1 Timothy 5:8 If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

There are all kinds of hypocrisy, and every one is obvious to God. Sadly, we hear of elder abuse all the time. The situation isn’t always cut and dried; Paul himself writes right here about the attitudes and activities of those who invite or don’t invite being taken care of. However, younger generations who are self-centered and stingy are a blot on society, and Paul says they have discarded faith. It could be argued whether he means “their faith” or “the faith,” but in either case it comes down to living out what we say we believe. If we really believe that we are hopeless sinners apart from the grace of God, then we will seek always to allow the character of Christ to be manifested in and through us. Several years ago WWJD, What Would Jesus Do, was all the fad. That is good in itself, but when it is just a fad it becomes meaningless. As James famously pointed out, when we just give lip service to God’s truth, we are just deceiving ourselves, and probably not anyone else. (James 1:22) Indeed, claiming faith and then not living it out is worse than not claiming it in the first place, as Paul says here.

This is very pointed to me right now, because I have hurt one of the church members by being accusatory when I should have been appreciative. The incident in question might seem minor, but again as James said, “We who teach will be judged more strictly.” (James 3:1) When people look to me as a spiritual father-figure and mentor, every word and action tends to bear more weight than is comfortable at times. I would like them to respond that way when I am sharing God’s truth with them, but not so much when I am being merely human! As many teachers have pointed out, the expectation and even demand that we be perfect can be a huge burden at times. However, again as Paul said, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13) I am to be grateful for this further breaking of my stubborn pride and allow God to turn this incident around for the blessing of everyone involved, for His glory.

Father, thank You for all You allow me to go through. Thank You for the good day of fellowship yesterday as we went in a group to help out some of our number. I do pray for the brother who will be returning to Taiwan today, after being here very sacrificially for the past three months as a volunteer carpenter. I pray that You would continue to guide him in Your plans for him, for his blessing and the advancement of Your kingdom Thank You. Hallelujah!