Crucifying the Flesh

 

Is our flesh already dead or do we need to crucify it daily?   God will do it if you don't.

~~Watch the Video~~

Outline:

• Introduction
• Traits of Wholeness
• Our 3 Enemies/Opposition
• Two Dimensions of Our Flesh Nature
• What does Crucifying the flesh look like?
• 4 agendas that enliven the flesh
• City building
• Fire lighting
• Wall Whitewashing
• Honey Eating
• God will help you kill your flesh
• How We Crucify the Flesh

Scriptures:

• Romans 7:14-19
• 1 John 2:15
• John 3:16
• Romans 12:2
• Galatians 5:24
• Romans 6:11
• Genesis 4:10-12
• Isaiah 50:10-11
• Isaiah 30:9-11
• Judges 14:8-9
• Philippians 1:6
• Ezekiel 13:10-11
• John 8:36
• Galatians 5:16-17
• Colossians 3:1-2

Introduction

Romans 7:14-19

14 For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am fleshly, sold into bondage to sin. 15 For I do not understand what I am doing; for I am not practicing what I want to do, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 However, if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, that the Law is good. 17 But now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. 19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.

Who can relate to that..“the good I want to do…I don’t do”

Paul still has urges that he needs to overcome

Isn’t This the same Paul that told us that we “died to the flesh” a couple chapters ago

Why doesn’t he just “Kill His Flesh”?

Is our flesh already dead or do we need to kill it daily?

Is the “old man” dead?

Do we need to crucify our flesh?

• What does it mean to crucify the flesh daily?

How do we kill the urges that we have?

Does God help us to kill them if we refuse to?

Traits of Wholeness

We are in our series called Seeking Wholeness

How can we be:

• Spiritually healthy
• Emotionally healthy
• Mentally healthy

Free from oppression of

• Our past
• Ourself
• Bad thinking
• Strongholds
• The enemy

We’re talking about

• dealing with life’s current stresses
• being healed from experiences/wounds of the past

We’re not just promised eternal life

• We’re supposed to have: joy, peace, patience, and self control here on earth

Traits of Wholeness

• Authenticity
• Honesty
• Kindness
• Not seeking external approval / validation
• Living by values and principles
• Setting Boundaries
• Taking ownership of your responsibilities
• Living with purpose and passion
• Optimism
• Confidence
• Healthy relationships with others
• Not losing control of your emotions
• Free from addictions
• Addressing Conflict with truth and love
• Vulnerability
• Not critical or Judgemental
• Not jealous of others
• Forgive those who have wronged you in the past
• Know that you’re worthy of receiving love
• Not afraid to fail
• Able to manage irrational fear, worry, and anxiety
• Selfless encounters with others
• Not manipulating others trying to control their actions/reactions
• You care about how others feel
• Patient
• Don’t give into peer/social pressure
• Can communicate directly
• Don’t take responsibility for other people's emotions
• Take responsibility for your own emotions
• Slow to anger
• Ability to maturely express your wants, needs and desires
• Being led by the Spirit

Our 3 Enemies/Opposition

The Bible speaks of three enemies that we have

• Satan and the satanic
• The world
• The flesh

Satan

There is a spiritual reality that is actually working against us

1. satan
2. fallen angels
3. demons

We can get trapped by

• Overestimating the influence of the devil
• Underestimating the influence of the devil

During the Spiritual Warfare series we had lessons on:

• Satan
• Demons
• Witchcraft
• Curses
• The Occult
• Various spiritual warfare tactics - Distraction, Accusation, Deception, etc.

There are three access points for Satan and demons

• Covenants
• Making a deal with the devil (occult)
• Ignorance
• Disobedience

We fight the enemy with the armor of God

• Truth
• Righteousness
• The Gospel
• Faith
• Hope of Salvation
• The Bible
• Hearing from God

The World

As Christians, should we love the world?

1 John 2:15 

Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

“The world” is used in different ways

John 3:16

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.

This seems contradictory.

• God loves the world.
• Yet he tells us not to love the world.

