We've all been hurt.
We all carry scars.
We can all overcome these things and be healed through a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Let's build that relationship together right here.
Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton.
Hey everybody, welcome back to the sanctuary.
It's great to have you with us as always.
We're taking a break from Ruth this week, but rest assured we're going to be getting
back into it next week.
This week we're going to talk about something a little different.
Before I tell you what it is, I'd like to clarify something first.
I've been asked why I spend the majority of my sermons, my teaching, reading through
the books of the Bible verse by verse as opposed to doing just a topic.
The answer is, it's really something you've heard me say before.
Context.
Context is king.
There's a ton of people out there, a lot of teachers out there that strictly preach on
topics.
As you know, I do go into topics from time to time.
I do like talking about topics just as much as the next guy.
However, in order to fully understand and appreciate what the scripture is telling us,
we need to make sure that we have the full picture.
We need to understand everything that's going on.
There's no better way to do that than to go into the word itself.
There's so many people that get led astray and it's because they don't read the word
for themselves.
It's what I've referred to in the past as spectator Christians.
They just sit there and get preached at.
Unfortunately, you get poor teaching out there where scripture just gets pulled apart like
a fortune cookie.
The text is twisted to mean something that it wasn't intended to.
Not only that, but it lacks depth and information, which in turn, leads people without an appropriate
understanding or interpretation, which is really what brings us to today's topic.
You see, recently I had a conversation with a brother.
I love him dearly.
However, he had looked at a verse without context.
What he took away because of that ended up being very twisted.
The meaning wasn't fully there.
We discussed it and brought context to light, which resulted in one of those aha moments.
The light bulb just went off.
He's not the first and nor will he be the last who went through this.
We've all been there.
I've been there myself, especially early in my walk.
A lot of us do because we see so much out there.
It just saturates the media, especially social media and all that kind of stuff.
The scripture without the right framework, it basically ended up like this.
The old proverb says, don't have anything to do with bad people.
Don't even talk to them.
Just stay as far away from them as possible.
Now, before I read to you the verse in question, ask yourself, does that sound very Christianly?
Is that very Christ-like?
Now, the verse is this Proverbs chapter four, verses 14 through 15.
The word says, do not enter the path of the wicked and do not walk in the way of evil.
Avoid it.
Do not travel on it.
Turn away from it and pass on.
Now, at first glance, it would seem that the takeaway from this is to just walk away from
bad people and leave it at that.
Just don't even have anything to do with it.
Just cut them off.
Bye-bye.
Let's dial this in.
Proverbs chapter four, verses 13 through 17.
The word says, take firm hold of instruction.
Do not let go.
Keep her, for she is your life.
Do not enter the path of the wicked and do not walk in the way of evil.
Avoid it.
Do not travel on it.
Turn away from it and pass on, for they do not sleep unless they have done evil.
And their sleep is, as some translations say, robbed or, in this case, taken away unless
they make someone fall, for they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.
And what's actually happening here is a father's passing along some advice.
And this becomes even more apparent when we read the full chapter.
So in answering, if this sounds very Christian-ly, if it sounds very Christ-like, the answer
is an obvious no.
What's actually being spoken about here is that there are those people that you need
to be on your guard for.
Those people who you know, who enter your life, and can be bad influences.
These can be close friends and colleagues, even family members.
Now if we're honest about it, most of us can name some of those loved ones rather quickly.
Some of them might even be that friend that you have to warn others about before you introduce
them.
The fact that they are friends, that these are loved ones, it makes it hard for us to
say no to the things that we know we should be saying no to.
We're more likely to just kind of follow along and to tell us all the things, as opposed
to standing that ground.
And let's face it, it's hard.
It's very hard to tell people we care about that, you know, hey, you're messing up, you're
doing this all wrong, this isn't right.
And it could be painful and it could cause some resentment.
However, the fact is, truth hurts sometimes.
Nobody enjoys criticizing their friends or their family.
And this has made worse when we're not exactly sure how they'll react either.
You know, like that friend who likes to stir the pot and talk trash, you know, but they
get highly offended rather quickly when someone just starts to call them out.
Right?
You know, we need to be open.
We need to be accepting of people.
However, we also need to keep our guard up, you know, and know that we can't just always
accept things at face value, no matter how much we want to.
You know, we need to be able to take that high ground and stand up for what's right
until people know, you know, we need to set those boundaries.
And we all know right from wrong.
You know, as Christians, we need to ensure that that line is drawn in the sand for all
to see, you know, even at that cost of upsetting people, because you know what, you're not
going to make everyone happy all the time.
Sometimes you're going to upset people.
That's just the way it is.
And you see where we find ourselves being influenced to do the things that we know are
questionable at best, or at the very least, you know, have us questioning things.
We need to stop.
We need to pray, you know, and we need to evaluate or, you know, in church lingo, discern
what's going on.
You know, part of this may involve speaking to someone else who can help you to keep things
in focus or, you know, put things into perspective, you know, or, you know, talking to someone
who can break things down, you know, as to, you know, what's going on and look at things
objectively.
You know, don't let people drag you down, no matter how much you love them and care
about them.
You know, don't let people encourage you to do things that you know you shouldn't just
because they're friends or family.
It's no exception.
There's no exception to this rule, right?
We're not to sin, you know, as a Christian, you and I have an obligation to show, you
know, others, you know, that example that we should all be following.
You know, we need to be that voice of reason or as my grandpa would tell us, you know,
all the time as kids, do the right thing for the right reason.
Even when nobody else is looking and, you know, and I love the last part of that because,
you know, who is always looking?
Jesus.
Even though you might think somebody, you know, other people are going to see, you know,
we all have a reckoning, we're all going to have to answer, you know, and Jesus is always
there.
He knows what you're doing.
He knows what you're thinking.
He knows what your intent is.
So just don't get, you know, pulled into this trap, you know, now go, you know, be the example
and remember, don't just take a verse or two and expect to have a full understanding.
Read what's around it and look for the context of what's truly being said.
And this is why I encourage everybody, you know, don't even take my word for it.
Don't take anyone's word for it.
You know, read the Bible for yourself and find out what it actually says, what the context
is, you know, and what's right and what's wrong.
Now remember you're loved and you are blessed.
Now go and be the church.
Thank you for joining me today here at Healing Scars with Pastor Burton.
If you'd like to know more about our ministry or how you can support us, you can do so by
going to our website at BeTheLightSanctuary.org or you can visit us on Facebook at BeTheLightSanctuary.
We'll catch you next time.
God bless.