Building Blamelessly

During worship, I was just reminded about more than a year

ago, I stood here in an evening service preaching for the first

time. And I said, morning or evening,

I'm really happy to be here with you.

And by happy, I actually meant terrified.

And I'm pleased to announce that more than a year later, standing

here now, nothing has changed. I'm still happy to be here with

you. I want to start with the

Proverbs 423. Above all else, guard your

heart, for everything you do flows from it.

Now I was also reminded after that first preach, a lot of you

came up to me afterwards giving me a lot of compliments and a

lot of words of encouragement, which I really appreciate it.

But thinking back, instead of just accepting those compliments

and that acknowledgement, I should have directed that to God

too, because after all, these are His words, not mine.

So for this morning, if this message goes well, give God the

glory. And if it fails, then you can

blame me or Rory because he put me up.

And it's funny how we tend to do the opposite when things go well

and when things are going our way, we are quickly to take

credit. We pat ourselves on the back,

hey, everything's going well, I'm doing so good, things are

awesome. But when things go wrong and we

faced with hardships, we do the opposite.

We quickly to point fingers and we quickly to pass the blame and

we come up with excuses. We look at other people and why

things are going wrong and sometimes even God.

Hey things are going good, I'm doing really well, but if they

go bad, why God? Why didn't you?

How could you? And we are very quick to declare

our innocence and shift the blame to others and even God and

we reason how we are blameless. Yet the real challenge is to

take responsibility and to blame less.

Now for today's preach. As I was preparing, I received

some advice along the way. And one piece of advice I

received was to consider wearing a long sleeve shirt just so that

I don't cause offence to anybody that's bothered with my tattoos.

And I sincerely considered that advice.

And then I chose to completely ignore it because I thought if

anyone is sitting here and they'll focus more on my

appearance and what's happening on my skin, then what they'll

focus on what's coming out of the word.

Then no length of my shirt can help you with that.

If it if it really does bother someone, the next time I'll wear

something different. I'll wear a vase so you can see

the rest. And I'm I'm not trying trying to

make light of a situation. I'm trying to point out how easy

it is and how it's in our human nature to form opinions of

people based on outward appearance.

And how easy it can be for us to get caught up in judging others

based on those appearances or their actions or what school I

went to. It's easy to form opinions and

preconceived ideas about people in situations based on what we

see instead of seeking their heart or trying to understand

them or trying to seek God's heart inside of them.

In one Samuel 16, seven, we are reminded of how we sometimes

view people different than what God views us.

That says, but the Lord said to Samuel, do not look at his

appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused

him. For the Lord does not see as man

sees. For man looks at the outward

appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart, and this shows us

how God values inner character over outward appearance and that

He prioritizes the condition of the heart over external actions.

I believe we all carry tattoos with us.

Yours might just not be as visible as mine.

But we have things etched in our hearts and our minds, hidden

scars, fears, or faults that we would rather keep secret for

fear of judgement. And we keep them secret for fear

of judgement. And even though we know these

things inside, we still judge other people without grace.

We fear exposure like Adam and Eve in the garden where they

first realized they were naked and they try to cover up.

And this is where blame started for us.

If we look at Genesis 312, it says Adam blamed Eve and Eve

blamed the serpent when confronted by God about eating

the forbidden fruit. This passage illustrates the

human tendency to shift blame instead of to take

responsibility. So blame, judgment, it's been

there since the beginning of time.

We would rather shift the blame so that we are clear blameless

when what we should focus on is to take responsibility and

blameless. God desires accountability from

us. Now, the reason I'm talking

about blame and judgment and what's in our heart today is it

comes from the series of Titus that we did at the end of last

year where Paul tasks Titus to appoint blameless elders to the

church. And that word blameless just

stuck with me. And I thought to myself, if I

was Titus, what a monumental task that would be to find these

blameless elders. First off, who am I to evaluate

and decide who is blameless and appoint these people?

And secondly, I would think, where in the world do I find

blameless people? And we mustn't confuse blameless

with sinless because sinless means being entirely without

sin, something that only Jesus achieves.

While humans cannot be sinless, through faith in Christ, they

can be made righteous and blameless before God.

Colossians 1. Blameless refers to living a

life of integrity and uprightness, striving to follow

God's commandments and being above reproach in the eyes of

others. It doesn't mean a person is

without sin, but rather that they are faithful, that they are

repentant and sincere, sincere in their walk with God.

Blameless is about faithful living and integrity.

So this also made me think in our purpose in this life with

the people that we share this lifetime with, our purpose to

advance the Kingdom of God. If you were tasked today with

finding and appointing blameless people, how challenging would

you find to do that? Not because there aren't any,

but because we disqualify people from being blameless because we

don't take the time to get to know them.

