Thursday, July 23, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Personal Taste
There is a very thin line between my opinion or taste, and the leading of the Holy Spirit. When we teach on these things it seems so easy to see and understand with certainty the difference between them. However, in the pressure of a real life situation, that clear line easily becomes blurred. I love to watch and learn from the reactions of people when confronted with diversity. It has been a fascination for over 25 years since I first saw the power of cooperative diversity. Of course, diversity that is not cooperative is not creative but destructive. It is destructive because diversity in and of itself is a blind, self sufficient attitude that truly believes that what it believes and feels is the mind of God. I actually enjoy watching reactions in group settings when differing personal tastes confront each other. Of course, excluding myself! I don't really enjoy it when I am the one who is pressing my taste on everyone as the will of God. I believe that maturity brings flexibility and the ability to analyze your own personal tastes. I believe immaturity is inflexible and not able to even take a good look at personal opinion or taste to see if it is the will of God.
I was sitting one night in a meeting and I was thinking about the leader who was speaking. I was thinking in the secret recesses of my mind, "I couldn't follow this leader because something about him bothers me." What is it? Hmmmm...right in the middle of those thoughts I hear this clear word from the Holy Spirit. How do I know it was the Holy Spirit? Because the voice I was hearing was challenging my own personal taste. I heard the Lord say, "taste or preference does not constitute the will of God." I looked around the room and other leaders whom I greatly respect were focused on this leader and obviously following him. As I meditated on the moment I realized that what I was sensing was not discernment of the Holy Spirit but a clash in personal taste.
This is really a very big thing. If we can't grow beyond preference or taste, we will seek to lead from a standpoint of taste. The Kingdom of God cannot increase in the earth if leaders are leading from taste or preference. Let's make this a matter of prayer today and try to bring this liberation of personal preference to ourselves and our people.
There is a very thin line between my opinion or taste, and the leading of the Holy Spirit. When we teach on these things it seems so easy to see and understand with certainty the difference between them. However, in the pressure of a real life situation, that clear line easily becomes blurred. I love to watch and learn from the reactions of people when confronted with diversity. It has been a fascination for over 25 years since I first saw the power of cooperative diversity. Of course, diversity that is not cooperative is not creative but destructive. It is destructive because diversity in and of itself is a blind, self sufficient attitude that truly believes that what it believes and feels is the mind of God. I actually enjoy watching reactions in group settings when differing personal tastes confront each other. Of course, excluding myself! I don't really enjoy it when I am the one who is pressing my taste on everyone as the will of God. I believe that maturity brings flexibility and the ability to analyze your own personal tastes. I believe immaturity is inflexible and not able to even take a good look at personal opinion or taste to see if it is the will of God.
I was sitting one night in a meeting and I was thinking about the leader who was speaking. I was thinking in the secret recesses of my mind, "I couldn't follow this leader because something about him bothers me." What is it? Hmmmm...right in the middle of those thoughts I hear this clear word from the Holy Spirit. How do I know it was the Holy Spirit? Because the voice I was hearing was challenging my own personal taste. I heard the Lord say, "taste or preference does not constitute the will of God." I looked around the room and other leaders whom I greatly respect were focused on this leader and obviously following him. As I meditated on the moment I realized that what I was sensing was not discernment of the Holy Spirit but a clash in personal taste.
This is really a very big thing. If we can't grow beyond preference or taste, we will seek to lead from a standpoint of taste. The Kingdom of God cannot increase in the earth if leaders are leading from taste or preference. Let's make this a matter of prayer today and try to bring this liberation of personal preference to ourselves and our people.
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