Wednesday, August 24, 2011

A negative is not a positive


The elder brother of the prodigal son (Luke 15)...


and the Pharisee who prayed proudly in the Temple (Luke 18)...


... they were both quite content to boast of what they were not, 
which they each communicated by smugly judging and condemning another.

I must not be satisfied by what I am not:

I’m not a murderer.

I’m not an adulterer.

I’m not a drug user.

I’m not an alcoholic.

I’m not even a smoker.

I’m not a viewer of pornography.

I don’t eat veal.

I never vote Democrat.

I’m not a liar…

(… except when I say that I don’t eat veal and I never vote Democrat).

Can one merely be what they are not?

I desire to be defined by what I am,…

NOT what I am not.

 And that requires stepping out with affirmative action,
… and doing and not merely hearing. (James 1:22)