Welcome to another Thursday UNFILTERED blog post, the only blog that wants all married men to know that if you refer to your wife as smokin’ hot, it means something entirely different when she has passed away.
What follows is the fourth and final installment on the subject of discipline, consistency, and impact. And just like parts 1, 2, and 3, it’s not only for content-creators, ministers, and business people.
It’s for all believers, including you. Because discipline, consistency, and impact affect every aspect of our lives, especially Jesus followers.
If you are new to my email list, you can find the previous articles in this series on the Every Article page.
Here are the last few lessons I want to share in the form of advice:
* Be aware of the unpersuadable. If you preach or teach in any capacity, whether it to be children, fellow Christians, those seeking counsel, friends, relatives, etc. you will face the unpersuadable. A most disheartening discovery.
Trying to convince someone who’s already made up their mind is a special kind of torture. It’s like repeatedly head butting concrete, but you’re the only one who ends up with a headache.
The person is not listening. They’re not processing. They’re just there, being impressively dense.
The lesson is to recognize this phenomenon and save your energy for people who actually want to grow.
* Count the cost of making an impact. Everyone wants to make an impact, but few talk about the price tag attached to it.
Making an impact comes at a tremendous cost.
(Of course, I’m talking about making a positive impact, the kind that advances God’s kingdom—not the variety that domestic terrorists make, for example. Because yes, technically speaking, a meteor also creates “impact,” but dinosaurs weren’t exactly fans of that particular contribution.)
I read a meme recently that said something like,
“If you are called to be a leader and you are genuinely following Jesus, you will be misunderstood, criticized, opposed, falsely accused, slandered, defamed, maligned, and rejected.”
Sad but true.
I’ve studied the opposition and untold agony that Jesus and Paul faced at the hands of their enemies. (There’s an entire chapter dedicated to it in 48 Laws of Spiritual Power. Law 39.)
The same is true for every true servant of God who followed them, including Wesley, Spurgeon, Moody, Watchman Nee, T. Austin-Sparks, C.S. Lewis, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, etc.
There is one common thread that explains all the unjustified opposition. People hated and attacked them either because of jealousy or because they took personal – and unreasonable – offense with them.
* Never allow a stranger to have emotional control of your life. Connected to the above point, your detractors will virtually always be people who don’t know you.
They aren’t part of your life, and they have no real relationship with you. They are strangers, so what they have to say about you has zero weight.
I wrote an entire article about this last year called The Noise of Strangers. Yet I still see creators, people in ministry, and Christian business people unravel faster than a cheap sweater over what some stranger is saying about them.
The only people’s opinions that you should pay attention to are those of your family and close friends. And yea, probably your boss (if you want to stay employed). Everything else is noise.
People can try to destroy your good reputation, but they can never destroy your relationship with God; they cannot touch your relationship with your family and loved ones (those who really know you); and they cannot take away your divine inheritance.
Unfortunately, in the age of the Internet, there are a small group of people who have made their chief occupation the degrading, defaming, and tearing down of other Christians. (And ironically, these people profess to follow Jesus.)
Such sad souls find joy in trafficking in personal attacks, false accusations, slimes and smears. But as the Bible teaches, they always fall on their own swords eventually.
Citing Proverbs, Rick Warren once said,
“Never automatically believe reports on the Internet. The Bible says, ‘Any story sounds true until someone sets the record straight.’ Proverbs 18:17.”
On that note, this concludes my 4-part series on “Discipline, Consistency, and Impact.”
I hope you’ve found it helpful.
Until next Thursday,
fv
Psalm 115:1
ANNOUNCEMENT
Frank’s new book The Untold Story of the New Testament Church: Revised and Expanded with Foreword by Craig Keener has released. You can read endorsements by 20 top-shelf scholars, a Sneak Peek Sampler, and other related resources at TheUntoldStory.net – including new interviews on the content, some creative “unboxings,” and a spoken message entitled “BURN THAT CANDLE: Unlocking the New Testament Story.” We want to thank all of you who got a copy of the book. We look forward to hearing your feedback on it. – The Deeper Journey Team
Morning Whispers: Tuning into God’s Voice at Dawn