"What is Honorable"

E. Stanley Jones was a missionary, a theologian, and a prolific writer. In his devotional book titled In Christ he shows the importance of being open to correction from our brothers and sisters in Christ:

"We come to another passage: 'for we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord's sight but also in the sight of men' (II Cor. 8:21). This is an important correction for those who are in Christ. Being in Christ is a high privilege and an honor and may create spiritual pride and indifference to what men may think and say. Emancipated from the herd by being in Christ, we may flaunt the corrective of the herd. This is a great spiritual danger. This verse corrects that; we are to aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord's sight, but also in the sight of men.

"A Christian tried to climb past a non-Christian and get a place which really belonged to the latter by right. The Christian replied, when queried by a fellow Christian as to whether this was honorable, 'Well, you see I'm a Christian and do this for the Lord's glory.' The Lord's glory and his own advantage!

"The Communists of Kerala had lived so encased in their own ideology that when they came to power and took over the government they treated with contempt all suggested correction not based on their ideology. That broke them. The people rose up and threw them out.

"The Christian wrapped up in his superior ideology and his superior position of being in Christ cannot afford to refuse to listen to a group correction. If he does, he is riding for a fall. The minister cannot afford to let the group control him, but neither can he afford to refuse to let the group correct him. Often the group from its vantage point can see things he cannot see. He needs to hear what they have to say, but he cannot afford to listen too much and thus become herd-centered instead of Christ-centered. Gaze at Jesus, but be sure to glance at the world. Listen to Him, and then don't refuse to listen to them."