My Mind Made Public -

I held off as long as I could ...

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Lord Judge Me According to My Integrity

I was reading Psalm 7 the other day and I noticed something that I had never noticed before:

Awake, my God; decree justice.

Let the assembled people gather
around you.

Rule over them from on high;
let the LORD judge the peoples.

Judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness,
according to my integrity, O Most High.

O righteous God,
who searches minds and hearts,
bring to an end the violence of the wicked
and make the righteous secure.

Wow. What a word by David concerning those that perpetuated Saul’s paranoia to keep the kingdom he rightfully thinks is his, and not the Lord’s that was given to David. The words:

“Judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness,
according to my integrity, O Most High”

have stuck with me the last few days since I read them. David is pleading with God to judge him. Who actually asks God to judge them? And not only so, but David puts his inner most faith and faults in God’s hands by asking Him to judge David according to his righteousness and integrity!

Let us all have enough faith that we too cry out and be so bold as to want God to judge each of us according to our integrity. It’s a very scary thought if you actually think about it…but David’s heart at that moment intrigues me, and challenges me as I strive to be a man full of Godly integrity. That when I am judged by the Almighty, I might kneel before God and say with 100% sincere conviction,

“Judge me O LORD, by my integrity, and see that what I have done is pleasing in Your eyes.”

We can say that all we want, but if we’re being honest with ourselves, who knows what the outcome will be? This is just another reminder of the power and faith that it is to live a distinct life as a follower of the Way. Life giving? Yes. Scary? Without a doubt!

I recently (and unfortunately) saw a blog post written about me by someone I don’t know (I’m guessing he is gay), nor has this person ever tried to contact me to talk. They said:

“This guy is a FundaGelical. He says he's a conservative Christian. He admits it in the video [the promo video from Love is an Orientation]. He contrasts his "conservative/traditional" view with the "pro-gay" view. Well, if that doesn't show what he is, I don't know what would. Thus, although he is not open enough to come right out and say it, he believes homosexuals are sinners.He's very crafty in talking around the issue.......but he admits to the conservative/traditional Christian view on gays. So he's no different than any of the gay bashers.......except he's hiding it better. Unless he can come out and say that it is NOT sin for a gay couple to have a marriage relationship just like a heterosexual couple.

He's just another guy making a living by slandering gays. And he never says anything even remotely resembling that.....he is strangely silent about it.


I cannot even begin to express my contempt for such people, and especially those who make their living through such behavior.”

I would love to sit here and publicly tear apart off of his false assumptions, but as David said, LORD, please judge me by my integrity. I know this is a volatile place that I have been led to, and all I can do is claim The I Am as The I Am and continue praying

“O righteous God,
who searches minds and hearts,
bring to an end the violence of the wicked
and make the righteous secure”

For we are all children of the Holy God, and all deserve to be treated as such - the man who posted those words as well as me. Let us all continue to work towards putting an end to the violence: rhetorical and physical.

Much love.
www.themarinfoundation.org

5 comments:

sharonie said...

Andrew, I am so impressed with how calm you handled this situation and how you even more so backed it up with Scripture. You have a tough roll in today's society, and I know God is going before you and protecting in all that you are doing!

Matthew Blake Williams said...

The song "Washed by the Water" by NeedtoBreathe has been spinning in my car for the past few days, and your situation reminds me of it.

Thanks for making love & humility the priority in how you interact.

Cathy N. said...

You've come a long way in the last 6 months since I met you. Those who truly know you know what an amazing soul you are and those who have not met you yet are in for a big surprise. Keep loving the haters and doing what you do best. I'm so proud to call you my "brother".

Anonymous said...

Andrew: I wouldn't take that particular guy too seriously. If you look through those forums, you will notice that he is like that with pretty much everything and towards everyone. The board monitors are still trying to figure out how to respond to him. FWIW, I don't believe that he is gay. Later! -Jon

Unknown said...

The more I interact with the gentlemen you mentioned in your post the more I wonder if he is really being real or playing a role to rile people up. It really is hard to tell these things on the internet.