Necessary Endings

Last week we learned about people we need in our lives. Mentors, teammates, supporters; these people love us to the core and walk the path of life right beside us.

Now it’s time to evaluate the other end of the spectrum. Are there are any people we need to cut out of our lives?

Are there any practices we need to remove or decisions we are making that lead us away from God?

In our world, especially with productivity ranking so high in our priorities, To Do Lists almost seem necessary to make any progress. But have you ever thought of making a Stop Doing List?

What do you need to stop doing to bring more productivity into your life? And not just productivity in your daily task-driven life, but in your spiritual life?

Do you need to stop spending all your free time tweeting about what just happened on Keeping Up With the Kardashians or Mob Wives?

Or maybe you need to stop spending time with people who influence you negatively?

You may even need to stop doing good things, if they are keeping you from furthering your relationship with God.

There’s nothing wrong with exercising…unless you crave the attention you get from others more than you crave a connection with God through honoring Him with your body.

There’s nothing wrong with helping people…unless your focus is more on praise and recognition for your good deeds than getting to know the people whose lives you are impacting.

We are called to be the salt and the light of the world, to be in this world, but not of the world. Jesus Himself says in John 17:14, “I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.”

But this doesn’t give you a free pass to remain in a Christian bubble and only talk to people who can flip to Obadiah faster than they can spell it (neither of which will win you freshly baked cookies).

It’s not a call to ditch our friends who may not know God or who make us uncomfortable when they ask hard questions about our faith.

Hard questions are good. They make our faith real and they get others thinking about what faith could mean for them.

On the other hand, it does allow you the freedom to ditch the people in your life that have you second-guessing biblical principles and justifying your sin with the ways of this world.

There is a difference between general inquiry and malicious inquisition. The former is healthy; the latter detrimental. And we must pray for the ability to discern in which camp the questions of our non-believing friends fall.

Consider this like a spiritual circumcision. It’s painful and no one wants to talk about it, but to walk with God it has to be done.

James 1:2-3 tells us, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.”

Terminating practices that have become comfortable habits is hard.

Cutting off people you consider as friends hurts.

Allow the Lord to fill the voids that generate and speak truth against the lies that creep into our minds and hearts.

Walk in His light.

It’s so much better.

It’s so worth it.

And besides, whether you believe it or not, He’s the only one that can fill it anyway.

Resources

James Emery White. Momentum. Sermon series available at Mecklenburg Community Church. 2011.