Real Talk: Don't Let Your "But" Get You In Trouble!
More often than not – whether consciously or unconsciously – most of us approach life's many issues like a Missourian: in order to believe something, we need to see it. We want the tangible, the empirical, the physical. We need to feel it in our own hand, see it with our own eyes, hear it for ourselves to accept it as real.
All too often, this mindset crosses over into our faith walk, sometimes to the point of crisis. We need the tangible in order to believe the spiritual. This syndrome is particularly heightened when we are faced with what we consider to be "real world" situations. You know what those look like: the boss says "Fix that report so the auditors will stay off our backs"; or you write your child's essay for their college applications; or maybe you're faced with stealing to feed your hungry family. In these moments of ethical (spiritual) dilemma, we might think to ourselves "I know what God (the Word of God) says, but...." The problem with this is that, regardless of whatever the specific situation is, at the very moment we stick our "but" in as justification for going through with what's contrary to the will of God, we are already operating in the wrong. Period.
To keep ourselves moving within the will of God, we must change our definition of the “real world” – we must exchange OUR worldview to God’s worldview…perhaps better stated as a Word-view. There’s really only one useful way to accomplish this shift, and that is immersion in the Word of God. Make time to dive into the Scriptures to absorb God’s view. The end result will be that the “real” in your real talk will mean something because it will represent God’s reality, which is the only one that truly matters!
“For we walk by faith, not by sight.”