We form opinions and judgment about them based on our

preconceived ideas and our notions.

We judge them on these outward appearances, and we disqualify

people on our opinions rather than seeking God's heart inside

of them. So I doubt Titus would have been

able to appoint elders if he judged people on preconceived

opinions rather than getting to know their hearts.

And the thing about judgment and blame is we don't have the right

to pass that on to people. Only God has that right.

In James 412, it says there's only one law giver and judge,

the one who is able to save and destroy.

But you, who are you to pass judgment to your neighbor?

So the Bible reminds us that judgment belongs to God alone,

not to us. We also don't have the right to

hinder God's work through other people based on our personal

opinions because when we focus on other people and we focus on

judging and blaming, that distracts us from the gospel.

John 87 says when confronted with a woman caught in adultery,

Jesus said let any one of you who is without sin be the first

to throw a stone at her. So the focus should be on God's

grace and redemption, not condemnation.

From our point of view, when we look at blame and judgment and

what's in our hearts, everything in between, that creates

distance between US and God. We don't have to separate them.

We don't have to say you do the one, I do the other because they

all carry certain similarities in how they push us further away

from God. So if we look at at the

similarities in how we understand it in a worldly view,

if we look at blame and judgment, they both focus on

negative evaluation. So both judging and blaming

involve assessing someone's actions, character, or decisions

in a critical negative way. They both place emphasis on

fault. They often highlight perceived

flaws, mistakes, or wrongdoings place placing emphasis on what

went wrong. They are subjective.

They are both influenced by the personal opinions, biases, or

values of the person making the judgment and the blame.

They both have an emotional impact.

Both can lead to feelings of guilt, shame, or defensiveness

in the person being judged or blamed.

They cause power dynamics. Both can be used to assert

authority or superiority over someone, reinforcing power

imbalances in relationships, and they have the potential to harm

relationships. So excessive judging or blaming

can damage trust and connection in personal or professional

relationships. Now that's that's the worldly

understanding that we have of blame and judgment.

So if we dive deeper and we see what the word tells us about

blaming and judgment and how it keeps us from God, it says this

that blame shows a lack of responsibility.

Proverbs 2813 it says whoever conceals their sins does not

prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them

finds mercy. So here it shows that blaming

others instead of admitting fault prevents growth and mercy.

Blaming others often comes from pride.

Proverbs 11/2 says when pride comes, then comes disgrace, but

with humility comes wisdom. So blaming others is kind of a

way to protect our ego instead of humbling ourselves.

Blame districts distracts us from God's redemption.

Isaiah 4325 says I even I am he who blots out your

transgressions for my own sake and remembers your sins no more.

So when we focus on blaming others, we miss the opportunity

to receive God's forgiveness and healing.

In Matthew 7 verse 3, Jesus taught against casting judgment

Matthew 7:3

on other people. He says Jesus warned against

pointing out the faults in others without addressing your

own sins, saying first take the plank out of your own eye.

Judging others invites judgment on yourself.

Matthew 71 says do not judge or you too will be judged.

For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and

with the measure you use, it will be measured against you.

So Jesus warns that the way we judge others will reflect back

on us. Judging others shows a lack of

mercy. James 213 says judgment without

mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful.

Mercy triumphs over judgment. So God calls for mercy, not

harsh judgment. And then finally, judging others

prevents spiritual growth. Luke 637 says do not judge and

you will not be judged. Do not condemn and you will not

be condemned. Forgive and you will be

forgiven. So judgment hinders the the

transformative power of forgiveness and humility that we

can receive from God. I spoke about perceptions and

these preconceived ideas that we come up with people.

If we look at human psychology, perception is reality.

When we perceive something to be, we then believe it to be and

our opinions, our thoughts, our understanding, our reasoning,

our preconceived ideas, our self narrative that we come up with

in our head, This becomes our reality.

And then our reactions echo that reality because once we believe

something, we will go to any length to justify that reality.

And two things can play out when we do that, when we create these

false realities in ourselves, when we focus more on people and

on and on man instead of the heart of God.

In one way, we place ourselves on a pedestal and we look down

on people with these preconceived ideas and opinions

that we've come up with them. We look down on them and with

our judgment, we tell ourselves that they aren't worthy, and

then we treat them as not worthy.

Look at that guy with the tattoos.

Keep him away from my daughter, right?

He must, must be a bad seed. Or if you're like Mitch, you

just bypass that. You meet the girl, you meet the

parents, you get married, and then you get the tattoo.

So This Is Us looking down on people.

The other scenario is with these preconceived ideas, we place

other people on a pedestal. We look up at them and we view

them as these perfect, flawless people without fault.