Paul uses “the world” to refer to:

• The cosmos… The entire created order
• All mankind
• Jews and gentiles alike
• That which is opposed to God

The World System

We are not to love…the world system

• Any system of thought without Christ at the center

We are to love the world's people, but not its program.

The world includes

• The media
• The entertainment industry
• The educational system
• The legal system
• Your political party

The world is

• The system that we are in
• The lenses we have over our eyes
• A picture of reality that is portrayed for us

Romans 12:2

2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

God vs Mammon

We shouldn’t get from the world

• Our priorities
• Our goals
• Our 5 year plan

The Flesh

The term Flesh is used to mean:

• Our physical bodies
• All mankind
• Our sinful nature

We are talking about our sinful nature

from Adam

It is not as if we only want to follow God and we have these two enemies against us. 

• Our very nature craved sin

“The flesh” is what the devil tempts

“The flesh” is what is attracted to the world

Sometimes…You don't get defeated… You got disobedient

• It was a deliberate conscious willful sin

The Only One That God Told us to Kill…Is the Flesh

many charismatics believe that deliverance will fix everything

• We believe that everything is a demon

The Amish emphasize on escaping from the world.  

We are never told to kill either the world nor the devil.

But he has told us to kill the flesh.  

Galatians 5:24

24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Two Dimensions of Our Flesh Nature

Is the flesh already dead based on the finished works of Christ?

Do we need to kill our flesh daily?

1. Your sin nature
2. Your self nature

Romans 6:11

So you too, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Jesus removed the power of sin… But not the presence

The Sin Nature

“ The old man“

This is the flesh before you are saved

The sin nature is against the word of God

This was the nature that came upon man by reason of his fallen state

This is what the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus defeated

Temple of the Holy Spirit

Once you become a Christian

• Your body becomes a temple of the Holy Spirit
• Demons can no longer reside in your body

• Their influence is now from the outside

The Nature of Self

But the Holy Spirit doesn’t renew your mind

We still have

• Pride
• Strongholds
• Independence from God

This is the nature that a believer struggles with

• The Bible also refers to this as “the flesh”

“Self“ is the inability to intentionally live your life with the consciousness that everything about you should glorify the Lord

Even though Satan didn’t have a flesh body… He still had pride

Pride

It includes “pride”

Motivated by

• Self-centeredness
• Vainglory
• Self exaltation

This does not negate the victory of Christ

Strongholds

A stronghold is The lie we tell ourselves to justify our sin

• The reasoning that we give ourselves to explain why God is wrong

Examples

• As long as I’m happy and not hurting anyone that’s all that matters
• The Bible was written a long time ago and doesn’t apply to today
• As long as we love each other it’s OK
• The bible was written in a patriarchal society, we have evolved as a society since then
• They aren’t meeting my needs, so it’s OK for me to sin
• Everybody does it
• I’m not as bad as them, so my little sin isn’t that bad

What does Crucifying the flesh look like?

“The flesh” is:

• Trying to make life work without dependence on God
• Giving higher priority to my satisfaction than God’s pleasure.
• A commitment to find joy for my soul outside of God.
• A belief that there is something truly good that God does not provide.
• Self dependence.
• Self preoccupation
• Self-centeredness.
• Attitudes that look to other people and things for satisfaction.
• Independence.
• A rebellion against God’s authority
• Independence that creates agendas in our lives that run directly counter to God’s

Dying to the flesh means dying to self

Crucifying the flesh is to:

• Die to the mindset of the system
• prioritize the kingdom over worldly goals and desires
• resist the temptation of the devil
• put God’s truth above all other truths

“Death” means to die to your

• Ego
• Plans
• Ambitions
• What you have built

A dead man is not easily  offended

4 agendas that enliven the flesh

All of these agendas take God out of the equation

1. Depending on your own talents and resources to make life work.

• Idol: Adequacy / Independence
• Fear: Failure
• Biblical analogy: City Building

