Sentiment and The Pneuma

Living a Holy life is not 
difficult in itself, I believe if 
any one of us were to be 
living in this world alone, he 
or she would be Holy by 
default because there will be 
nobody to offend or hurt by 
our actions. Living a Holy 
Life is difficult when we have 
relationships and other
sentimental issues to consider.

A brother stole, ran into the house, 
and hid from those pursuing him.
The pursuers knocked on the door 
demanding that the thief be handed 
over to them. This thief had 
a brother, the owner of the House, 
a Holy life advocate. Everybody knew 
him to be pious and upright.
The people will take his word 
for it. He opens the door and 
was asked if the thief was 
in the house. They told him 
what had been done and the 
penalty was for the thief to be lynched?
Would the Holy brother hand his 
"thief" of a brother over to the 
mob or lie that the thief didn't 
come into the house to protect 
his brother?
Would he put his reputation above 
brotherhood or betray his brother 
to protect his good name?

In theology, they refer to this as 
"Situationism". This means he 
must isolate the situation and act 
according to his good judgment.
"Under the controversy of the 
person-situation debate, situationism 
is the theory that changes in human 
behavior are factors of the situation 
rather than the traits a person possesses. 
Behavior is believed to be influenced 
by external, situational factors rather 
than internal traits or motivations"

More often than not, the Holy brother 
would protect his unrighteous brother 
from the mob by lying that his 
brother was not at home in 
order to dissuade the angry mob from 
punishing his brother. Does this action 
then make this Holy brother a hypocrite?
Would he be seen as a hero 
for protecting his brother or an 
accomplice to the crime his brother 
committed by protecting him?
Is this man still "Holy" or has 
he now become "Unholy"?
If he released his brother to 
be killed by the mob, would he 
be condemned by God for placing his 
reputation above the life of His 
brother or blessed by God for 
releasing his brother to the mob 
So that he will not sully his 
good name by condoning or protecting 
a sinner.

There are the issues that make 
those claiming to be Holy by 
their deeds absolute liars.
Jesus said no one is good
except for God alone and I 
totally agree with this.

A man was once awakened by
the Holy Spirit in the middle 
of the night. The Holy Spirit said 
"You need to leave the house now 
so that you will not miss your 
flight to the mission field I have 
commanded you to go".The man 
was resuming as a missionary to a 
country in North Africa and the 
flight was by 11 AM. The Holy 
Spirit woke him up at 3 AM and 
told him to leave immediately. 
He got up, dressed up, and 
woke his wife from sleep.
His wife was to resume at 
this mission field with him and 
they had to travel together.
As soon as his wife woke up 
she shouted "You're always 
too anxious, the flight is for 
11AM and you're asking me 
to wake up now. No way, 
I need to sleep pls, the journey 
from this house to the airport 
is one hour, so I plan to 
leave the house by 9 AM. 
That way, I will have an hour 
to attend to any emergency"
He explained as much as he 
could, begged and pleaded but 
his wife just rolled to the other 
side of the bed and slept off.
What was he to do?
Leave her behind in obedience
to the Holy Spirit or wait 
for her knowing they would 
miss their flight.
It was a tough decision but 
he succumbed to his wife's decision 
and sat from that time until 
she woke up by 6:30. They left 
by 7 AM as she stated but 
as soon as they got to the 
highway they discovered there 
was a burning taker on the road 
and they had to wade through 
heavy traffic. By the time they 
got to the airport, it was 2 AM.
The Bishop of their mission, who got
to the airport on time saw their 
action as "unseriousness" and 
terminated their employment"
It was a case of damned if 
you do and damned if you don't.
If he had left without his wife, 
he might keep his job but 
he might just not have a wife 
anymore. When they got to 
the airport, he said "You got 
us into this mess"
His wife said "Why didn't 
you leave when the Holy Spirit 
told you to leave? You're 
now blaming me for your disobedience"
Some of us here would say 
"I will obey the Holy
Spirit at all cost but we 
make decisions like this every day.
We give sentiment it's due and 
bear the consequences despite 
knowing whatever it was could 
have been avoided.

I remember a day the Holy Spirit 
said to me "Do not leave 
this house tomorrow, I want to 
spend time with you". I had 
just bought a car at the time 
and I would take every opportunity 
to drive it in order to perfect 
my driving skills.The next morning, 
9AM, a brother from church 
came knocking. He said he wanted 
to go and visit one of our 
church members who had been 
hospitalized and would like us to 
go together. I told him "I am 
not going out today sir"
He said "Oh, we need to take 
Some provisions to the sick man and 
I have bought everything. All 
I am asking of you is to 
drive me to the hospital, I will 
fuel your car" I said "No sir, 
I am not going out today"

This man took offense
"Why are you being selfish? 
Don't you have any milk of human 
kindness in you? One of our 
members is sick and he needed provisions, 
I am not asking you to contribute any 
money but I cannot 
carry all the materials without help 
and you're denying this help?"
Really?
I didn't budge. Right then and there 
the man called the senior pastor 
and reported me. The pastor said 
the man should give me the phone.
I took the call and explained 
that I couldn't leave the house 
because the Holy Spirit told me 
to stay at home that day and 
not to step out. 
The pastor laughed and said 
"The spirit of a prophet is subject 
to a prophet. I am asking 
you as my son to take Elder 
so and so to the hospital right away"
I said "Yes sir"
I dressed up and got into the car
The elder got in with me.
We drove for about five minutes 
and were about linking the highway 
when some policemen came out of 
nowhere pointing their guns at us, 
calling us thieves. They said they 
had a report that a car like mine 
had just been snatched by armed robbers.
They got into the car and commanded me 
to drive to the police station.
I presented all my papers, begged 
and pleaded. They refused to release 
the car. After an hour, the elder 
took the provisions and left me.
He said he needed to attend 
to the person that was sick 
in the hospital. Suddenly he knew 
how to take public transport.
I was at that station all day.

When it was 7pm, the DPO 
came and released my car without 
collecting a penny. As I drove home,
I started asking for forgiveness 
from the Holy Spirit. I didn't 
spend the day with him as 
He instructed, instead I spent it 
running about like a headless chicken 
because of sentiment.

Should I have defied my pastor 
and become labeled as a rebel 
or a selfish oaf?
How would he then trust me 
with other responsibilities in future?
Do you know what the elder said?
"You didn't really want to go, 
that is why this happened. 
You were reluctant to serve"

Again, whose fault?

-GSW-