Don’t Drink the Poison

I’ve got 2 little guys in my house (2 1/2 & 4)… and I’m a pretty laid back dad… but one of our house rules is Don’t drink the poison. They are both alive… so at this stage of life they are doing just find.

But as they age.. this rule will become more difficult because… poison comes in many forms. They’ll have to do more than just not drink the bleach in the laundry. Poison destroys your body from the inside out… and the older you get the more you realize how hard it is to not drink the poison.

Bad advice is poisonous… it gets you to make foolish mistakes. Anger is poison… bad friends can be poison… gossip is poison… entertainment can poison… desires can poison… Anything that can get into your heart and mind that kills you from the inside out is poison.

So I came across some poison the other day in the form of some advice from a seminary professor who encouraged his students to “play the game” of the “pastor’s mystique.”

He said…”People think they want their pastors to be normal, everyday people,” he told our class, “but they really don’t. They want to see you as better than the average person. Church members want to believe your marriage is always strong, your faith never falters, and you are virtually without sin.”

The professor continued, “Keep your guard up. Don’t let them know the real you. Dress the part. Talk the part. You’re a pastor now. Never let them into your life, or you’ll regret it.”

Now you don’t have to be a pastor or any part of the moral police to realize this is poison. Maybe your dad or a single man. Keeping your guard up and not letting people see the real you will kill you from the inside out.

Don’t drink the poison! Consider the alternative… be real, failings and all… expose your brokenness, especially the real you. We all know what we all know. We are all human, so lets all be honest with our humanity. (I took this material from Craig Groeschel).