2. Reducing the mysteries of life to manageable strategies that we can follow.

• Idol: Control/Confidence
• Fear: Confusion
• Biblical analogy: Fire lighting

3. Making it a priority to minimize personal risk.

• Idol: Safety
• Fear: Disaster
• Biblical analogy: Wall Whitewashing

4. Finding satisfaction wherever you can

• Idol: Comfort / Pleasure / Freedom
• Fear: Responsibility
• Biblical analogy: Honey Eating

City building

Dependent On Your Own Talent/Resources (Adequacy)

Genesis 4:10-12

10“What have you done?” replied the LORD. “The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground. 11 Now you are cursed and banished from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12When you till the ground, it will no longer yield its produce to you. You will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”

The earth would no longer bear fruit for Cain

The result of this was that he could not create a farm and stay put.  He was sentenced to wander the earth eating fruit and vegetation where he could find it.

He was at God’s mercy of food being available.

How many of you grow your own fruit, vegetables and meat?

So as a solution, Cain  built the first city.

• He could trade things for food and didn’t need to rely on God for it
• He created a community where they could rely on each other instead of God

Cain was a “City Builder”

City Builders  draw from their own efforts, in order to secure the advantages of life that God refuses to provide

City builders depend on their own resources to bring a sense of control into their lives.

They are instantly consumed with doubts about our adequacy.  

If they’re successful… they call it happiness.

If they fail… they learn to hate

• themselves
• others For not helping
• God for his indifference

Traits of City Builders

• Jealousy
• Enjoyment of another’s misfortune.
• Dependence on complements.
• Hypersensitivity to criticism.

Fear of City Builders

City builders are terrified of failure.

They hate their own weaknesses.  

They are preoccupied by their own adequacy or inadequacy.  

• Feeling either smug or empty.  

They are coiled to erupt in fury against anyone who increases their fear.  

Fire lighting

Trust in Their Own Plan

• want to be right
• Want control
• Commitment to confidence

Reducing the mysteries of life to manageable strategies that they can follow.

Isaiah 50:10-11

10 Who is among you who fears the LORD, Who obeys the voice of His servant, Who walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God. 11 Behold, all you who kindle a fire, Who encircle yourselves with flaming arrows, Walk in the light of your fire And among the flaming arrows you have set ablaze. This you will have from My hand: You will lie down in torment.

• When you walk in darkness…you should trust in the Lord

“Fireligthers” would rather light their own fire

• They don’t want to depend on God for anything

For those who trust God… Mystery doesn’t pose a problem.  

• For those who live by their own plans… Mystery is offensive.  

If we walk confident in the light of our own torches… We are not dependent on God.  

They don’t trust God

They want to be in control

Fire lighters.

• Love formulas
• Work too hard.
• They trust their models
• They don’t want to listen for God’s voice
• Follow the theory too closely
• Depend too much on approved techniques

They view the Bible as

• A rulebook
• A collection of principles to follow when life gets rough

…rather than a revelation of God's heart.

Fire lighters hate

• Uncertainty.
• confusion

Fire lighters demand.

• Clear answers.
• Practical instructions.
• Actionable solutions.

Life is livable if they feel confident in their plans

They blindly follow what the experts recommend

Fear

Their nagging question is.

• Am I right?
• Am I doing this properly?
• Am I making big mistakes?
• Is there a better way of handling this situation?
• Who would know that might tell me?

They’re urges to be killed are:

• The demand to be right.
• The insistence that we find confidence in a strategy because of its guaranteed outcome

They replace a trust in God with confidence and a system that they can follow.  

Wall Whitewashing

• A commitment to safety
• priority to minimize risk

People Hate uncertainty.  They are scared to death.

There must be a way to live that lowers the probability of bad things happening.  

Ezekiel 13: 10 -11

10It is definitely because they have misled My people by saying, ‘Peace!’ when there is no peace. And when anyone builds a wall, behold, they plaster it over with whitewash; 11so tell those who plaster it over with whitewash, that it will fall. A flooding rain will come, and you, hailstones, will fall, and a violent wind will break out.

The prophets prophesied peace just to make them feel good

They built flimsy walls around the city.

