Rich Mullins is still one of my favorite Christian songwriters. It seems impossible that it has been almost 30 years since he was killed in a car accident. His music is still all over my playlist and one of his songs is the subject of this Monday Musing. Mullins struggled in his faith journey and his lyrics transparently communicated his heart.

“We Are Not As Strong As We Think We Are” opens with this stanza exploring a difficult relationship.

Well, it took the hand of God Almighty
To part the waters of the sea
But it only took one little lie
To separate you and me
Oh, we are not as strong as we think we are.

If only we could acknowledge that we are not as strong as we think we are and then live in faith accordingly we would see an amazing difference. We need God and community to be spiritually and emotionally healthy. Yet pride tells me that I am able to handle the situation. Fear tells me that telling the truth in love will only make it worse. So one little lie or misunderstanding dealt with in my own strength negates the strength of a God who could part the waters of the seas and could no doubt heal my pain. But only when I let Him.

I remember when a major food company recalled thousands of chili cans that were tainted with deadly toxins. A later follow-up to that story told about cans of chili exploding as the pressure built up inside the containers.

That is a messy and disgusting metaphor for how we deal with the internal toxins of gossip, slander, and hurt. We seal them up and store them away hoping it will somehow be okay or go away. But the toxins of gossip and slander have not been killed, only compartmentalized. The pain continues to grow, slowly and inexorably. Finally the pressure builds to the point of explosion. There is a better way.

James wrote these words to the early church:

“And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.”
‭‭(James‬ ‭3‬:‭6‬ ‭NLT)

James doesn’t pull any punches, does he? One good way to cling to unity is by not spreading gossip. Gossip is a parasite that requires a host organism to survive; so don’t give gossip a place to live. Think of how many times we have believed something to be true only to find out the information was mostly or even totally wrong. And too often that’s after we have reposted or shared it with others. And even if a brother or sister does fail we need to give them the grace that we would hope for if the roles were reversed.

God is serious about how we communicate about others in the flock. Peter writes:

Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that’s your job, to bless. You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing. (1 Peter 3:8-9, The Message)

So there is an added bonus for your godly communication: a blessing at no extra charge. Rich Mullin’s wrote this in the chorus of the song.

We are frail
We are fearfully and wonderfully made
Forged in the fires of human passion
Choking on the fumes of selfish rage
And with these our hells and our heavens
So few inches apart
We must be awfully small
And not as strong as we think we are.

No, we are not as strong as we think we are. Rich Mullins wrote another song that you probably know.

Our God is an awesome God
He reigns from heaven above
With wisdom, power, and love
Our God is an awesome God.

We need to acknowledge that He is God and we are not. That He reigns with wisdom, power, and love. We need to leave our pride at the Cross and depend on His grace and strength. And we need to not be deceived about this simple truth.

We are not as strong as we THINK we are.

Postscript:

Rich Mullins unbelievably gave away the vast majority of his substantial music royalties choosing to live on a modest salary equivalent to an average working person’s wage. He believed money was destructive and donated most of his earnings to charity, including Compassion International. After all these years his legacy still impacts hearts and organizations like Compassion International.