Don't Play Church

But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heat to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?" Acts 5:3

Hi Friends!

Today, I'm in Acts 5. You may be familiar with the story of Ananias and his wife, Sapphira. It's a pretty unsettling story. In summary, they sold some property, kept some of the proceeds, and took the rest to the apostles implying that what they brought to the apostles was the entire amount of the proceeds. They got caught in the lie, and both died. Just fell down dead. Right there. It left the people who witnessed it unsettled. And it should leave us unsettled too.

My pastor spoke on this passage last week. And he said the problem wasn't that they kept a portion of the proceeds. The problem was that they lied about it. Even Peter said that it was theirs to do with what they wanted. But they lied- not to man, Peter said, but to God. And my pastor said they were suffering with what he called "perception management." See, they want to be perceived a certain way. Just before this episode, we see in Acts 4:36-37, a man sold some land and he brought the money from the sale to the apostles. Ananias and Sapphira wanted to be like that guy. They wanted everyone to think they were just as generous and just as faithful. It's all about perception, right? Here's the thing though- we might be able to trick people, but we cannot trick God. He knows our hearts, our motives, our faith. He knows.

It's easy to sit back and think that we'd never do something like that. But don't we? Don't we all have "perception management" issues? We want people to see us a certain way. Have you ever been fighting with your family before church but when you get there you all plaster smiles on your faces as you walk in? No? Just me? We all do it. We do it when we edit photos before we post them. We do it when we only post the good stuff on social media. We do it when we give time or money because we're "supposed" to. We do it when we try to keep up with the Joneses. But God knows. He knows our hearts and our motives. So let's not worry about what people think. Let's worry about what God thinks. Don't just put on a show. Don't just play church. Let's BE the church Jesus wants us to be. When we struggle with perception management, we must pray for God's help to overcome it. I pray that we can have enough faith in our great God to give Him our ALL, not just some, but all.

Page details: I used the following Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps sets: Marker Alpha, Skinny Minnie Alpha, My Father's House, Knit Together, Texture Tiles 8, and Serene Silhouettes. I used distress oxides for the background. I stamped the church on a hymnal page. The letters didn't ink evenly, and I ended up liking that look, so I left them that way.

Have a blessed week! Andrea