiness, 21:37 being able to represent ourselves 21:39 as children of the Most High God 21:40 in comparison to looking like some of the things 21:43 that are connected in this world 21:44 that represents thug life, gangster living, 21:48 and literally harlotry. 21:50 God is saying when you follow My counsels, 21:53 this is how My joy remains in you 21:56 and that joy will be full. 21:59 And now what we want to, 22:00 you know, stress is that there is no expectation 22:04 that people are going to all of a sudden 22:06 hear some of these things and then just dress correctly. 22:09 Right, there's ton of education that you need. 22:11 And do talk correctly, all this stuff, 22:12 yeah, there's lots of education. 22:13 And God is not saying, "Do all these things 22:16 that I want and then come to Me, 22:18 you know, and clean up your act and then come to Me." 22:20 I remember when I first came in to the church 22:23 when I first started visiting and participating 22:26 in church services, the only... 22:32 You know, the only clothing that I had, 22:35 that I thought was like church worthy 22:38 was the same clothing 22:39 you would wear it to like a club. 22:41 You know, it was like a club clothing 22:43 or maybe you would go to a job interview 22:44 or go to court. 22:45 You know, that's the best I could do. 22:48 And so I literally had maybe like one or two pair of pants, 22:53 you know, some borderline work boots, 22:56 and you know some sweaters, 22:59 you know, I had a bunch of clothes 23:01 that I would never ever wear right now to church 23:04 under any circumstance, 23:06 unless you know my house burned down, I had no clothes, 23:08 and I just had to go to church. 23:10 So that's not what we're saying. 23:12 We want people to understand 23:14 that although we're laying out all of these standards 23:16 and the bar is set very high. 23:19 When God sets a standard, 23:20 He sets it very high because He is the standard. 23:23 But He doesn't leave us there and say, 23:25 "Well, just get your way up here 23:26 and then everything will be okay." 23:28 He says, "Listen, acknowledge your condition, 23:32 acknowledge your situation, 23:33 acknowledge your need, independence. 23:36 And I will do all of these things 23:39 through you and in you that I'm calling you to do. 23:43 You don't have to do it. 23:44 All you have to do is cooperate, choose. 23:46 And I will teach you, guide you, instruct you, 23:49 hold your hand literally and to be where I am." 23:53 Now this is an important point for the church now 23:56 because we have to understand that Christ... 24:00 You said it earlier, Christ meets you 24:02 where you are and then He brings you up. 24:05 Well, the truth of the matter is, 24:06 is that, that means some people are going to come to the church 24:08 and they're going to wear miniskirts. 24:10 Some people are going to come to the church 24:11 and their cleavage is going to be low, 24:12 or their clothes are going to be tight, 24:14 or the brothers might come 24:15 and they may look thugged out 24:16 with super baggy clothing hanging off their back side 24:18 or otherwise. 24:20 What we have to do is understand, 24:21 this is where this person is at right now. 24:23 They need love and they need education. 24:25 And then through those mediums, 24:27 they will be brought up to God's standard. 24:29 But we should meet them and love them where they are 24:32 and accept them where they are. 24:34 It doesn't mean you have to put them in office. 24:35 But if they want to come to church 24:37 to hear the message of God 24:38 that they may come to know Him and live up to His standard, 24:41 we should not do anything that hinders that. 24:43 And shame on many people in the church 24:45 that have done that. 24:46 They literally will put down an individual 24:48 because they're coming in looking like the world. 24:51 And we forget, "Well, wait a minute. 24:53 You are like the world and Christ came down 24:55 and He was able to minister unto us 24:57 and to bring us up now to His high ideal." 25:00 So this becomes a lesson for us in the church to understand, 25:03 "Meet people where they are, just don't keep them there. 25:05 Love them enough to tell them the truth, 25:08 but at the same time exercise wisdom and discernment. 25:11 There's times and places for these things. 25:13 You know, how are you going to go 25:14 and tell somebody how they should dress, 25:16 you don't even know their name yet, you know. 25:17 Some people do that. 25:19 You're coming to church, "Young man, 25:20 you look like a thug." 25:21 It's like, my name is Dwayne. 25:23 You know, let's get to know each other 25:25 and maybe through relationship, 25:27 eventually, you can tell me I look like a thug 25:29 and I need to change, and I'll accept it 25:31 because you're meeting me where I'm at. 25:32 So this is also a point of education for the church 25:35 that even though God has a blessed high ideal 25:37 and He enables us to live up to every ray of light of it, 25:40 He meets us where we are 25:42 and He's patient with us where we are. 25:43 And we have to be able to do that 25:45 even with our brothers and sisters 25:47 that might come to the church 25:48 demonstrating the street fashion 25:50 of hip-hop culture. 25:51 And eventually, in God's timing, 25:53 He's going to give us wisdom to know 25:55 how to call them up a little higher. 25:57 That's right. And this is the key. 26:00 God is not interested in alienation. 26:04 God is not interested in pushing people out 26:06 and only accepting those who qualify. 26:09 He is eventually going to have to judge the world, right, 26:12 and separate those who have accepted 26:16 from those who have rejected. 26:18 But no one is qualified. 26:20 No person, whether accept or reject, 26:22 is qualified to get what God is offering. 26:25 It is what was referred to as the grace of God, 26:28 it is the gift of eternal life that He is offering everyone 26:33 who's worthy of death. 26:34 You know, the wages of sin as we looked at in Romans 3, 26:39 or Romans 6 rather. 26:42 But we have to look at this concept 26:47 and not isolate these independent things. 26:50 We've been talking about a lot of subjects 26:52 through the course of many episodes. 26:55 And it must be stated that these things are not... 27:00 These aren't checklists. 27:02 It's not, "Do this and then you get to this level. 27:04 And then do that and then you're at the next level. 27:06 Do this..." 27:07 When we embrace God and we embrace Christ, 27:10 we receive Him completely. 27:13 We receive all of His counsel. 27:15 And He's slowly but surely, 27:17 as we are into His marvelous light 27:19 and escape from this world of darkness, 27:21 we begin to embrace the truth. 27:23 And that truth is complete, the truth is whole. 27:26 And God begins to introduce these subjects and themes 27:28 as we continue. 27:30 So I want to encourage you to persist, 27:34 come back, invite a friend. 27:36 You need to continue to join us with these various episodes 27:39 because we're going to be going into some very important 27:42 and increasingly practical subjects, 27:44 because we have to understand 27:46 that although there's the world out there 27:48 and all of these culture 27:50 and all of these standards out there, 27:51 God has a higher standard 27:52 and He wants us to come up to it. 27:54 But we have to accept and not reject. 27:56 I want to encourage you to remember Proverbs 2:6 28:00 which encourages us and tells us 28:02 that "It is the Lord that gives wisdom 28:05 and out of His mouth comes knowledge 28:06 and understanding." 28:08 God bless. |
Revised 2017-07-31