Too many Christians think that it is okay with God for them to ignore these little areas of theft (sin) in their life. What is at stake here is your own righteousness in God’s eyes. As you take care of the little things when it comes to sin, God will give you greater things to handle for HIM. And, in the process, your integrity will increase. Eventually, when you “practice” doing the right thing long enough, it will become second nature. It will become God’s nature within you. This is the Spirit of truth in action. God is speaking to your heart and making its desire to stay on course with HIM. There is no such thing as a small or large theft with God. A theft is a theft and you need to understand within your heart that this is God’s only reality.
In addition to the priority of your family, God also has concerns about how to communicate with HIM. You can see from Isaiah 1:18 that God has an open door policy of communications. HE says to “come and let us reason together.” Godly wisdom is further defined in James 3:17 as also having the ability to be reasoned with. So let’s state this very clear here. You have the ability to go and reason with God at any time. HE fully expects all of HIS people to exhibit the ability to be reasoned with. If you cannot reason with your pastor or you are getting a “power play” from him or her, it is time to exit stage right. You are not in God’s House! Otherwise you could reason with them. God doesn’t simply expect us to shut down our brains and turn them in at the church door. On the contrary, HE expects us to use them.
Then there is the hierarchy of the church. You know, FIRST you need to speak to this person; SECOND, you need to speak to that person. It could take you a long time to get to God if you listened to a lot of church leaders. Some leaders might expect you to travel an obstacle course of people and time (where it takes you 30 days to see the pastor, etc.). The object is to wear you down so you will just forget the issue. A common tactic in the realm of cults. Do you need to see the parish administrator, associate priest, priest, bishop, cardinal and pope before you get to talk with God? If so, it might be time to leave the church you are attending. No one stands between you and God. And, if you need a Mediator, Jesus will help.
