(no subject)
One of the beautiful things about giftings and talents is that they can not be revoked. While man can strip you of your dignity, your position, your title and your honor, only God and God alone could ever take away a talent or gift that is from Him. There are no biblical examples of God doing such a thing, no matter how terrible the offense. It is comforting to know that shepherds like David, who committed adultery and a successful conspiracy to murder, were allowed to continue in thier gifts and callings after repentance. Repentance, of course, involves changing directions from that point on - not necessarily diving into the past. To call things like divorce and adultery anything less than sin is to distort God's plan. However, to call any sin unforgiveable is to distort God's plan. Teachers in Christ's church are held to a higher calling, and that can also not be forgotten. Some men have had to make some very difficult decisions about my ability to work in Christ's kingdom in the culture that I find myself in, and you may be surprised to know that I think they may have made the correct decisions for their respective environments. In hindsight, I went through a pretty weird time (as a good friend recently pointed out to me), and I needed to be distanced from that which I was obsessed with. To be obsessed with anything outside of Jesus, even if it's ministry, is a sad condition that is extremely hard to recognize when you are in the middle of it. Anyone who disagrees with you is wrong, no matter how much you have trusted them in the past, because they have gotten in the way of your addiction. The good news is that God hasn't taken away my gifts, and as my relationship continues to grow rapidly with Him, so have my opportunities to serve others with the gifts He has given me. In fact, there are more people who call me pastor now than when I was employed in a man-made institution for that purpose. God is truly, and always will be, more gracious than man. Pray for me, that I would not let down God or His people again. Shalom