Matt's Muzings
The Messenger Is Not the Message
I have been stirred by a simple thought that has come alive over this last month. The thought simply is, "The Messenger is not the Message".
Our son recently returned home from a DTS in Amsterdam with an outreach to South Africa . It really opened his eyes and challenged him in new ways. After he settled in and we got back into being a family, Celia and I noticed there was something going on. His clothes style changed but that was the outside, something seemed out of sync on the inside.
I tried to talk with him a couple times but I couldn't connect with him. So I waited and looked for an opportunity for us to touch hearts. One evening just before my recent trip we had some time together and he was able to share his heart.
He explained how in Amsterdam, he was reaching out to the squatters and homeless people and he realized for the first time in his life that there was a group of people that accepted him for who he was and didn't care what he looked like on the outside. He was drawn to them and wanted to be with them. When he got home, he wanted to dress like them and even looked for them here in Kona so that he could be with them.
As I listened I realized he heard the heart of God and I was thrilled. But I also sensed that He was confused as the messengers were taking center stage and there was no clarity as to the true source of the message. This was a warning sign to me as I know that all good things come from God. That means all revelation of goodness and love ultimately comes from Him.
All revelation of goodness and love ultimately comes from Him.
He was confusing the messengers with the message. We talked for a while and about how the message was the right message, but he was thinking it was coming from the squatters and homeless people, as if they were the primary source of love and acceptance. These people would be as lost and broken as any other human if he got to know them better. As we talked he saw that his issue growing up was the fear of rejection and that the message of acceptance was from the heart of God.
Recently, as I taught and worked with a school in Switzerland I heard over and over how different students got this area confused. (Many times it was the opposite for them.) The messenger didn't have the message. Their dad ignored them, beat them or told them they were stupid. Some of them were so intent on getting the message from the messenger that they couldn't hear the message from anyone else.
If a father or mother didn't give love and value to them, they refused any other message from other messengers. As we talked they began to see that some messengers didn't get the right message to give to them and they needed to find another messenger as the message from God is very clear. God's message to us and through us to the world is clear: God is Love ...in Him there is no darkness.
Some of the messages got confused, twisted or lost in the challenges of growing up.
God's Message to us and through us to the world is clear: God is Love ... in Him there is no darkness.
As people of influence (leaders) we must always be aware of the message we bring to keep it aligned to the heart of God. If we do give it and people are touched, we can enjoy being messengers, but we must remember the power is in the message, not us as messengers.
If those in leadership over us don't get the message right, then we have to go to the source and listen to what He is saying. He did send a messenger in the flesh, Jesus and left us the Messenger of His Holy Spirit today to give us the message of who we are and how He feels about us. That Message is very clear and can never be changed.
My prayer is that the message becomes clearer and clearer to you from the heart of God and that you have a chance to participate with the message by being a messenger to others.