Conflicted

Conflicted

‘AWord from the Pastor’ By Clayton Adams

Conflicted. That's what I am. “Conflicted” means to be “incompatible” and having or showing “confused and mutually inconsistent feelings.”

Imagine being present to hear Jesus while speaking His Sermon on the Mount.

Arguably, this sermon was the greatest ever preached and it set the foundation for the future church.

Many of those present must have been conflicted as Jesus set the standard high for His followers. For instance, Jesus said, 'You have heard that the ancients were told, 'You shall not commit murder' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.' 'But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You good-fornothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.”(Matthew 5:21-22) Thankfully most folks haven't murdered someone but there is a whole lot of hating going on in our country, churches, schools and families. Jesus called His listeners to remember what they were taught saying, “You have heard that the ancients were told,” and then He said, “but I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother…” Jesus set the standard high, very high.

Reading the Sermon on the Mount, one reads at least six times Jesus tells His listeners to remember what was the standard, but He says to them, “but I say to you.” (Matthew 5:22; 28; 32; 34; 39 and 44) Jesus raises the standard and sets the expectation for conducting my life at a higher standard. Yes, I am conflicted.

The apostle Paul acknowledges the conflict in his life as well. He deals with his own conflicts in his heart as he wrote to the Believers in the city of Rome. “For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate… for the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.” (Romans 7:14-19) The conflict is played out everyday in our minds and hearts. We all want what we should not have and when we get it we realize that having what we wanted is never as good as we thought it was going to be.

The singer Paul Simon wrote it this way in his song Kodachrome; “If you took all the girls I knew when I was single and brought them all together for one night I know they'd never match my sweet imagination…” The apostle Paul was right and so was Paul Simon.

I find myself like Job in the Hebrew Scriptures who acknowledged his need for an intermediary between him and God. That intermediary was, is and will be Jesus Christ.

Paul wrote in his letter to Timothy, “For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” (1 Timothy 2:5) The internal struggle does not end because one lives for Christ. On the contrary, the spiritual fight intensifies. The unbeliever and even the “lukewarm” person do not feel the fiery darts, the poisoned arrows sent by the enemy. The ones who feel the darts and arrows are the ones who get up everyday and determine to live their lives for Christ.

Regardless of age, experience, education or heritage we are all the same; Created by The Creator with a purpose, gifted and significant in His eyes.

This is why He sent His Son Jesus to live and die on the Cross. Jesus is the only mediator, there is no other. Jesus alone bridges the gap between our feelings, thoughts, desires and God.

Do not be deceived the conflict is just as real in your life as it is in mine.

Many days I fail, I succumb to the fiery darts and poisoned arrows, I follow through on a thought, I sin. But, I don't want to! God knows I don't want to but the very thing I don't want to do, that is what I do conflict.

So how do we resolve this conflict? Admit it, quit it and turn away from it. Paul wrote, “I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Admit it, quit it and turn away from it. Jesus is your intermediary and thankfully He is mine. He is faithful and just to forgive us all of our sins. Amen.

Clayton Adams is pastor at Earle First Assembly of God. You can e- mail him at cpalaa@ yahoo. com, or find Earle First Assembly on Facebook.