Pastor John,
I was thinking about a man you once spoke of. He had the holy Ghost and came up under your father, Preacher Clark. This man had taken the liberty of wearing very short shorts to a retirement home where he worked, knowing that an old saint there, full of the holy Ghost, who came up in a time when it was inappropriate to be exposed that way in public.
If I recall, you said he was resolute in the liberty he felt he had to wear shorts, even going as far as ridiculing the woman’s thoughts and feelings to the contrary.
Well, what about our liberty in Christ NOT to dress that way? That is what the Lord impressed on me recently. What about the liberty not to hurt someone’s fragile heart or feelings?
When the Apostle Paul spoke of his liberty in Christ, he said: “If eating meat causes an offense, I will never eat meat again.” That was Paul’s liberty in Christ – liberty to do good. He was free to never eat meat again if he thought it could help someone’s soul – free to use that tool in his arsenal.
It reminds me of that scripture that your father once thought was in the Bible (and might ought to be): “If the truth offends, let it offend.” It does not say, “If my self-will offends, let it offend.”
I believe Paul would have enjoyed that home-made scripture, adding to it, “not because I glory in your offense, but because I glory in the truth.”
The truth is that good, that if it offends a soul, so be it. But even then, not because there is pleasure in another’s pain, but because the truth is just that good. If there were a way around hurting others with the truth, a righteous man would choose it.
Liberty in Christ is liberty from the rules of men so that we may persuade others of Christ; it is not liberty to have our own way.
It is our liberty to be holy, any way that God wants us to do it.
Jerry
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Amen, Jerry. And James said that we will be judged by the “perfect law of liberty”. God has given us perfect liberty to do anything He wants us to do. And everything He wants us to do is filled with love for Him, His Son, and His people.
Pastor John