There are two things that quickly identify what kingdom a person belongs to.
One is how they speak – including the kinds of words they use. We covered this in Those Cussing Christians.
The other is how they react when receiving a word of correction.
If you’re part of the kingdom of God, you are able receive correction from others without responding in the flesh.
You don’t get defensive or angry. And you don’t dig in and ignore the correction.
Now let me be clear.
By “correction,” I don’t mean passing judgment on things you know nothing about. Such as judging motivations or drawing conclusions based on rumor or hearsay.
As I’ve pointed out elsewhere, to judge someone’s intentions is sin. It’s not biblical correction.
And to draw conclusions based on gossip or hearsay is also sinful.
Biblical correction is different.
It doesn’t judge intentions, but actions.
It’s based on observable fact, not gossip or second-hand information. Nor on misrepresentations (like out-of-context quotes).
If you’re living in the kingdom of self, you will always buck against correction.
But if you’re living in the kingdom of God, where Jesus is King, you will receive correction with humility and meekness.
And if you don’t fully understand it, you’ll be like a sponge and ask many questions for clarification.
But beyond asking questions, you’re silent. You don’t defend, retaliate, or fight back.
Not too long ago, I was privy to a Christian woman bringing a gentle correction to a man on social media.
The man – a professing Christian – wrote a social media update that contained profanity.
The woman gently shared with him that she felt that the use of profanity took away from his message, not to mention that she found it personally offensive and made it difficult for her to finish what he had written.
She suggested he remove the profanity because others no doubt felt the same as she did. (Of course, she could have easily shown him what Scripture has to say about profanity, but she didn’t take that approach.)
Instead of receiving the correction with meekness and being sensitive to this woman’s feelings, the man doubled-down and even tried to justify himself in intending to be offensive.
I use this illustration to make two points.
- Sometimes correction will come to you in a form that you don’t recognize. Especially when it’s offered in gentleness and sounds like a “suggestion.”
- Even if you believe a correction is wrong or misguided, kingdom people still don’t respond in the flesh.
Whether the correction is accurate or not, their response is never defensive, angry, or retaliatory.
And if it’s on point, they will recognize that it is the Lord who is doing the correcting, not a mere mortal.
For those who are in Christ, every bush is burning, so pay attention.
For more, see How (Not) to Correct Another Christian and How to Not to Receive Correction.
Also: Insurgence: Reclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom and ReGrace: What the Shocking Beliefs of the Great Christians Can Teach Us Today are deeply discounted on Amazon.
The Myth of Generosity