Last night I went to the symphony, and it was a lovely night in every way. I came home and posted photos of a pretty dress I wore on Facebook, and within 5 minutes someone wrote (publicly on my wall) essentially that the dress was too low and Jesus would have been upset with me. Well, here I was having a great time "happy and single" wearing a perfectly beautiful dress, and an onslaught of condemnation came my way. I sure am glad that I don't live to please people. I told the woman who wrote, more than one comment about how much she disapproved of my dress, that no one last night looked at me with eyes of disdain like she had for me in the dress, and no one looked at me with eyes filled with lust like she imagined. Several others (men and women) came to my defense on Facebook and stated that the artistic dress was in good taste, which resulted in no apology from the woman. I have been studying "spiritual abuse" this week, and it is much the same thing. Under the umbrella of obedience there is a lot of freedom. When people become controlling and legalistic that is an infringement on our freedom in Christ. Ghandi said, "I would have become a Christian if it were not for Christians." Well, I am a Christian, and it is not because of other Christians. I am a Christian because of the love of Jesus who never disapppoints, who understands me through and through and never condemns me. I am a Christian because "in His presence there is fulness of joy," even when others disapprove. The Bible says that we are to "be all things" to all people and not offend our brothers and sisters, so I removed the photos from my main wall on Facebook. But, I went to bed last night thankful for my beautiful dress and thankful for the God who made me with my taste and my personality, and most of all for the peace HE HAS GIVEN ME within my heart about who I am in Him, a peace that no one can take away.What if I said, "That woman wears too much make-up! She looks like a prostitute!" and took it upon myself to go tell her "for God's glory"? That would be so wrong of me and so rude! Or, how about if I said, "That person is overweight, so I must go tell them 'for God's glory' that food must be their god"? That would be horribly wrong and very unloving. Or, what if I said, "Your home is too big and nice 'for God's glory'. You should be giving more of your money to missions. How much do you tithe to the church?" I could go on and on. We are so quick to judge in areas where there is freedom. I used to go to a very high profile church in CA. Some of the elders in the church were appointed to judge men leaving the seminary as to whether or not they were qualified (or "called") to be pastors "for God's glory". I can think of a couple of very sincere Christian men, living in obedience to the Bible, who were determined to just not be smart enough "for God's glory" to be pastors. The elders (who are not gods) determined that these men were not "called", because they were not smart enough. That was so hurtful and unbiblical! The Bible says to not judge "according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." I knew of one man they endorsed with flying colors "for God's glory" who ended up having an affair as a pastor and had to step down. They approved of him as "smart enough," even though his character failed him miserably during that season of his life.
It is a sad day when non-Christians act classier than Christians. We should not be rude to each other "for God's glory" but compassionate in areas of freedom and not judge "according to the flesh" . This has been a reminder to me, to be gentle with someone "for God's glory" instead of being rude, remembering that it is not my place to be the Holy Spirit in someone else's life. God knows how to be God just fine. We must remember that the Bible says if we don't have love, we have nothing. (1 Corinthians 13). If we truly want to say or do something for God's glory, it must be done in humility, because the Holy Spirit is humble. There is no way to truly bring God glory in self-righteousness.