• They desperately wanted to believe that these walls could keep them safe.  
• They painted the walls with white wash to make them look sturdier.  
• They had a false sense of protection.  

Wall WhiteWashers want to protect themselves at all costs against whatever difficulties might frustrate their plans.    

When we hear of tragedies happening to other people… We throw white wash on our walls to explain why it could not happen to us.

They focus on:

1. Am I safe?
2. If not, what can I do to guarantee my safety?

Wall white washers hate uncertainty more than trusting God.  

• They demand protection.
• They provide it for themselves when God doesn’t.  

Fear: disaster

Honey Eating 

Judges 14:8-9

8When Samson returned later to take her, he left the road to see the lion’s carcass, and in it was a swarm of bees, along with their honey. 9So he scooped some honey into his hands and ate it as he went along. And when he returned to his father and mother, he gave some to them and they ate it. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the lion’s carcass.

Because at that time in Israel’s history, touching the carcass of a dead animal was considered unclean (Leviticus 11). But Samson ate the honey anyway, gave some to his parents, and so defiled himself and his parents.

Honey eating highlights our urge for immediate satisfaction on demand and on terms that we can control

They want pleasure that they can control to fill them with joy.  

With obvious things like.

• Pornography
• Over-eating
• Money

And less obvious things like.

• Prestige.
• Competence.
• Power.

Honey Eaters are driven by the urge to feel good right now.

There’s question is

• Am I fulfilled?

That is how they evaluate their.

• Relationships.
• Bank accounts.
• Careers.
• Day-to-day activities.

… Do these things satisfy me?

They find themselves, answering no because our souls were built for satisfaction that only Heaven can provide.

They

• Change jobs.
• Leave spouses.
• Change churches.
• Live for bigger ministries.
• Eat too much.
• Indulge in more increasingly perverted, sexual urges
• Do whatever gives momentary satisfaction

They don’t like being at the mercy of an unpredictable God

Honey Eaters  have the urge to.

• Feel completely good now.
• Be able to arrange for intense satisfaction whenever they want it.
• Depend on no one who might refused to cooperate

Fear:

• Emptiness
• Responsibility

God will help you kill your flesh

Philippians 1:6

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work among you will complete it by the day of Christ Jesus.

The good news is that God will help us kill our flesh

The bad news is … God will help you kill your flesh

• … You got to go through some stuff

God shows us that the passions of the flesh don’t lead to  life and happiness as they promised.  

They lead to.

• Misery
• Unhappiness.
• Despair.
• Futility.

How God Cures City Builders: The Wilderness

The wilderness of personal inadequacy

City builders depend on their own talent instead of depending on God

God will take them to “The Wilderness”.

• A place where their talents aren’t enough to bring them success

The city builder gets taken to the wilderness... where he has no idea how to plan for the next stage in his life.

• Takes us to the desert where our claims for adequacy are proven false.

The wilderness.

• Unpredictable uncontrollable times of life.
• Things that used to work… No longer works.
• You realize that without God… All of your resources are useless
• you lose the urge to prove your adequacy?

Outcome

Change the question from.

• Am I adequate?

To

• What can I do;give for God’s purpose?

How God Cures Fire Lighting: Deep Darkness

The darkness of unresolvable confusion.

Fire lighters want to be in control

Difficulties that make us feel unsafe.

God will leave them with two options.

• Trust God
• Sinking to despair

The fire lighter gets plunged into darkness… he can’t understand why things fell apart after so many years of faithful and fruitful service

• God places us in darkness where our hopes of confidence and clear strategies are dashed

Deep darkness can cause you to fear God more than confusion

Outcome

Question Changes from

• “Am I right”

To

• “Whom do I trust”?

How God Cures Wall WhiteWashers: Shattered Dreams

Introducing difficulties that cannot be protected against.

Wall Washers want safety

Ezekiel 13:11-12

11 so tell those who plaster it over with whitewash, that it will fall. A flooding rain will come, and you, hailstones, will fall, and a violent wind will break out. 12 “Behold, when the wall has fallen, will you not be asked, ‘Where is the plaster with which you plastered it?’”

