Intellectual honesty, is when we know the truth and tell the truth, but along with our being honest, everyday, we must deal with the contrary nature of our body, the skin we wear, or what i call, our “skin talk”. Yes, the constant contrary nature of this body we wear is always resisting a little, opposing a little, whispering conflicting things to us, it disagrees with God in general and spares us no pause in order to let us know it opposes God and all things righteous, constantly.

How ambitious are you? That, my friends, THAT is a VERY difficult question for most of us to be honest about. Why? Everyone wants to be vauable, in some fashion, to someone or to their home crowd, or maybe to an entire culture. The question requires an intense internal search, as well as an increasing level of intellectual honesty. Let us not misunderstand God’s intent on this issue. As ambition goes, or even desire for that matter, it isn’t ambition or desire in itself that is the problem, but is, by far and large, more the object of desire or ambition that is the problem. Again, desire isn’t the problem, it is the object of our desire that is the problem.

In Luke 20, the chief priests sent spies to keep an eye on Jesus, but Luke 20:20 says those same spies managed to get close to Jesus by “pretending to be honest”. In John 10:32 Jesus asked the men who came to kill Him “why” they were going to stone Him. It is highly likely He wanted them to realize their real motivations and be honest with themselves on the deepest level about what was really going on with them.

So here’s the question of the week, or month, “Did God speak to me?” For me to be really honest about that, means i’ve got to face and be vocal about my own ambitions, my personal need to be pedestalized, and my love of hearing crowds chant my name. Much of mankind, at some point or another dreams of being enthroned on their own terms, in light of that, the question “Did God speak to you?” requires that if He did not, we must admit we are just people and are not elite, or “above the rest”. God will not allow us to only hear Him at our whim.

Another question that should follow is, “What e-x-a-c-t-l-y did He say?” It is a “killer” question, possibly more extreme than the first. i think i hear God, yea … i think i hear God a lot. My problem isn’t whether i hear God or not, my problem is what i do with what He said and how i spin it up. i’m learning to not practice “circumlocution”, meaning to use a lot of words when only a few would be necessary.

To tell the gut level truth, sometimes i am not responsible with His words and i change things … i might add my tone of voice instead of how i heard the Lord say it, spitting out 36″ of speaking with only 3″ of content, or i spit out 3″ of speaking condensing 36″ of content into something that is so concentrated people choke… yep, honestly, sometimes i even leave things out because it’s just too much detail and obscures the point.

i try and be more responsible but alas, my stinking skin games gets in the way.

The “question of the week”…”Did God speak to you, and what e-x-a-c-t-l-y did He say?” was born from a situation when a woman i know was at a Bible study and a newly arriving participant came in the door pretty stressed because her little sister was moving in with a boyfriend. The little sister was supposed to be a believer, and the big sister was all wound up because she was pretty sure it was a bad move and the little sister was headed for disaster.

All the women at the Bible study were angrily talking about going over there and beating on the girls door, thumping their Bibles at the young woman, and giving her “what for”. Wisely, they decided to pray about it before they took action on what they thought they should do.

Later, when at home, my wife, who was at the study group, asked me what i would do. The following sequence wasn’t just a feeling that i could make the common church disclaimer of “I just really feel”. It actually happened.

In !THAT! EXACT MOMENT that my wife asked me that question, i heard the Lord say to me, not about THEM, but about me, “Did you actually hear me speak to you? What E-X-A-C-T-L-Y did I say? ~!AND!~ if you can’t actually answer those questions humbly and honestly, then why are you talking as if you heard me speak? If I did not tell you to relay my words, then why are you speaking as if I did?”

Suddenly, i found myself with a metaphorical 12-foot spear through my middle. God was right. i was pierced and made low … it was right and very good!

So i reflected what He said to me as it related to her situation, saying, “You need to determine 1) Did God actually speak to you, and 2) What exactly did He say? And if you can’t answer that accurately, humbly and honestly, you should question why is anyone going over there to pound on that young woman’s door?”

We as a people have an internal conflict about our ambitions as it relates to “our need to be seen” and how we fulfill that need. Will we confront our conflicts or conform to our conflicts? If we do not confront our uncomfortable situations we will likely eventually begin to resemble our uncomfortable situations. Like a splinter in our skin, if we DO NOT confront the conflict wisely, not getting the metaphorical splinter out thereby allowing the conflict to persist, our skin will begin to build around it and conform to the shape of the splinter. “Confrontation or Conformation? Which is it?”

i’m Social Porter for Living In His Name.