I was thinking about explaining something the Lord said to me to my friends in general and realised I didn’t have a release to do it. That gave me pause.
As I mulled this over, beginning to see who I could ( should ) tell and whom I couldn’t ( shouldn’t) give the benefit of my failures to, a familiar thought reemerged with a bit of a pointed insight.
I remembered, while there was overlap in His messages, that Jesus had a word for the disciples, a deeper message for the inner three and some things were so sharpened they were reserved for Peter’s hearing alone.
He had an even broader understanding He gave for the masses, still. He lived a grace -that’s available to us too- of knowing when and how, to say what. There are certainly times these messages overlapped so that the masses heard him address the disciples but there were most definitely times there were behind closed door only teachings. Those behind the door teachings universally caused turmoil, self-doubts, blame shifting and just general foreboding.
As a young man, I remember reading John G. lake’s material and him stating ‘I determined to preach the highest revelation of Christ I had.’ I took that to mean to share every piece of revelation he had to everyone ( it was convenient) and determined to do this myself. It isn’t exactly what he said though.
Now, I wonder about the wisdom of my ways. It is possible to say too much. It is possible to inadvertently put the requirements the Lord has on you upon others who - can’t carry them now or may not even be intended to carry them, ever. Some stuff is just your stuff.
Oh the wisdom needed!
I’m certain much harm has been done in the body by seeding revelation, before seeding time, on unprepared soil. An unexpected outcome of this is one, seeing his truths are not received, can become so disheartened to the character of his own seed and thereby doubting himself, stop planting.
I suppose some of this is inevitable. We have to learn who we are and the growing requirements for our own life’s message. There’s no regret and shame in that, especially since the naked truth is that we all are responsible for both what and how we hear. Every man remains responsible for his own soul. A hearer can choose and say ‘this is not for me now’ but that has unhappy and unexpected consequences too.
That on the table, I don’t want to be responsible for burdening people with a portion of reality that Jesus isn’t burdening them with either. A wise farmer knows what, where and when to plant.
Lord, give us all eyes and a heart to measure those you’ve given open hearts unto. Let us not drawback from boldly proclaiming truth. But Let us not choke the infants before they’ve had proper season to digest either and beyond all, we trust you to keep, bear up and establish those you’ve brought into our lives.
To appropriate the psalm, let none of those who trust in you stumble on account of me, or my teaching.
This is a soberingly high calling we’ve been entrust with. God give you grace as you do what is just humanly unthinkable, that is speak on behalf of the humanly unapproachable God.