Dear Elim Grace,

Jesus calls us to be holy. Holy means “other,” of a different or higher kind. Not better than, but different from. To be holy, then, is also to walk in holiness. “Otherness” of mind and thought, heart and desire, character and behavior, trust and commitment, hope and joy, wisdom and love, grace and truth.

Therefore, holiness is not sympathetic to foolishness. That is, being unintelligent in the ways of God. Slow to being obedient to God’s Word. A reluctance to trust or take Him at His Word. Lacking in maturity and godliness (Christ-likeness).

If we are to grow a big people in Christ, here are three areas I believe we all need to grow in.

1. Believing all Prophecy

There’s an apparent rise in the prophetic. Almost everyday a prophetic word by some prophet is shared across social media. Yet at the same time there is a documented rise in Biblical illiteracy. More and more Christians don’t know their Bible. The Word of God. They’re not reading it for themselves. Studying it. Meditating on it.

As a result, the opportunity to be deceived by the “prophetic” is high. I say this as someone who operates in the prophetic gift. 

It’s not a coincidence in my mind that there’s an abundance of internet prophets at a time when there’s a scarcity of Bible-reading, -knowing, -trusting Christians and churches. If you don’t know the Word of God for yourself, you can’t test the prophetic word by the Scriptures. If you don’t believe in the authority of God’s Word, you’ll run and submit to any authority of man claiming to be spiritual. Paul urges us to not quench the Spirit by not despising prophecies. But at the same time he commands us to test every prophetic word (1 Thessalonians 5:20-21). But how can we test if we’re not in the Word of God for ourselves? If we don’t know The Word?

If the prophet you turn to, and point others to, says more about what the Lord says to him (or her) than what God says in His Word, be careful. All Spirit-inspired prophecy is Biblically sound and rooted in the Scriptures. Why? Because the same Spirit that inspired the Scriptures inspires prophecy. And the spirit of the prophet (or the person with the spiritual gift of prophecy) should be steeped in the Scriptures. Their character shaped by the Scriptures. Their language formed by the Scriptures. 

So, be careful you don’t run to believe every prophetic word. Be careful to not run to seek a prophetic word before going to the Scriptures. Spend more time in the Word of God than you do listening to prophetic words by others.

2. Sharing all “truth”

Again, to be holy is to be not better than others but different. So a mind consecrated to God will be “completely other” and learn how to discern truth from error. Will learn how to test things for truth. The heart consecrated to God will learn how to respond emotionally. How to exercise self-control. Will understand how and when to respond. And all learning takes time.

We live in an age of misinformation and disinformation. But that doesn’t mean truth is nowhere to be found. We cannot as Christians be so quick to believe a picture, a meme, a headline, a post, a stat, a “fact”. It’s astounding how quickly Christians share and re-share content that if they had taken 30-60 seconds to research and confirm, they would know it’s not the truth or not the whole truth. Of course, non-Christians do this too. But Christians of all people should be “slow to speak” and slow to re-speak what others are saying.

Read. Research. And, then, if in the mouth of 2-3 witnesses a thing is confirmed, wait 24 hours to consider your motives before sharing.

3. Debating every opinion

While I wouldn’t ask anyone in Elim Grace to refrain from sharing their personal political views on social media, I would ask all of us to refrain from debating our political opinion or the political opinion of others on social media.

I would highlight and urgently ask us to please resist and refrain from debating publicly online with other believers in Christ.

Remember, our first loyalty is to Jesus and to His kingdom, not to our political view, candidate and party. We are each and all of us representatives of a greater Kingdom and representatives of Elim Grace. We can cause stumbling and division in Elim Grace by how we behave in “public” on social media. And, as I recently preached, our political behavior can become an unnecessary stumbling block to the non-believers Jesus has sent us to serve. As such, I do implore each of us to behave online with a higher purpose, wisdom, gentleness and love towards one another and towards non-believers. 

And, finally, for the love of all that is holy and not foolish, if you have a disagreement with another believer, especially a fellow brother and sister of Christ in Elim Grace, please message them privately. Or better yet, invite them out for coffee and have a conversation face to face.

So, dear Elim Grace, whom I love with all my heart and for whom I would lay down my life, live the Christ-life by the Spirit of Christ to the glory of Christ.

Know His Word.

Be slow to speak.

Be quick to seek one another out face to face.

Pastor Jonathan