EdmundBlackadderTheThird
18th March 2005, 03:38 PM
Mods: This is NOT a copyright violation, permission to reproduce this is granted on the site explicitly as long as credit is given the writer, which I am doing in a link to the article, giving the author's name, as well as a link to the site and the license that is granted.
Original site: Sand In the Gears (http://tonywoodlief.com/)
License: Creative Commons - Some Rights Reserved (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/1.0/)
Article Permalink: Sharpening (http://www.tonywoodlief.com/archives/001040.html#001040)
Author: Tony Woodlief
To everyone else: ;) I found this as I was doing my daily blog reading and this hit so spot on that I just had to share it with you guys. I am posting it here in Restoration because my focus really is here right now, on my Restortation bretheren regardless of worship style. :)
A popular reference in evangelical Christian circles is Proverbs 27:17: "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." We want this, for the men in our community to help one another stand strong in the face of a world that either mocks our faith or demands that we mute and mutate it into a harmless hobby.
But consider this, Christian men, as you think on your small groups, your book clubs, your mentoring relationships. What are you sharpening for?
Here's the thing -- we spend a lot of time reading the right books, learning the right verses, having our 6 A.M. accountability group meetings, all of it to get razor-sharp for . . . what? If you believe that the scriptures are truly theopneustos -- "God-breathed" -- then you have to consider why the Almighty settled on this particular imagery. Iron sharpening iron. Why do we sharpen iron?
To cut something. To kill something. To separate one thing from another.
It seems to me that too many of us -- and I am at the top of this list -- spend our precious free time diligently sharpening, sharpening, sharpening, and we never look up from our grindstones to ask where the battle is.
I've got a terrible secret to share with you. The battle is right here in our midst. It's the child who has been seduced into believing that his self-worth comes from the praise of the ungodly. It's the single mother who feels only the scorn of the very same Christians who would have cursed her had she aborted. It's the wife who reads the end of the fifth chapter in Paul's letter to the Ephesians, and wonders why her husband is blind to the words. It's a world that equates our worth to our income, and to evaluations from people who won't be singing "Consuming Fire" beside us in Heaven.
But we're too busy sharpening to fight.
Here's another secret: if we wait until we're sharp enough, we'll whittle away the years until there's nothing left. We have armor, and we have a sword.
You know of what I speak, and you know that this sword is sharper than anything we could manufacture. It is the sword that separates light from dark, truth from falsehood, clean from unclean. It's been granted to us, and it should be an awe-inspiring gift. So why don't we use it?
Try this today: look at the world as a raging battle. Now survey the tragedy of an entire army of men professing to be on the side of light, yet all of them too busy earnestly sharpening their swords to engage the enemy. So are we surprised that our churches have become places that bore our young men to sleep and distraction? They are hard-wired for battle, and we give them a safe, perpetual training camp. No wonder they turn their passion to sports, one of the few remaining idols not only tolerated but nurtured in Christian circles.
Isn't it better to be beaten down than never to fight? Do we really believe that when we are weak, He is strong? Do we really believe any of the things we hear on Sunday morning? Beyond belief, are we convicted?
Don't talk to me about sharpening iron any more. Tell me about your battles.
With the license granted you can freely copy this as long you make NO profit and you give Tony credit. Tony has an amazing story as well and I encourage you all to visit his site and check out his testimony as it were. But this piece and be copied and given to everyone in your church, e-mailed to friends, posted on your websites and so on. I think it is very succint and bears giving some thought!
Original site: Sand In the Gears (http://tonywoodlief.com/)
License: Creative Commons - Some Rights Reserved (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/1.0/)
Article Permalink: Sharpening (http://www.tonywoodlief.com/archives/001040.html#001040)
Author: Tony Woodlief
To everyone else: ;) I found this as I was doing my daily blog reading and this hit so spot on that I just had to share it with you guys. I am posting it here in Restoration because my focus really is here right now, on my Restortation bretheren regardless of worship style. :)
A popular reference in evangelical Christian circles is Proverbs 27:17: "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." We want this, for the men in our community to help one another stand strong in the face of a world that either mocks our faith or demands that we mute and mutate it into a harmless hobby.
But consider this, Christian men, as you think on your small groups, your book clubs, your mentoring relationships. What are you sharpening for?
Here's the thing -- we spend a lot of time reading the right books, learning the right verses, having our 6 A.M. accountability group meetings, all of it to get razor-sharp for . . . what? If you believe that the scriptures are truly theopneustos -- "God-breathed" -- then you have to consider why the Almighty settled on this particular imagery. Iron sharpening iron. Why do we sharpen iron?
To cut something. To kill something. To separate one thing from another.
It seems to me that too many of us -- and I am at the top of this list -- spend our precious free time diligently sharpening, sharpening, sharpening, and we never look up from our grindstones to ask where the battle is.
I've got a terrible secret to share with you. The battle is right here in our midst. It's the child who has been seduced into believing that his self-worth comes from the praise of the ungodly. It's the single mother who feels only the scorn of the very same Christians who would have cursed her had she aborted. It's the wife who reads the end of the fifth chapter in Paul's letter to the Ephesians, and wonders why her husband is blind to the words. It's a world that equates our worth to our income, and to evaluations from people who won't be singing "Consuming Fire" beside us in Heaven.
But we're too busy sharpening to fight.
Here's another secret: if we wait until we're sharp enough, we'll whittle away the years until there's nothing left. We have armor, and we have a sword.
You know of what I speak, and you know that this sword is sharper than anything we could manufacture. It is the sword that separates light from dark, truth from falsehood, clean from unclean. It's been granted to us, and it should be an awe-inspiring gift. So why don't we use it?
Try this today: look at the world as a raging battle. Now survey the tragedy of an entire army of men professing to be on the side of light, yet all of them too busy earnestly sharpening their swords to engage the enemy. So are we surprised that our churches have become places that bore our young men to sleep and distraction? They are hard-wired for battle, and we give them a safe, perpetual training camp. No wonder they turn their passion to sports, one of the few remaining idols not only tolerated but nurtured in Christian circles.
Isn't it better to be beaten down than never to fight? Do we really believe that when we are weak, He is strong? Do we really believe any of the things we hear on Sunday morning? Beyond belief, are we convicted?
Don't talk to me about sharpening iron any more. Tell me about your battles.
With the license granted you can freely copy this as long you make NO profit and you give Tony credit. Tony has an amazing story as well and I encourage you all to visit his site and check out his testimony as it were. But this piece and be copied and given to everyone in your church, e-mailed to friends, posted on your websites and so on. I think it is very succint and bears giving some thought!