Have you ever ran across a F.A.R.T.? Yes, I said it … a F.A.R.T!!! FART, FART, FART! There, I said it again. I can just hear the “gasps”, the “eh’s”, and can even envision the disgruntled religious twisted face gestures.
Now, before you start busting my chops about crude humor, tact, or the like, let’s first get rid of the “OMGosh, oh, no she didn’t!” mindset. For at the end of this blog, you just might find out a little bit more about yourself and how closely related you just may be to a good old F.A.R.T.
A couple of years ago, I wrote a blog about roses and the fragrances they possess. This blog is definitely not about roses and sweet smelling fragrances, on the contrary, it’s about the smelly, stinking thinking we can sometimes possess and emit.
Ever notice how much emphasis is placed on our outward appearance? Society has placed such enormous importance and value from the clothes we wear to the type of gel or mouse we use in our hair. Nothing wrong with looking dapper, for I myself enjoy and appreciate the art of fashion, but this passion should never exceed or come close to competing with the inner beauty that should reside within each us.
God is much more concerned with what’s taking place in our hearts than what we look like on the outside. Jesus said, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.” (Matthew 23:27) For their religion was outward in form with no inward godliness of the heart. They were all about ‘traditions’ and keeping the letter of the law by their own selfish interpretations, and they occupied their office all in the name of the Lord, but their lives were morally lax and worldly.
I know that anything that is unclean usually tends to stink big time. That’s how the lives of the Pharisees and Sadducees appeared to Jesus because He saw right through their impious funk. You see, they were often exposed for the hardness of their hearts and for their religious hypocrisies. Yet, many times they attempted to trip up Jesus by slapping down Scriptures and quotes from the fathers of old, but our courageous Lord would openly reprove them every time revealing their wickedness, double-standards, pretense, two-facedness, and insincerity.
Much like today, the spirit of the Pharisees (far-to-see) and the Sadducees (sad-to-see) still moves and envelops the hearts of many. They are what I call F.A.R.T.s – Fanatical, Analytical, Religious, Tarts, whose only aim is fulfilling church quota, attendance, and looking pious in the public eye. It is a fault-finding, overly critical, insensitive, behavior that is found WORKING rather than WORSHIPING.
F.A.R.T.s are constantly pointing the finger at others not recognizing that the same hand that points the finger has four fingers pointing right back at you. F.A.R.T.s are ready to throw you under the bus or into a den of lions saying, “See, see, doesn’t the Scriptures say …” all while Jesus is extending out His loving hands and saying, “I forgive you, now go and sin no more”. This hypocritical mindset sees everyone faults but never its own and will be the first one to shout, “Off with her head!”
The F.A.R.T. mentality is not kind or gracious and its mother Supercilious has made certain that they are planted on every corner of Condescending Circle Drive. They sport their shades of pride which blinds them and they are cloaked in the draperies of arrogance that hang from the hem of their garments. The flicker of their superiority shrouds and poisons the thought process so they fail to realize that genuine change takes place from the inside first and then emanates on the outside, not the other way around.
F.A.R.T.s never truly understand the JOY of the Lord or experience the bona fide liberty wherein Christ has made us free because they are so caught up in doctrines of men, which makes the Word of God of non effect.
Vow today that you will not be a F.A.R.T. and you will disallow the stinking thinking of the Pharisees and Sadducees attitude to dominate or influence your life. Vow today that you will live your life by putting on the cloak of humility and love others through their process of change regardless of how messy or smelly it is. It is always helpful to remember that you too are still a work in progress.
When you ‘buss a F.A.R.T.” just say excuse me. You’d be surprised how a little spray of meekness can dissolve the bad aromas of an old F.A.R.T.
Tilt your hearts toward the Son!
~Narda Goodson
No comments:
Post a Comment
Post your comments if you've been encouraged!