Sometimes God allows The wall white washer to experience difficulties he thought he would never encounter…

• Introduces difficulties into our lives, that we thought we had protected ourselves against

God will bring unavoidable hardship.

Sometimes God allows seasons of trouble to come and knock down our walls.

Outcome

Questions changes from:

•  “am I safe?”  

To

•  “Am I in good enough hands to aggressively move into life?”

How God Cures Honey Eaters

The damage caused by our selfishness 

God often helps Honey Eaters get over it by showing them the damage their pursuit of pleasure causes to others.  

Repentance for Honey Eaters occurs when they face the impact their selfish demand for personal fulfillment has had in harming others.

Exposing the damage in others, that selfishness can cause

• Forcibly opens our eyes to how indulgent living hurts others… thus spoiling our pleasure in sin

Outcome

Question changes from:

• “How can I be satisfied”

to

• “how can I bless?”

How We Crucify the Flesh

John 8:36

“So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.

Self Control / Discipline

• Discipleship
• Devotion
• Discipline

How to crucify your flesh

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CthIpKhvpXi/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

• Never give the body all that it wants

How to kill the flesh – profit Lovey

https://youtube.com/shorts/AQ6PPU1d1WQ?feature=share

• Feed something else, and starve the flesh

Spend time in the presence of God

Be Led by the Spirit

The presence of the Holy Spirit doesn’t remove the conflict… It creates it

Galatians 5:16-17

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17 For the desire of the flesh is against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, in order to keep you from doing whatever you want.

The flesh is at war with the Holy Spirit

You won’t have victory because you have the Holy Spirit

• You have victory because you yield to the Holy Spirit
• ~ having the Holy Spirit means you will know what the right choice is

Sword of the Spirit: Hearing From God

• Obeying the Holy Spirit

Prioritize God over mammon

Colossians 3:1-2

1 Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth.

Set

• Your affinity
• Your desire
• Your longings

Many people are focused on where they are going to go after they die

• Jesus was focused on… How you are living  right now
• Are you living in the kingdom of God in this moment or are you living in the kingdom of darkness

Practical: Focus on the kingdom when you wake up and before you go to sleep

• Don’t check your text and email first thing in the morning
• Don’t watch the news first thing in the morning
• Spend time with God first

• Worship
• Scripture
• Study

Your Attention:  what you focus on

Summary

City building.

Core agenda: I will make my life work through resources I can control.

Preoccupying question: am I adequate?

Deep fear: inadequacy.

Angry demand: affirm me.

Opportunity. for false connection: working with people whose mutual  competencies allow them to achieve a common for goals.

Related urges:

• Jealousy.
• Enjoyment of another’s misfortune.
• Dependence on complements.
• Hypersensitivity to criticism.

God’s strategy for helping: time in the desert

Fire lightIng

Core agenda: I will find a plan that I know will work

Preoccupying question: am I right?

Deep fear: confusion

Angry demand:

• Agree with me.
• Tell me what will work

Opportunity for false connecting: finding people who agree with us, and dogmatically asserting the wisdom of our understanding while judging others who see things differently

Related urges:

• Desire to divide
• Eagerness to criticize.
• Love of argument.
• Condescending spirit.

God’s strategy for helping: deepening the darkness.

The message of connection:

To trust him?

New question: whom can I trust?

Wall white washing.

Core agenda: I will protect myself against the difficulties of life.

Preoccupying question: am I safe?

Deep fear : disaster.

Angry demand:

• Align with me
• Help me protect myself.

Opportunity for false connection: living in community with folks who emphasize only the blessings in life and attribute those blessings to something they have done

Related urges:

• obsessive tendencies
• Shallow spirituality
• Disciplined habits.
• adventurous?

God's Strategy for help: introducing difficulties that cannot be protected against.

The message of connection: I see courage in you.

New question: am I in good enough hands to aggressively move into life?

Honey Eaters.

Core agenda: I want to feel good when I want to.

• In a way that eliminates all pain.
• If only for a moment.

Preoccupying question: am I fulfilled?

