Cheated

Cheated – We don’t like to be cheated. We get mad when we find out that the used car we bought is not 100% as represented. We are frustrated when the new and improved on the product we are trying must refer to the box because it certainly DOES NOT refer to the product! We don’t like being lied to; we don’t like feeling like we have been betrayed!

We guard against being cheated. We buy products with warranties on them. We even purchase the extended warranty program. The more valuable the product, the more likely we are to secure a guarantee of its quality, the more likely we are to assure ourselves as much as possible that we are not being taken advantage of by anyone.

Why would Paul find it necessary to warn us about being cheated out of our reward in Jesus Christ. Certainly we would make sure that we do everything within our power to strengthen our faith. Certainly we would evaluate the claims of the person preaching the Word of God against what we have read ourselves in the Word! That would have to go without saying, it would seem.

Recently we bought a new television. We checked out warranties. We educated ourselves about pixels and resolution. Tracy learned the difference between plasma and LCD televisions. I, eventually, gave up. After all, when WIPEOUT! is your favorite show, are you really that concerned about picture quality, or do you just want to see a good solid face plant?

The point I am trying to make is that we educate ourselves because so often we don’t feel our sales person REALLY knows what they are talking about. We want to know for ourselves!

Yet, when it comes to spirituality, we don’t really seek to educate ourselves at all. We trust the person in front of our class or behind our pulpits. We believe that all that schooling so many of our pastors have MUST be good for something! Yet, we seldom, if ever, check out what the Scriptures have to say for ourself. We simply trust to “the professionals.”

Paul cautions the Colossian Christians, “don’t let anyone cheat you out of your reward!” How could they do that? WHY WOULD THEY DO THAT?! Paul says that unless they preach and teach the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ come down to take up our burdens, they may very well be wasting your time. If the sermon is always about empty viewpoints, and the multitude of angels, if study is always and only an academic exercise and seldom if ever a practical application of the Word of the Living God to your daily life, then you have someone who is taking you captive through worldly philosophy and not promoting nurture and growth in Jesus Christ. The only way we know these things is to spend more time reading the manual for our lives and educating ourselves on the workings of the human heart and soul than we do finding out about the latest and greatest in televisions.

Pastor Craig