Boxes? What boxes?

I have wanted to write about boxes, limiting boxes and boundaries for quite some time, as probably mentioned earlier.

In thinking of recent events, what kind of Boxes do you think that Ted Haggard will have to deal with in going forward from his currently situation? Do you even want to fathom that? I do not.

Why? Because I hate limiting boxes, and boxes abound when someone makes poor choices. Too many times people act as though they have never made a poor choice, or that their choice was not as poor as your choice. Similar to the illustration below about hypocrites:

Matthew 6 verses 1-7 Illustrates this point to a degree:

1
Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
2
Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
3
But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
4
That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
5
And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
6
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
7
But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

That they may be seen of men. Think of that for a moment - the profoundly simple truth of it. Man places limiting boxes on people, not God.

For I was once told I could expect never to be much within a church as a servant. Maybe a Sunday School teacher, a choir member and such, but never a deacon, surely not a Youth Pastor, and most definitely probably not ever a Pastor, and that if, beings I felt I was being called into the ministry, that was what I felt I should be, but could never be, I would never be in the "Perfect" will of God. I could be in the "Good" will of God, but not the perfect will.

I almost stopped serving right then and there - in some areas, many areas I did stop serving. I kept two things going, and that was because I could see the impact and the change in lives because of them. I also knew the consequences would be much more than I could bear if I quit it all together.

See, these type of boxes, limiting boxes, take the Lord right out of the Servitude of a church member. Of a fellow Christian. Of a son or daughter, parent or grand-parent. Let's take a look at the reasoning behind the killing of my servitude.

I married a divorced woman. A woman who divorced her husband partially because of an affair she was having with me, and partially because her marriage was long done and over. That's it. Right there. I had an affair, with the woman I later married. Sound similar to David? Yup, but in my human mind I can say, I never killed my wife's husband (or ex-husband). Did David continue to serve as king and serve God? You bet he did, were there consequences? Yes, and we have had to face our own consequences, and it hasn't always been something that went wrong with us, but something with the kids that you just knew was there to teach you a lesson about what you did. See, the way I see and understand it now, I did no worse than David and I did no better than David. We both committed adultery. A Sin. From there unto confession, repentance and the forgiveness, life is nothing but tribulation, something I speak from personal experience and something that was written about David for proof. Doesn't matter if I ever killed anyone, one Sin is the same as a thousand - it is wrong from all angles.

Hmmm.....let's take a look at Paul. Goodness, he was a piece of work wasn't he? He was a Christian killer, going around purposely killing anyone who proclaimed Christ or God, or anything to do with it. Man, that is brutal to use a modern term, horrendous, atrocious. Yet, the better part of the New Testament was written by who? Paul. Did he still serve God after his crimes? Sure! Did he pay a price for those crimes? Sure.

David and Paul both had their Servitude, and God did not box them in, he led them where he wanted them, how he wanted them and as far as they were willing.

Can you imagine for 2 minutes what would happen in the modern day church if Paul or David said they felt called into the Ministry? What would happen if they said they felt God calling them to something more than just sitting in a Pew? What if they felt called to sing in choir? To be a deacon (would you nominate them??)? Or if they felt called to pastor a church, would you be one of their members?

Or would you say they had no right to be there because of choices they had made previously, which in your focus on their Sin rather than your Sin, you give no regard to God's will?

I know what I would say and do. I would treat them just as any other person I met - I would call them my brother in Christ, lift them up in prayer and allow God to work in their lives, not try to force my working on their lives.

Boxes are made by man, as God has shown us that Sin is Sin. There is no distinction made between murder, adultery, lying and thievery. An impure thought is just as wrong as an affair, as pointed out in Matthew 5:28 "But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." How many pastors have had an impure thought? Just because they are pastors doesn't make them immune to is, as Ted Haggard proved. Yet too many pastors, deacons and elders can and unfortunately do sit and place a box on their congregation members and dictate where, how and why they can serve God, based upon their past choices - acting the hypocrite as though they have had no past, and currently do not fight with struggles to live a pure life.

My friend Jamey has a prayer request on his blog about the pure life in regards to the Ted Haggard situation, and the fact that the devil is out to get anyone and everyone. To quote "What has happened should be an example to all that anyone can fall into gross sin. No one is exempt from Satan's vices."

No one is exempt from Satan's vices. No one. Not the pastor, not the deacons, not the elders. It is one thing to point the sinner in the direction of forgiveness and repentance. It is another to condemn them for their Sin or past, which is no worse nor better than your Sin or past.

Jesus, speaking to the woman taken in adultery, says "Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more." (John 8:10)

Jesus hung upon a cross on Calvary, to be spat upon, beaten, pierced, and crucified unto death, to have the cup of Sin poured in Him, to have the Father turn from him. Why? For His love for us was meant to free us from the condemnation of the Lake of Fire. Not to box us into not being able to accomplish that which he calls us to do.