We do this with our elders, with preachers standing here.

We look at these people and we think they are everything and

nothing is wrong with them, and to some degree we start

worshipping them as man. So in one scenario, we look down

on people, we look down on man, and we are blinded from seeing

the possibility of what God can do through man.

In the other way, we look up at man and we are blinded from

seeing what God is doing through man.

And the reason why we can't see that is because our focus is

misdirected. We're focusing on man and not on

God. And the only way for us to

regain sight of the truth is to free ourselves from focusing on

the man and seeking the heart and the image of God in the

people around us. And the answer to that is not to

open our hearts, it's to free our hearts.

To open our hearts refers to being receptive and willing to

hear God's word and accept His guidance.

To free our hearts indicates or implies that we are releasing

the heart from bondage, whether it's sin, fear, guilt, jealousy,

blame, judgment, anything in between that is hindering our

spiritual growth. I can willfully open the door to

my house to let you inside, but if there are chains and bolts

around that door to which I don't have the key, I can try as

much as I can, but you won't be able to come in.

I have to free that door first before I can open it.

So you can walk into it. Now there's a well known tale or

story. I must admit I use those words

well known because I never like it when somebody stands up here

and they say we all know the story.

Turn to book so and so chapter so and so we all know the story

because when somebody says that I immediately look down and I'm

like, do I know the story? I should know the story because

he says we all know the story, but I'm not sure.

So I quickly Google do I know the story?

And then when I've looked at the story, I look up and then when I

make eye contact with Steven, I start to panic because I'm like,

he knows he knows I don't know the story.

So there's a there's a well known story of a warrior and his

trusty steed walking through a forest.

And this warrior turns to his steed and he says, you know that

my kind, we are like onions. To which the steed replies,

what? You stink?

And he says, no, we have layers. Onions have layers, right?

And judging on all of your smiles, it's safe to say we all

know this story because I'm talking about Shrek and donkey,

right? Let's see.

The point I'm trying to make is when we live in these false

realities that we've created and we focus on man based on our

preconceived ideas and perceptions, we constantly

project that outwards. We take that out on other

people. And when we do this, we start

forming these layers around our heart layers and walls and

gates. We do this through our actions

of blaming and judging and comparing layers that keep

people out and layers that restrict restrict us from

reaching out. Each one of these layers becomes

a barrier to entry for God to get to know our true heart,

which is His desire. The only way, or one of the ways

for us to be blameless is to blame less.

And for us to be free of judgement, we have to judge

less. To achieve this, we must peel

away those layers until there's nothing left to keep God from

getting. In May of last year I traveled

to Colorado in United States to participate in this 24 hour

challenge. It was a challenge that was led

by an ex general from the US Marines.

He's one of the highest decorated generals there was and

in this event we were going to do 24 hours of hard work

non-stop. It was a physical event coupled

with mental growth. He's come up with this way that

he can teach you how to develop mental resilience when you are

faced with adversity, whether it's physical or emotional or

psychological. So I was, I was really excited

for this event for personal growth and looking up to the

challenge. But something I was more excited

for was this was a great opportunity for me to spend some

intimate time with God, 24 hours in the middle of nowhere,

completely secluded, isolated. So as I boarded my plane, I

said, God, this is a great opportunity.

I'm going to be there alone with my thoughts.

Just connect with me, share with me, show me.

Tell me what it is that you want or that you need from me.

Show me what it is that you want me to do and where you want me

to go. So Fast forward, the event kicks

off. I'm sitting on a bike, I'm

looking out on these mountains in the middle of nowhere and I'm

I'm super excited. I'm positive.

I take a deep breath and I'm like, God, here we go.

Let's talk. Nothing.

I'm like, OK, we'll ease into this.

Maybe just see how this goes. The first two hours go by and we

into the thick of this. Things are going hard.

And I'm like, hey God, I'm still here.

Looking good. I'm positive this is going well.

You know what do you want to share with me?

I'm here. I'm open talk.

Nothing. The hours rolled by 3456.

And this is wild out in the mountains, like snakes running

across the paths. At one point I turned a corner.

There was a big, big black bear standing in front of me.

I was like, God, this would be a great time to show up right now.

And I think he did. He spoke to the bear, not to me,

because the bear just made his way into the mountains.

And the hours rolled by 6789. And by this time I'm I'm tired.

I'm hungry, I'm shaped, I'm wet, I'm cold, it's out in the rain.

I'm carrying a 25 KG plate in my back in the mountains.

And now I was just keep going and at one point I'm like God,

Chad over here. Just want to check if you got my

previous messages. You know, that's if you want to

connect. I'm open our 18 year olds by in

the middle of the night. I'm out in the woods and I'm

just finished, completely finished.