Deep fear: emptiness.

Angry demand: acquiescence.

• Cooperate with my efforts to feel good and don’t judge me

Opportunity for false connection: associating with superficial people who have no higher goal than enjoying life.

Related urges:

• Impatience.
• Insensitivity.
• Indulgence.
• Greed.

Gods strategy for help: Exposing the damage in others, that selfishness can cause

The message of connection: you are forgiven

References

Connecting

Larry Crabb

The world, the flesh, and the devil

Voddie  bauchum

The flesh

Apostle Joshua Selman

This is what do if you keep struggling with the flesh - lust

Apostle Joshua‘s Selman

The mystery of dying to the flesh and its glory

Apostle Joshua Selman

Victory over the flesh

Vlad Savchuk

AMISH & TECHNOLOGY

Discover Lancaster

Extra

Galatians 5

19The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; 20idolatry and sorcery; hatred, discord, jealousy, and rage; rivalries, divisions, factions, 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us walk in step with the Spirit.

Ephesians 2:1-3 (NASB20) 1 And you were dead in your offenses and sins, 2 in which you previously walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all previously lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the rest.

Romans 8:14-17

14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons and daughters of God. 15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons and daughters by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

Job 33:14-18

14 “Indeed God speaks once, Or twice, yet no one notices it. 15 “In a dream, a vision of the night, When deep sleep falls on people, While they slumber in their beds, 16 Then He opens the ears of people, And horrifies them with warnings, 17 So that He may turn a person away from bad conduct, And keep a man from pride; 18 He keeps his soul back from the pit, And his life from perishing by the spear.

Understanding the radical depravity of our sin not only gives us a sensitivity towards those who are lost, not only helps us to understand the magnitude of our salvation, but it also  reminds us that we are still in desperate need because the world in the flesh and the Devil are still there.

– Voddie  bauchum

Amish

Similar to transportation, though, it is just the ownership of telephones that is forbidden, not the use of them.

If you’re dealing with defeat… You have to get stronger

If you’re dealing with disobedience… You have to repent

Connecting

City Builders

“ I will find others with whom I can moan. I will share my struggle with people who, like me… depend for life on their personal adequacy. If we discover areas of mutual competence… We will start a joint venture and call it fellowship.

City builders have a hard time connecting with someone else because they are looking for affirmation of themselves, not what is good in another. They can work together with other people towards a common goal but only if it increases their sense of adequacy.

We often feel that training is required in order to respond to someone correctly.  Maybe the problem is that we feel inadequate for the situation. City building is the problem.  

City builders don’t connect. They require others to confirm there adequacy.  When someone does… A bond develops… False connection occurs

Firelighters

“I will find people who agree with me on how life should work”.

Agreement and conformity are more valuable than debate, and diversity in their communities

Telling firelighters to “trust in God“ doesn’t sound like a good plan to them.  Only darkness will make the idea of trust attractive.  

Wall Whitewashers

They connect with people who provide the apparent means of protecting their lies from whatever they fear.  Christian communities bond together by agreeing that certain certain actions and attitudes have persuaded God to preserve them from disaster.  

“I will hang with people who are terrified of Real risks, but have the social competencies to successfully function without meaningful vulnerability… And I will feel safe relating to them“

Their commitment to safety restricts the freedom that connection requires.

When connecting, A wall white washer would feel the pressure to make things better… Or at least make them look better… As soon as possible.  Maybe

• Prayer.
• Strong rebuke.
• Warm words and a big hug.

Real engagement is out of the questionL… Too risky.

They want everyone to feel a little better, and no big risk to be taken.  

Honey Eaters

“ I will bond with others who share my appetite for immediate relief. We will bond over.

• The Chicago bulls.
• A great restaurant.
• Golf
• Something worse

That lack of concern of their impact gets in the way of connecting.  

We must never insist that our involvement creates a deep spiritual work.   We must never demand a response to our intervention.  We used to the Holy Spirit role and find ourselves in the middle of a power struggle.  

The message you want to convey is… “I believe in you“