Ramblings from Retirement - Are You No Earthly Good?

Ramblings from Retirement - Are You No Earthly Good?
By Pastor (retired) Lee Hemen 
April 3, 2022

There's an old saying that a Christian can be "so heavenly-minded you're no earthly good". It means that believers can be so focused on being holy, that they've lost sight of the world around them. Now this can be a good thing when it refers to one's looking to Jesus as they live, but it can be bad if they're so focused on the things of heaven that they forget about those around them that need Jesus.

It can be bad in the life of a church or preacher that becomes so focused on knowledge or themselves that they become blinded to the needs of a hurting and sinful world around them. Jesus berated the spiritual teachers of his day because this was exactly what they were guilty of doing. Jesus really got into it with them, and he bluntly told them, ‘Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. (Matthew 23:23-28 NIV84)” Sounds kind of harsh, doesn’t it?

Jesus knew that being able to quote verbatim the Law of God, the words of the Prophets, particular passages or teachings meant absolutely nothing to the listener if the one quoting it could not relate it to those who were listening. The spiritual leadership of Jesus’ day had completely ignored the common folk, considered them rabble, and could only relate pithy words or the teachings of others. They prided themselves on their “knowledge of the things of God” while ignoring those who truly needed to hear and apply the teachings of God to their lives!

I’ve known fellow pastors and Christians who have done the very same thing. They know their Bibles inside and out, can quote any passage verbatim, and they can relate its standard “biblical” teaching but they cannot relate to those around them. To the very people who are dying to understand God and how to relate him to their lives! If the “unwashed” masses wanted to hear a commentary they could buy an app for their cell phone or go to Amazon and purchase one! What people need, to reiterate an old Christian song, is the Lord! Folks cannot relate to head knowledge like they can with real life experience. If you, dear brother or sister in the Lord, cannot get out of your knowledge zone and be relatable to the world around you with your faith, you are no earthly good!

As a young pastor I learned this lesson rather harshly when an older pastor friend of mine put me straight. I asked him what he thought of a sermon I had given that Sunday and his reply changed my life. He bluntly told me, “It was a good commentary, but had little life application.” I discovered that my listeners could relate and apply God’s teachings far better if I illustrated it with something they could actually relate to, real life! In fact, many commented afterwards how they remembered such and such story and how it had impacted them and how they were able to apply it to their Christian walk, than all of the passages and commentary had I regurgitated before!

It is time for believers to get real and share what Jesus means in a real way the world around them can understand. Don’t be so heavenly-minded that you’re no earthly good.
----
This article is copyrighted © 2022 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Have Faith in God - Mark 11:22-26

Have Faith in God - Mark 11:22-26 By Pastor Lee Hemen October 24, 2010 AM We find that what many people believe about their spirituality is often influenced in unorthodox ways. Sadly, in the movie “Hereafter”, we find one such view concerning life, death, and the afterlife. It centers on three people touched by death: a reluctant physic who supposedly communicates with dead people, a woman who has a near death experience with a tsunami, and a London schoolboy who loses his twin brother in a freak accident. People often wonder what happens to them after they die it is one of life’s ultimate questions. People also long to communicate in some way with deceased loved ones. While mourning is different for each person, and thinking we can communicate with the dead can help some folks cope with loss, these misconceptions often allow folks to consider anything as valid. It has also created a lot of false teaching concerning faith. Christians have allowed the world to define faith f
Read more
Father’s Day – Ephesians 6:4; Hebrews 12:7-12 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 18, 2023 Did you have a good father? I had a pretty good dad. He took us fishing, camping, and spent as much time with us as he could. He taught us to be moral, believe in God, and what marital devotion was all about. I still can remember him showing us boys how to cast a salmon egg just right in order to catch the bigger trout in the river. I also remember he was firm on his word and discipline. Sometimes children can think their parents are unfair or that they do not understand but what I have learned is that parents, especially fathers, do understand and that is why they often have to take the firm stand they do. Too many fathers in our day are AOL (absent without leave) either physically or emotionally or both. Proverbs reminds us that “Discipline your son, and he will give you peace; he will bring delight to your soul. Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the
Read more

2 Chronicles 7:13-15 - Building a Strong Church -- How to Pray With Power!

2 Chronicles 7:13-15 - Building a Strong Church -- How to Pray With Power ! By Pastor Lee Hemen April 17, 2011 AM We live in a day and age where the church has become pretty much irrelevant, why is that? I believe it has become irrelevant because the church has immersed itself and adopted the ways of the world instead of changing society. When Jesus came, he did so to bring the kingdom of God back into creation. Jesus established his body in the world, the church, in order to change the world one individual at a time. When an individual gives their life to Christ, they then can experience and know the power of God in their lives on a daily basis! How? It’s simple--through prayer. Sadly, most people do not experience a powerful prayer life and then they begin to look for outside experiences to satisfy the spiritual void they have. There are reasons why so many have never experienced powerful prayer, one is the simple fact that they never learned how to pray with power! When S
Read more