Wedding Bells

The last preparations for our wedding took place on Monday. I met with my Pastor to finalize the "wedding program." I guess it's typical that the Bride and Groom will address their guests with a small paragraph or two. Usually this paragraph falls along the lines of "thanks so much, we love each other so much, everyone looks so pretty, we totally rock, etc..." I wanted to make it a little more personal.

So what did I do? I quoted Ephesians 5:25
~about husbands loving their wives just as Christ loves his church and gave himself up for her...~
I talked about the church, I talked about Christ's devotion, and I mentioned about how I planned to approach this task with fear and trembling.
In other words... I started teaching.

Yeesh...
Yea good job Mike!
Welcome to my wedding, let's all stop to hear this quick sermon about Christ's love for his church, and how that relationship directly relates to our relationship with our wives. It may not have been bad, it probably would've been appropriate, had I narrated the text as if Tara and I both were writing it.
But did I do that? ...Take a wild guess.
Don't get me wrong, Christ is the greatest image of devotion. Or better stated: Christ himself is the greatest image. Period.

I feel this is the reason I need to learn, and be discipled as much as I can. If I am so inclined to teach, as I subconsciously begin teaching (attempting to do so, even at my own wedding), then I better be very sure I'm teaching the right things.

Additionally, there is a time and place for everything. Even good things. Even good teachings. The problem wasn't in what I was saying, it was who I was saying it to, and when. Any teacher needs to adhere to his audience, before he adheres to his lesson.

I believe God is the best example of this wisdom. Imagine if God poured out all the information of our "life-to-be" in a single moment. How much of it, would we actually be ready for? Imagine if God told scared, timid, insecure Moses, everything that was in-store for him at the time of their first meeting. Imagine, if Jesus told Saul who he was going to become, before he began to walk down that road to Damascus. I wonder if Paul would've ever been the apostle he became.

Luckily, Pastor Randy had already learned this lesson. He was able to help me. What is more impressive is Pastor Randy slowly and gently presented what was wrong with the passage I wrote. He let me figure it out on my own, and eventually with a better understanding, we were able to write something far greater. I'm not sure how he does it sometimes. I thank God for him. Which reminds me...I must thank God for my gifts as well, but we should all be in prayer: that our gifts will be grown and practiced in a holy, God-pleasing-way. Grounding are gifts in Christ Jesus, and developing them through His word, and the Holy Spirit.

God bless.