Been spending stacks of time with people lately. I love getting out of my office and spending more time with people. The question I am constantly faced with as i do that is: "How much do I let go through to the keeper?"
My tendency is to whack everything on the head that errs on the side of erroneous thought. However, experience has taught me this is not always the most loving approach or the most effective approach.
The present circumstance is that I spending time with some blokes who are:
(a) brand new Christians, one of whom has been converted in an environment that leans heavily on experience; or
(b) have recently joined us from completely different Christian stables.
Hence, the issues that come up again and again are issues of godliness (I don't think I've ever had the Bible open on the table in Cafe before with f-bombs flying from the same table); or theological issues to do with God's sovereignty, the work of the Holy Spirit, the place of exorcisms in a Christians life, understanding suffering, God's role in evangelism, the place of works and preaching in evangelsim and so on.
And I'm constantly finding myself asking the question of God: which ones should I be letting go through to the keeper? When do you tackle an issue head on, when do you let it go and pray that God will complete his work in people, when do you try and deal with the issue from another angle? When do you wait for it to come up in the preaching program or at Bible Study?
When I think about my own walk with God it encourages me that God will do his work in people in his own time. I often find myself longing for the same patience God had with me.
