I was telling someone the other day that one must use wisdom when seeking to lead another person into the truth. I have watched the unskilled and sometimes insensitive approach people take when trying to persuade a friend or colleague to believe what they themselves believe.
We live in a really sceptical and cynical age where both young and old have come to distrust just about everything they hear, and even more so following two years of disinformation and stories of fear and terror that the media drove like a phycological tsunami, seeking to brainwash entire populations.
It is no surprise then that scepticism has become the 'norm' after twenty five months of hearing the trickery and deception of world leaders and their financial masters.
The great leader Moses spoke some powerful words in what has been called, 'The Song of Moses'. He begins, (and you can read it in Deuteronomy 32)
'Give ear, oh you high ones, and listen to my words, you who are down to the ground. My teaching shall be like drops of rain, and my speech shall be like the morning mist that floats over the meadow. It shall be as the small and fine rain upon the tender new shoots of the herbs, and as the showers of rain upon the dry grass.' (My transliteration)
Here is wisdom. He speaks to those who are noble, educated, holding office; and he speaks to those who are just getting through life the best way they can.
He does not come rushing in with a bombardment of scripture verses quoting chapter and verse, for that would drive even a knowledgeable person to boredom. He does not even have to raise his voice and gobble like a turkey-cock. Drop by drop, he introduces truth in small measures, allowing it to soak into the toughened ground of hardened hearts.
In the heat of the summer, after a lack of rain, the fields become like rock. It matters not if you open up a tanker full of water onto the ground, virtually all of it will run off and find a ditch to lose itself in. The soil will receive nothing of benefit, and the roots of any hopeful harvest will remain untouched.
It is the gentle, persistent, day by day droplets, that will slowly but surely penetrate the dried-out land, and reach the hidden roots that no-one could believe even existed. And so it is with the human heart and the preaching and telling of the gospel.
There is a time to preach both boldly and with great authority and warning, but the continual dropping of truth into society can have a much more profound influence, and create change.
The church has been silent for decades, burying itself away behind closed doors for little pep-talks to each other, and planning outings and special events to try and show the world out there that they are really no different to anyone else.
Well now! here is a real contradiction! And here is the problem! If we ain't different to the rest of the people, then what have we got that they haven't got?
Oh yes, we believe in Jesus. Big deal! so does the devil!
Moses said that his speech would be like the morning mist. I love being in the countryside, to wake up early in the morning as the sun arises over the fields, and see the gentle mist drifting over the ground, tenderly bathing the young seedlings with its refreshing moisture.
Here is the work of the church, the duty of every true believer. From morning rising and bathing in God's presence, then taking the sweetness of his love to the parched fields of this scorched humanity.
Oh the sweetness of such a ministry that would soon touch hardened hearts and make them wonder what it is they are missing. Oh, how a nation could be changed if every believer were to do this.
Instead, they only get impacted with stories of football, of anger and frustration, of bad and nasty attitudes that quickly turn the soul away from any other words that might seek to entice them to come visit their church on Sunday. They have enough trouble themselves without having to put up with being told how bad and wrong they are.
To win a soul you must be wise, for the scripture says that 'he that winneth souls is wise'.
Moses speaks of his teaching to be like the small and fine rain, that gently and thoroughly permeates the ground around the tender plants, refreshing their leaves and new shoots. Such gentleness, such kindness, such grace, that makes a lonely and lost soul want to hear more.
King David said of himself that it was the gentleness of God that had made him great. What a beautiful statement!
Most people would put it down to their wisdom, or to their abilities, or to their own strength; and indeed, David could have said that it was the power of God that made him great, but he did not. It was the gentleness of the Lord that lifted him up. (Psalm 18:35)
Just think about that in all of your dealings with other people, even with those who you think do not deserve it.
Paul speaks of the meekness and gentleness of Christ, and calls us to be like Him.
Moses then says, 'Because I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe greatness unto our God.'
His teaching and his preaching would be to publish the name of the Lord. His life, his tongue, his blog, his social media, his conversations, would be to publish continually the name of his God. It would be an infusion of the name of his Saviour into everything he did or said, almost without noticing, and simply as a matter of fact.
He would not seek to preach down to anyone, but just lift up the name that is above every name.
He would not try to force something upon another, but his life would carry the grace and the name of God in all that he did and in all of his attitudes.
He was a great and powerful leader, strong and courageous, yet he was called the 'meekest man on earth'. There lies the grace and gentleness of spirit indeed.
JGM 2022
