This scene from The Office cracks me up! But here's the thing...
If I'm honest, I would have to say that I totally level with Michael Scott on this one.
It's becoming more and more clear to me how much I desire to be well-liked.
And when I say more and more clear,
I mean uncomfortably clear.
Disturbingly clear.
I don't even know if 'disturbingly' is a word;
But this wanting to be liked thing
Can really hinder me showing true, sisterly love to the people in my life.
Let me explain.
The pastor and Chase's and my church here in Emporia
spoke on the topic of confrontation a few weeks ago.
He talked about why we don't like it
But how it's a very good thing.
Here are a couple questions from my notes over this sermon.
Here are a couple questions from my notes over this sermon.
"What happens to the people you love if they are never, ever confronted?"
Answer: tradgey.
Think about it:
"How much do you have to hate someone
to let them persist in their sin?
To not tell them about Jesus Christ?"
Answer: Either we love others
or
we seek to have others love us.
Big thought? Yes.
True? Absolutely.
Convicting? You bet.
How often do I rather seek to be loved by others
rather than love them?
I fear confrontation because I fear loss of relationship.
I don't want to be disliked, or worse, hated.
Another thing the pastor said,
"The Christian understands that confronting someone
is not about our preference versus theirs.
Confrontation, when done in love,
is redemptive and the most loving thing we can do.
In the sermon, the example of Moses, Aaron, and the golden calf was used
to show how to go about confrontation as demonstrated in God's Word.
When Moses came down from the mountain,
saw the idol that was the golden calf,
he first gives his brother Aaron the benefit of the doubt.
He doesn't say, "You idiot! Do you see what you've done??"
No, Moses held Aaron accountable, but did not directly accuse nor condemn him.
After Moses learned what happened,
he didn't wait for the perfect moment to have a little heart-to-heart with Aaron.
Rather, once he learns the truth of the matter,
he grabs the calf and destroys it.
Is there someone in your life
that claims to be a Christian, but needs to hear the Truth?
They may hate you for it at the time.
But, in love, do it anyway.
We confront people for the honor and glory of God,
that His name may not be defamed.
We must point to Spiritual Truth (Galatians 1:8).
The most unloving thing Moses could have done in that situation
would have been to allow the idolatry of the golden calf to continue.
Because if it did, the people of Israel would have been consumed by God's wrath.
Instead, he destroyed the calf so that
1) God's name would not be defamed
and
2) The people would not be destroyed themselves.
Bringing it back to my conviction of so loving to be liked,
I need to realize that avoiding confronting someone in a loving way
is the least loving thing I could do for that person.
Letting it roll off my back and
hoping someone else will speak up
is not looking out for that person nor is it loving them as I ought.
Rather, I must first pray for the Holy Spirit to use me as a tool
(because I have plenty of issues to work on myself, to say the least)
that it would be His words spoken in love trhough me.
Then I gotta put on my big girl boots,
forget about being liked
and lovingly point someone to Spiritual Truth.
Not because I'm great.
On the contrary, I am the least of these.
But because, with the Lord speaking through me,
I am able.
What happens to the people you love if they are never confronted?
