Last week we discussed the seven possessions of an effective follower: Humility, Obedience, Patience, Honesty, Integrity, Curiosity, and Openness.
On this journey down the road called life we want to make sure we are prepared.
It should not surprise us that when preparing for a long journey or trip, we need to take inventory. But taking inventory serves two purposes: to see if we need to get anything to bring and, to see what we have that we shouldn’t bring.
We have looked at our list of possessions, and they for certain are on the list to be checked. If we don’t possess them, then we need to change that. However, we must also get rid of things that would slow us down; things that are contrary to our intended result; things that weigh us down.
We will first look at some possessions many of us carry with us always that not only need to be removed from the list for this journey, but also need to be altogether destroyed. We will look at two quick checklists of what we need to drop. The first hits us hard from scripture in the Epistle to the Colossians; the second in reality is a list of the conflicting possessions to those that we have identified as necessary. If you own any of these, you will be double-minded, and we know that “a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.”
List #1:
“But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.” Col 3:8 (emphasis mine)
All of the above hold within themselves a hint of intention – another way to look at direction. But the intentions are not for good. They are not productive. They are evil. They wish harm. They intend to hurt. Anger, wrath, and malice together take an emotion, an action, and intent, and produce that which exalts itself against God and seeks to tear down others. You cannot follow if you rebel against the Leader. The opposites of these help reinforce the Seven Possessions. When we take time to go through each of those possessions, we will revisit this concept.
List #2:
(If you acquaint yourself with this list, then you will be more prepared to understand the Seven Possessions as they will be defined. Often it is the contrast of two things that clearly solidifies the definition of each.)
Pride, which is the opposite of Humility
“Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.” If you have pride in your life; if you have a self-serving, inflated expectation of what you have earned, or what you deserve, then you can’t follow. If you want to know what you have earned, remember this… the wages of sin is death. You, by your existence in this world, by your imperfect nature, and by your willingness to miss the mark, have earned death. You deserve eternal separation from the love of the Savior. But He has stood in the gap. He has taken the punishment. He has redeemed you. Everything you have is a gift of His grace – His giving you the good you do not deserve. Everything you should have that you don’t is a gift if His mercy – His holding back from you the bad that you do deserve.
Rebellion, which is the opposite of Obedience
“An evil man seeketh only rebellion: therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him.” (Prov17:11)
To rebel is to oppose authority. It is to set yourself against. It is absolutely contrary to following. Following implies moving in the same direction. It is going with rather than being set against. It order to be set against something your force, your might, and your momentum must be moving in the opposite direction. Rebellion and resistance share a common theme. The very act of resisting means that you will not be moved. And any force that seeks to move you finds itself met with the full force and attitude of rebellion; being set against. But when you are set against something, you are not moving. And following is about moving.
Anxiety, which is the opposite of Patience
“Be anxious for nothing” (Phil 4:6). We hear of anxiety as a constant nervousness or worrying. Again, passive tenses. But when we are told not to be anxious we are being given an order to stop doing something. Anxiety in the active is akin to going after something before its time. It is like “jumping the gun.” It is being overcome by the environment around us and responding to those outside stimuli rather than having the countenance to stay. It is moving in anticipation of what will happen next, rather than moving at the moment you need to. When a runner jumps the gun it is because their nerves are on edge and their timing is off. Patience has good timing.
Deceit, which is the opposite of Honesty
To deceive is to deliberately misguide, to lie, to lead in a way that will end in pain. It speaks words of peace to your face, and stabs you in the back. It tells you what you want to hear, not what you need to hear. It plays on your insecurity and fills you with false hope. It is out only for its own good, and for your destruction. It twists your thoughts and causes you to doubt. It takes scripture and uses it against you. It tells you that you are beyond salvation. It tempts you to a path of personal comfort. The enemy, the great deceiver, tried his best to misguide, misuse, and tempt Christ when He was in the wilderness. Deceit makes you see things in a manipulated light. It is an illusionist.
Corruption, which is the opposite of Integrity
We use the word corrupt when we talk about people in areas such as politics or law enforcement who put on an outward appearance that does not line up with their motives and actions. Corruption implies an inward decay; a disconnect; a misalignment of values. It speaks of internal conflict in which that which is bad or less desirable wins. If you have any corruption within you, if there is any canker building, you need to flush it out. Get some of the strongest rust remover you can find and go to work.
Disinterest, which is the opposite of Curiosity
If I am disinterested, I pay no attention. I do not take in anything. I do not concern myself with that which is in front of me. It is a relative of “loosing interest,” but it is not the same. Disinterest never gives a chance. It looks the other way and does not put itself out. When the Samaritan was robbed, beaten, stripped, and left for dead, those who passed by on the other side had their hands full with disinterest. They did not concern themselves. They had little interest, not even out of simple curiosity.
Selfishness, which is the opposite of Openness
“That’s mine! You can’t have any! Give that back!” Feel like you are listening in on a sandbox of five year olds? Selfishness closes the world off to you. And worse, it closes you off to the world. When you don’t let go of anything, you will only have what you are holding; nothing more. Selfishness can suffocate the one being selfish. If the flower never gave its pollen, other flowers would never grow, nor would that flower make it to another season. If the leaves never let go of their oxygen, we would never breathe out, and they would die. If you have anything that you are holding so tightly to that you would not be willing to share or release, then you will not be able to follow. You will be carrying too much.
Check your baggage. We have a long trip ahead of us.
But what a fun ride it is.
SDG
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