At one time or another, every one of us has been the recipient of bad counsel from a fellow Christian. It can be a tough thing to swallow advice tainted with inaccuracies, hurtful words, or false assumptions. We all know what our default response is to such counsel. We might get angry at their intrusiveness, be discouraged by their hurtful tone, or even be judgmental toward their judgmentalism. But is there a way to receive bad counsel in a such a way that is beneficial, not only for you, but also for your fellow Christian?
By ‘bad counsel,’ I am not referring to false teaching or heretical counsel which rejects Jesus Christ and his Word. This counsel must be utterly rejected. I’m referring to counsel delivered by a Christian brother or sister that might come across as judgmental, hypocritical, ‘legalistic,’ or insensitive. I understand that there is a time and place to lovingly confront such counsel, but how can we actually benefit from it? Here are four ways that you can make the most of a less-than-ideal counseling situation.
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Elias Keach was a 17th century pastor’s kid - the son of the respected Baptist minister, Benjamin Keach. Benjamin Keach was known for introducing hymn singing in Baptist churches, writing a catechism, and preceding the pastoral ministry of Charles Spurgeon. But Elias didn’t adopt his parents’ religion. Forsaking their beliefs, he left London to go to the American Colonies in 1689. In this new environment, he became known as the son of the famous Benjamin Keach, which brought him great admiration and respect. Taking advantage of this, Elias would wear clergy outfits, posing as a man of God. Although he played the part well, his heart was far from God.
 Social Media is a never-ending conversation. People from all around the globe connect via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest (the list goes on) to share ideas, argue for positions, document daily life, or just share relevant memes and GIFs on every single post they can find.
Sadly, even for Christians, social media is typically a nasty place. It’s as if Christians have decided that Scriptural principles of communication don’t extend to the internet. They’ll be friendly to their next door neighbor, but spew hateful, hurtful words online. Does your online testimony line up with Scripture? Here are 10 Proverbs that should guide our use of social media:  Consider a hypothetical situation: Suppose God came to you and gave you a 100% guarantee that every time you share the Gospel, it would result in the conversion of a lost soul. Every single witnessing opportunity would result in repentance and faith - no exceptions!
Imagine that! How would such a guarantee change the way you live? I don’t know about you, but I would become the most passionate evangelist this world has ever seen. I would share the Gospel at every street corner, supermarket, and bus stop. I would proclaim the Good News to every man and women that crossed my path!  One year ago today, the four of us agreed to partner together and start the Pursuing the Pursuer blog, and we have thoroughly enjoyed the journey! At the outset, we committed to pursuing four things: 1) Pursuing Balance - we are committed to comparing every tradition, reaction, and fad against the truths of Scripture. Only when you are grounded in Scripture will you find the balance that guards against the constant pendulum swing of our culture. 2) Pursuing Accountability - we recognize that we are four young guys with very little experience, so we committed to being accountable to each other with each post we write by reviewing, critiquing, revising, and polishing each other's work. We hope that this process keeps less (not all) youthful mistakes from entering the blogosphere. 3) Pursuing Clarity - We try to stay away from being a "click-bait" blog. We want to rely on Scripture's clarity rather than our own creativity, and so we have committed to basing every article we write on Scriptural truth. 4) Pursuing Hope - Ultimately, we want to proclaim the incredible hope we have in Jesus Christ. Our world is full of pain and sorrow, and people are looking for answers. We are convinced that Scripture has the answer to all of life's questions, and we want this blog to be a channel of hope for those who seek it.
So, without further ado, here are the 10 most-read articles from our first year with PtP (a.k.a. the 10 articles that were read by people other than our moms and best friends). We hope you are challenged, instructed, and encouraged as we continue our pursuit of the Pursuer. |
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