Take a moment and think of someone who was part of your life who was also hard on you, personally. Maybe it was a parent — always riding you about your laziness. Or maybe it was a teacher — always nagging\u00a0you concerning your academic performance. Or maybe it was a good friend who was always on your case about\u00a0something in your life where you weren’t doing as well as you could have done.<\/p>\n
Do you have that person in your mind? Good. Let’s call him\u00a0Chauncey.<\/em><\/p>\n Now consider this question: Why was Chauncey\u00a0so hard on you?<\/em><\/strong> Did Chauncey hate\u00a0you? Probably not. Was it because Chauncey\u00a0wanted to ridicule you? I doubt it. Was Chauncey\u00a0generally obnoxious? Not really.<\/p>\n Here’s what I have noticed about myself: I am generally the most frustrated with the people in whom I see the greatest potential.<\/em> If I see little potential in someone, I have small expectations of them. If I see great potential in someone, and I see time passing by without them pursuing their potential, I become disturbed — for their sake. And the degree of anger I feel concerning this\u00a0shortcoming in their life will correspond with\u00a0the depth of my love for them.<\/p>\n In chapter five of his excellent book, The Reason for God<\/em>, Tim Keller considers\u00a0the question,\u00a0How can a loving God be an angry\u00a0God?<\/em> As he addresses this, Keller points out that when you have love, you are bound to have anger against anything that injures what you love.\u00a0Keller quotes Becky Pippert, who writes, Anger isn’t the opposite of love. Hate is, and the final form of hate is indifference.<\/em> I get that, because it is generally those that I love the most and wish the best for with whom I become the most frustrated.<\/p>\n This helps explain\u00a0why some say, “I feel more acceptance\u00a0from my drinking buddies than I feel from the people I go to church with.” Sometimes this is a matter of projection<\/em> — the speaker is projecting a disposition onto his church family that most of them do not own. Other times it’s a matter of “Christians” being overly-critical. That happens.<\/p>\n But there’s a third explanation:\u00a0Maybe his\u00a0drinking buddies don’t\u00a0really want the best for him\u00a0or the best of him. Maybe they want\u00a0nothing more from him\u00a0than for him\u00a0to be a good old boy. In contrast, maybe his\u00a0brothers and sisters in Christ want the best for him\u00a0and the best of him. And when he\u00a0fails to pursue that very thing, the friends who love him\u00a0most let him\u00a0know.<\/em><\/p>\n Could this be the explanation for the behavior of Chauncey<\/em>\u00a0— the person\u00a0that pressures you toward better things?<\/p>\n And whether it is the explanation or not, how would your life be different if you were to see those who press for\u00a0the best\u00a0for you and in you<\/em> as an\u00a0ally?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Take a moment and think of someone who was part of your life who was also hard on you, personally. Maybe it was a parent — always riding you about your laziness. Or maybe it was a teacher — always … Continue reading