What Is Spilling Out?

 I recently had a conversation with a pastor in Grand Rapids who told me about an illustration one of his elders used in a sermon, and like any good illustration, it has stuck with me.  This elder stood before the congregation with a cup in his hand and asked, "If this cup gets bumped, what comes out of it?"  Certainly, some were over thinking the question and trying to come up with some clever answer to what they may  have taken as a trick question, but the answer was simple... whatever was in it.  Of course the answer was so obvious, but then the elder asked the congregation, "When you get bumped, what comes out of you?"  I was struck by the simplicity of the illustration and the powerful truth it was illustrating.  When we get bumped, what comes out is whatever is in us.  It is manageable to keep hidden what is inside you when things are going ok and you don't get bumped too badly.  However, when you are "bumped" what  is on the inside spills out.  

Let's be honest, we all have been bumped, if not tackled by a three-headed monster over the past year.  The first head to reveal itself was politics.  The disrespectful political rhetoric and game playing amped up people all over the United States.  The second head was the platforms for this rhetoric to make its way to the masses.  Yes I am talking about the media and social media.  Media bias has become so blatantly clear.  Each political party has their media outlet of choice.  It seems difficult to find a source for news that isn't affected by their bias.  And social media is just a mess.  The ugliness and unhealthy conversations have sent people through the roof.  The third head is Covid.  There is so much division created by the conversations around this nasty virus.  Arguments about masks, shutdowns, visiting family around the holidays, and vaccines riddled every corner of our nation.  This three headed monster is alive and well in our lives, and it is "bumping" all of us everyday.  So the question is, what is spilling out of you?  Jesus spoke of this principle when addressing the evil intensions of the Pharisees.

34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.
-Matthew 12:34-35

This is a reminder to us to pay attention to our soul.  If what spills out is rage, self-righteousness, slander, name-calling, disrespect,  hate, unkindness, violence, or an argumentative spirit, then I can say with confidence, these did not come from God.  They are not the fruit of His work in you.  

Therefore, humble yourself and let God accomplish His works in you.  Yield to the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit as He uses the Word to transform our hearts and mind in Christ Jesus.  Not only should Christ be the center of our thoughts, but He ought to center our thoughts as well.  We are getting bumped big time, so my prayer is that what spills out of me and what spills out of you is something that reflects the work of God in our life.  

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