We should expect our preacher to communicate to himself and to us the diagnosis that God makes upon our condition and the corrective action that God prescribes. We don’t need or want the preacher to interfere with this process by filtering out the inconvenient or disturbing bits.

While the angry, “I guess I showed them” type of response may be gratifying in the moment, it doesn’t help in the long run. Such a response brings division which grieves the Lord who died to bring unity.

As I sit and reflect on the value of a day dedicated to giving thanks many thoughts come to mind.

I sometimes wonder how Christians would be viewed if every interaction would be restrained by these three goals. I would think that fewer people would think the church to be a bunch of judgmental hypocrites if these were followed.