I began to ponder on the life of Paul and how faithful he was in being fervent with the gospel - that the good news should be preached to all. Paul loved the Lord, and planted churches amongst the Gentiles so that all were aware of the gospel. He was bold for the Lord, despite opposition and persecution.
In 1st Corinthians we see Paul has written a letter to rebuke the Corinth church for allowing sin to infiltrate the church, thus some of the church members becoming sinful themselves. As you continue to read in 1st Corinthians, you see some members of the church didn’t like Paul’s letter, they start to attack his character, and become slanderous with their comments against him.
By the time we read 2nd Corinthians, Paul has received feedback about there being discord amongst the church, that his character had been questioned and is aware some were troubled by the letter he sent. He realises some has misconstrued what was said out of love with the aim for them to repent 2nd Corinthians 2:4 “for out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you, with many tears, not that you should be grieved, but that you might know the love which I have so abundantly for you.”
Paul, like the rest of the disciples was commissioned to be a shepherd of Christ’s flock “shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; not as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock,” 1st Peter 5:2-3. If the church are to be imitators of Christ, but sin has infiltrated the body of Christ, then Paul as the shepherd of the flock, was right to speak up and not condone the sinful natures that was happening within the church. “and I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding” Jeremiah 3:15.
Now, if a leader like Paul can receive that kind of treatment from the congregation, how much more our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. We see in Galatians 2:11-14 that Paul confronts Peter for his hypocritical approach, Peter behaves in one way with the Gentiles and differently in front of the Jews. Whilst there is a dispute between Paul and Peter, thankfully, we don’t see any record of anything from their fallout.
When you are challenging a brother or sister in their wrong, Paul says in 2nd Thessalonians 3:15 “yet do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.”
There have been times in the church where we see things happen with our brothers and sisters in Christ, maybe they are continuing in their sin or they’re being mean spirited, whatever the reason is, as Paul says we should not treat our brothers (and sisters) as enemies but rebuke him (or her). This is no different from when we see our friends or family doing something that we disagree with, you would confront them in love, right? However, we see just like the church of Corinth, where something may have been said out of encouragement and love, is taken in the wrong way. People then allow their pride to get in the way, they become defensive and automatically assume they’re being attacked. Rather than check to see whether what is being said is true and give it to the Lord, they start to bad mouth the person to people who are willing to entertain the gossip. Therefore, the person who has given the encouraging word is then treated horribly by their brothers and sisters in the body of Christ.
1st Thessalonians 5:14-15 “now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the faint hearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.”
There have been many people who have left their church or a rift has been caused because of how people have been treated. These things can cause the individual(s) to leave the church, cause a new believer to be led astray, or if someone who is spiritually weak who has witnessed this behaviour, to walk away from salvation altogether.
By default, christians are held in high regard, not realising that they are people too and everyone makes mistakes when they’re acting out of pride. Due to the person(s) persecution of that individual, they have now caused a person or people to stumble and/or possibly walk away from their faith. Romans 14:13 “Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.”
In my adolescent years, I grew up in a particular church. At the time, I classed this church as an extension of my family and loved them all dearly. As most do, when teenagers get to a certain age, we find there is a desire to go our own separate direction, and this is what happened to me. And whilst, in this case it was not someone coming to me to give me an encouraging word; I did experience slander, rejection, and my parents were treated poorly as a result of my decision to leave the church.
At the time I thought, if a church that I regarded as family can turn on me in this way, I didn’t want anything to do with God or His church, which subsequently, changed the course of my life. Now, I want to caveat that with, it had nothing to do with God why people behaved in the way they did, we are still in a sinful body, and unless we actively, everyday, choose God and allow the Holy Spirit to move, we will by default behave as the world do!
Suffice to say, years later, I stepped into a church my parents were attending at the time. Initially, I was against it, but I went because my parents wouldn’t stop asking me to visit. I’ll never forget this day because that was the Day when God started his deliverance from all the pain I received from the church. Don’t get me wrong I was very dubious about christians, I thought they were fake, and I never wanted to get close to any church person(s). However, over the years I came to realise people are people, but God never stops being God, and that is who I should put my trust in. Thankfully, as I grow in the Lord so does my perspective of people. Everyone has free will, so it is a choice if we decide to treat people in a certain way.
Depending on where you are in your spiritual walk, you could be the person who has given the encouraging word, or you could be the person who didn’t receive the word in the right way and treated the person terribly, thus caused a chain reaction of gossip and slander. Maybe, this might not be your situation, you could just be that person who behaves in a negative space towards certain people in the church, for no rhyme or reason.
In a previous post, I mentioned there is a teacher who I like to refer to as my grandfather in the faith, and he likens the renewing of our hearts to a heart transplant. In the physical, if you know you have a heart defect, probably caused by your lifestyle, and you're lucky enough to be gifted with a “new” heart; you are not going to, after receiving the new heart, go back to the same lifestyle that caused you to have a transplant in the first place. You will, although it is hard, begin a healthy lifestyle because you do not want to take your second chance at life for granted. This applies to our spiritual heart, if we know that the Lord has granted us a new heart, which then directly impacts our minds, then we should have the desire to be pleasing to our Father in heaven, thus ensuring that we no longer walk in the ways of the world - Romans 12:2 “and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
Remember, we are all going to be in heaven together, a place that is holy and everlasting, because Christ is Holy and Eternal - therefore, dissension, discord, slander, backbiting, mean spirited behaviour and a like, will not be present in heaven. 1st Corinthians 15:50 “now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.” So, if we know the Word to be true, then we know this should not be present in the body of Christ. Galatians 5:26 “Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”
Yes, we’re not perfect, and yes, no one will be perfect until we are in our incorruptible body, 1st Corinthians 15:52-53; but the bible says we are to imitate Christ (Ephesians 5:1). God searches the heart (Psalms 44:21), if he sees you despise your sister or brother in church, or causing conflict within the body because the person was being loving in their encouragement to you (Deuteronomy 15:9), will you not be responsible for other people sinning? 1st Thessalonians 5:23-24 says “now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it”
This walk isn’t easy, and we should be encouraging and edifying each other in the faith, not turning a blind eye to corruptible behaviours, but in love showing each other where one another is wrong - providing this is spirit led and not of self! 1st Thessalonians 5:11 “therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing”
1st Thessalonians 3:12-13 “and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.”
Let’s all do a heart check of where we are with our brothers and sisters - if you are holding anyone up in your heart, speak about it with them, or if you know they haven’t actually said anything wrong and you recognise it is the enemy using you to create discord amongst you - come against the enemy, repent and move forward in peace and love!
We are over-comers in the Lord, 1 John 4:4, let’s walk in that victory and be ready for the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ! Amen! x