A Terrible Mis-Application

Scripture: Therefore we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. Instead, I say that we are confident and willing to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. So whether present or absent, we labor that we may be accepted by Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive his recompense in the body, according to what he has done, whether it was good or bad. 2 Corinthians 5:6-10

Observation: In Paul's discussion about life and death ... flesh and the spirit ... living for earthly or heavenly goals ... he compares the body to an earthly home, but one which believers must not come so attached to that they are unwilling to travel. In this metaphor, leaving the earthly home to pursue heavenly work is very noble, and thus potentially dying and thus leaving their earthly body is also not to be worried about. He therefore concludes that our earthly work will be judged in heaven, and our earthly home replaced by an eternal home according to our lives.

Application: I am physically jarred by this verse, not because of what it means, but because of the fall of our friend. She chose an earthly path ... the engaged in multiple affairs, divorced her husband, abandoned her kids, used drugs, and systematically tore apart her earthly life. In the midst of all this, she had verse 7 tattooed on her foot - 'walk by faith, not by sight'. It is SO ironic that she had no idea the context and application of this verse.

In context, this verse is not saying that we are to wander on earth blindly trusting. It is actually saying that we are to walk with the Lord, in the midst of him, through our faith in Jesus, instead of walking on earthly paths and caring about earthly comforts, activities, and things. She chose this tattoo while actively pursuing earthly pleasures, personal life-goals, debased sin, and while also aggressively abandoning God.

She caused so many so much pain. Her immediate family was devastated and her extended family torn apart. Her friends fought each other, other homes and families were wrecked. The destruction - rooted in everyone's love for her - was deep and wide. Years later, she seems remorseless.

I wish she would understand her own tattoo. I wish she would see that 'walk by faith not by sight' does not mean to 'do whatever and trust,' but rather it means to walk in the ways of heaven not of earth.

Prayer: Lord, you know how lost our friend is, and you know her heart. I have no idea what or how to pray for her, but you know what she needs and how she may be reached. She will never, ever return to the earthly home she once had. I pray that you continue to work in her life so that she may walk back to her heavenly home. Amen.