And at one point I throw down my plate.

I sit down in the middle of the dirt, I switch off my headlamp,

complete darkness. And I'm I say I'm done.

Like I don't know how I'm going to complete another six hours,

get through sunrise and do this. And I'm thinking, where's that

bear? Just come take me, You know,

like I don't care anymore. At that point, God shows up and

he says, hey, I'm here, let's talk.

Now, I won't bore you with the rest of the six hours of the

challenge, but what was really remarkable for me on that story

is not what God shared with me, but when he decided to share it

with me. Because see, when I started that

challenge, I was full of hopes. I had conditions I had set, Hey

God, come and talk. I'm fresh, I'm ready.

But when I got to 18 hours, I was physically exhausted, layer

gone. Emotionally, I was drained.

Layer gone. Psychologically, I didn't have

any more plans in my head. I didn't have the the self talk

and how I'm going to get through this.

I was just, I'm gone. There was no more expectations,

no more conditions, no more comparison, no more nothing,

nothing. All my layers were gone and I

was just sitting there vulnerable in the middle of

nowhere. And that's what God says.

This is what I want to work with.

I had nothing left to keep him from getting in and that's what

God's saying to us. We have to get rid of those

layers so that he can work with our heart directly.

So the Word frequently talks about the heart is the centre of

emotions and that it's central to our relationship with God and

our personal identity and our well-being.

To search the heart according to the Word of God often refers to

examining 1's innermost insights and desires and motives.

And I believe somewhat we've lost the way in seeking the

heart, seeking our own hearts, seeking the hearts of the people

around us, and seeking God's heart.

And not purely to our fault, but how easy the enemy has made that

for us to get distracted from the inner and get caught up in

the outside world. And my message this morning

isn't meant to be a downer and a -1 And I'm not passing blame or

judgment or highlighting faults. I just want to share and

encourage that it's in our best interest to get rid of the

things that are keeping us from getting to know God.

So how do we do this? How do we free our hearts from

judgment and blame so that we may search the heart of God in

other people? Just fly to the middle of

nowhere with some bears and snakes and it'll work out.

This is how we do this through pray.

Pray for God to reveal hidden sins and align your heart with

His will. Psalm 139 it says search me O

God and know my heart, try me and know my anxieties and see if

there is any wicked way in me and lead me in the way

everlasting. So this is a prayer of self

examination asking God to reveal hidden faults and guide us to

forgiveness and righteousness. 2 Through Scripture, we use the

Bible as a mirror to reflect our thoughts, motives and actions,

aligning them with God's standards.

Hebrews 412 that says, for the word of God is living and

powerful and sharper than any 2 edged sword, piercing even to

the division of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and is

a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Scripture reveals and judges the deepest thoughts and motives

that we have and it's a tool that God uses to reveal the true

state of our hearts. We do this through confession

and repentance. We acknowledge areas where your

heart is not aligned with God and we seek for His forgiveness.

1 John 19 says if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to

forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all

unrighteousness through the Holy Spirit.

John 1613 says however, when He, the Spirit of truth has come, He

will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own

authority, but whatever He hears He will speak and He will tell

you the things to come. So allow the Holy Spirit to

convict and guide you in truth. And finally, through self

examination, Lamentations 340 says let us examine our ways and

test them and let us return to the Lord.

So regularly evaluate your motives, ensuring that they

honor God. So today I want to charge you

with a task the same way that Titus was tasked by Paul.

As we enter into this new year, spend some time alone and

honestly reflect on these questions.

What layers are covering your heart today?

What judgments or burdens are keeping you from fully

experiencing God's love and sharing it with others, whether

that's a friend or a family member or a complete stranger

who you won't give the time of day because you've already

made-up in your mind what type of person he is.

Maybe it's even a loved one or someone that's not even with us

anymore, but we're holding on to blame and judgment, creating

layers around our hearts. God doesn't just see us as we

are, He sees us for who we can become.

So my prayer for us as we start this new year is to free our

hearts from passing blame and judgment and to seek the heart

of God in ourselves and in others.

So again, Proverbs 423, above all else, guard your heart, for

everything you do flows from it. Let's pray.

Lord, I thank you today that you have a a burning desire to get

to know our hearts. I thank you that your love is

unconditional. You love us purely for for who

you created us to be, not on preconceived ideas or opinions

or our appearance or our actions.

Lord, I pray today that you will help us to free our hearts, free

our heart from anything that is keeping you from getting in and

keeping us from getting to know the hearts of others.

Help us to free our hearts so that we can fulfill our purpose

in this lifetime to advance your Kingdom in Jesus name, Amen.