Gotcha!

Daily Reading: Acts 25

They were planning an ambush to kill him along the way. (Acts 25.3)

Devotional Thought: Political ambush is all the rage.  Not really interested in hearing what the other side has to say, antagonists simply try to gain sound bites which discredit and – if they are lucky – destroy their opponents.  Reporters are more interested in catching someone saying the wrong thing – even if it is just a slip of the tongue – rather than in providing a thorough and comprehensive report on a politician’s complete body of work.  

While we tolerate this "Gotcha!" environment in politics, should it be true in the church?  I have seen ambushes in the church.  I have been surprised at how minor statements can be taken out of context and exaggerated, then weaponized.  Having been the target of these ambushes, I know that it is especially hard to take when they come from those who should be defending you. 

It is hard to reconcile a "Gotcha!" spirit with the Spirit of Christ.  Jesus said that people would know and respect his followers by the love that they showed to one another – not by how cleverly they could expose another person’s mistakes or how creatively they could take a person's words out of context.

Paul's enemies didn't want to hear him out.  At first, they just wanted to push him out.  And when that didn't work, they decided to snuff him out, the ultimate "Gotcha!"  While we don't go that far, are we guilty of ambushing those we should be defending?

Prayer: Lord, you said, "Blessed are the merciful for they shall be shown mercy.  Forgive us, Lord, when we respond with "Gotcha!" instead of grace and help us to love as you love us.  Amen.

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 78.56-64

"Yet they tested and rebelled against the Most High God and did not keep his testimonies, but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers; they twisted like a deceitful bow. For they provoked him to anger with their high places; they moved him to jealousy with their idols. When God heard, he was full of wrath, and he utterly rejected Israel. He forsook his dwelling at Shiloh, the tent where he dwelt among mankind, and delivered his power to captivity, his glory to the hand of the foe. He gave his people over to the sword and vented his wrath on his heritage. Fire devoured their young men, and their young women had no marriage song. Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows made no lamentation."