Christian Capsules: Season 3 Capsule 4: Holiday Hot Mic

Today we are talking about self-examination in reference to being conceited/ Prideful.  Today's topic is taken from one of the verses of the day this week: Romans 12:16.

Transcript

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MUSIC INTRO

Welcome to Christian capsules Season 3 Capsule #4 (Holiday Hot Mic) 

Here we are Fixing Christianity One dose at a time.

All scripture is read from NASB 95 Edition.

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Conceited (Holiday Hot Mic)

Today’s episode is a Holiday Hot Mic Capsule.

I want to talk about something seemingly random.

I was reading the of the verses of the day for today which was Romans 12:16 and it maybe stop and think. Here is Romans 12:16 taken from the NIV:

16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.  Do not be conceited.

At first, I thought “ok good verse, but this isn’t talking directly to me.”  But then under further reflection, when I started to meditate on it, I started to realize this might have more to do with me than I think, more on this in a bit.

You see, when we read verses like that, we sometimes treat them as what I call: “throwaway verses” Verses that mean something but are more than likely not referencing us at the moment.  Not that they are less important, but because at the moment they may not be what I think I need at that time.  

And that’s where we err.  There is clearly not enough self-examination going on in American Churches today.  Just look around some of these churches and look at the conceit going on.   

Let’s take it to the individual.  No Christian I know is thinking that they are prideful, much less conceited.  However, if you really break it down then you might find that being conceited exists in many of us, and often it takes another person to point out to us.

Let’s start with a Biblical example.

This example comes from Galatians 2: 11-14

11 When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. 13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.

14 When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?

Peter, aka Cephas, ate and hung out with Gentiles until the Jewish entourage from James showed up.  Once they showed up, Peter dropped the Gentiles immediately, opting for catering to the opinions of the Jewish delegation.  What’s worse is that Paul account tells of others who are following Peter in this hypocrisy.  These are senior Christians we are talking about, Peter and Barnabas.  Paul almost sounds surprised that Barnabas was part of this craziness.  We can see why Paul writes Romans 12:16.  

 I can only imagine how the Gentiles felt; betrayed, unwelcomed, lower-class citizens, you name it.  Do we see this in ourselves?  Ill tell you, if Peter and Barnabas can do this, then we can be just as blind to it as well.  Paul in Romans 12:16 is asking for us to live in harmony with each other.  Harmony is different notes sung in tune.  All Christians come from different creeds, backgrounds, customs and races.  But under Christ we are singing in-tune producing a Harmony called the church.

Now for me, upon self-examination, I could sometimes see my self as more than what I am am-having that over prideful heart.  I’ve at times wanted to hang with the upper church echelon and desired to be clicky with higher ups at church.  I like Peter, was not being genuine to God nor to myself.

What about you, do you desire to hang around only those that matter in this world? 

Do you believe you deserved to be noticed and valued?  Finally, do you think more of yourself than you should?

Jesus said that John the Baptist took the office of least on earth, and because of this Jesus elevated John to greatest that was born of women.

Being conceited is not the school sports jock, nor is it just the brown-noser at work.  It can be any one of us who has a tainted view of his stature.  We need to be on guard and care less about what others think of us and more about how our behavior affects Christ and others.  Lastly, we need to live with the John the Baptist attitude.  We are here to serve and not to be served.  

This is the end of Season 3 Capsule #4 (Holiday Hot Mic)

My name is Jermaine Ferrell, and I’ll talk to you next time

Que the outro Music.