That is what this story of Ananias and Sapphira underscores for
us. The minute they pretended to be something they were not — death! When we
come to church we put on a mask of adequacy, but inside we are inadequate, and
we know it.
We are struggling with problems in our homes, but we don't want
to tell anyone about them. We can't get along with our children, but we'll
never admit it to anyone.
The pride that doesn't want anyone else to know what is going on between
husbands and wives, and between parents and children, keeps us from sharing.
We come to church and put on a mask that says
everything's fine! Everything's wonderful! Somebody asks us how things are
going. Great, great! Fine!
How's everything at home?
Oh, wonderful! We're having a wonderful time!
The minute we say that and it’s not true, we die. Death sets in.
Soon that death pervades the whole church. That is why dishonesty is the primary
characteristic of the church today.
Dishonesty-
deceitfulness shown in someone's
character or behavior
Dishonesty with Finance like tithes, offering, pledges
also relationship friends, family or spouses, and about forgiven someone you haven’t,
how about using sickness as a way to get out of something you don’t to do. Dishonesty.
Proverbs 11:1- A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but
a just weight is His delight.
Proverbs 13:11-Wealth obtained by fraud dwindles, but the one who
gathers by labor increases it.
Proverbs 20:23-Differing weights are an abomination to the Lord, and
a false scale is not good.
Luke 16:10-“He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful
also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous
also in much.
How do we deal with this problem within ourselves? In Scripture
the way to cure a spiritual disease is always the same:
Repent and believe. Repent means to acknowledge that you have been doing it wrong.
It means to face the fact that it has not been right.
Then believe means to understand that God has already given you,
in Jesus Christ, all that it takes to do what you should. Then start doing it!
Start opening up and sharing your burdens. Transparent is the key. You will
start in a rather small way, perhaps, and it will be difficult at first. But it
is the sharing of lives that makes power and grace to flow through the body.
