Intentions and Directions

A while ago, while visiting Rich and Laura Pomales in Ohio, I was visiting their church, C3 Church. Pastor Konan was talking about intentions and directions, which he borrowed from Andy Stanley. Anyway, the point of the message was that sometimes we have the best intentions, but the way that we're heading (our direction) isn't the way we really want to go.

I was just watching a Youtube clip of Jennifer Knapp on Larry King Live. Larry King had a conservative pastor along with Ted Haggard on the show to converse with Jennifer. Jennifer Knapp is a Christian recording artist who recently came out of the closet, announcing she is a lesbian. The conservative pastor, it seemed, wanted to try to convey that he loved Jennifer as a "sister in Christ." However, he spent most of his time talking about how the Bible condemned her, this of course not only on national television, but also only an hour after meeting her.

Ted Haggard came in and, it seemed, wanted to offset this conservative pastor by telling him he had no right to judge her, that her circle of friends and mentors were put in place by God to do that. He avoided any direct question as to whether homosexuality was wrong. Yet, he said he was just as concerned about the truth as the conservative pastor was.

The video reminded me of Pastor Konan's message. I sat for several minutes thinking about how I would have responded if I were in either of their shoes.

I don't yet have an answer. Each person wanted to convey both the truth and love (or, speaking the truth in love). In my opinion, both failed.

It's an art, really. Conveying what you intend to convey, that is. I often find myself totally and completely ill-equipped to respond no matter how much studying I have done on any given subject. Perhaps what is more important is an even greater art- the art of trusting in and listening to God for His help.

So I pray: God, please help me as I attempt to line up my intentions with my direction, and please help me as I attempt to line up my direction with Your intentions.