the Way |  русский  |  home  |  weekly word  |  archive  |  contacts  |
 www.lifesway.org to load the version for print   
home ::  archive ::  04.07.29. 

29 July 2004

Defending Instead of Repenting.

Most of the people who came around Jesus were either changed or convicted.
This was because Jesus Himself was willing to be a light shining in a dark place.

Matt 5:14-16
"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.
Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
In the same way, let your light shine before men,
That they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
Yet, today, what happens when a Christian finds another Christian in the marketplace?

What is the reason God has brought these two together?

They talk to each other about what is happening at their lives and in the church.
Could it be that the Father allowed these two Christians to find each other.
So they could work together for those who do not yet know Christ as Savior?
Could it be that God wants you to pray for each other?
These two Christians could agree together for the good of everyone.

Who would Jesus spend time with, or invite to lunch?
Remember Zacchaeus! (Luke 19:1-10)
ASSOCIATION BY HABIT
One of our major problems is that we are creatures of habit.
At church services, people sit in the same seats beside the same people week in and week out.
Then, after the service, their conversation is with the same people each week.
Stop and take a good look at your life.
Take notice of the amount of time you spend making new friends and acquaintances.
Some people only wave at their neighbors from a distance when they could have been in the community for years.
If it is this difficult to talk with those who are around us in a non threatening way.
How will we reach those in need who are outside our circle of recognition?

Jesus did not come to the earth to know about us, but to become us.
He came to experience firsthand everything we could ever experience.
People could not honestly tell Jesus He did not know how they felt.
That He did not understand what they were going through.
However, people in the world often tell His Church the same thing.
People also accuse the Church of lacking love.
Yes, I know that some of their claims are to excuse themselves from conviction.
A great portion of the time they are right, though.

Jesus was moved with compassion to help people out of the grips of sin and sickness caused because of sin.
Jesus hated sin but loved the people.
Compassion has no race, color, gender or political party.
It belongs to the kingdom of God! Compassion is God!

In Matthew 14, Jesus had withdrawn to a remote and lonely place to pray after hearing of the death of John the Baptist.
Crowds of people went out from the cities and found Him, interrupting His prayer time.
Yet He was quick to make Himself available to them.
He wanted hurting people to find Him.

Unfortunately, the modern Church is not so willing to be found by the very people who need it most.
It has become the pattern of the Church to separate itself from those who find themselves in sin.
Whether directly or indirectly, they tend to stand alone.
When we talk of sin or of sinners we "Jump back or jump out" of the situation.
It should not be that way with the Body of Christ.
We are to seek the lost.
ARE YOU A JUMPER?
Some hearing this may think this jumping principle does not touch them.
You would be surprised how often human nature jumps out or back from relationships.
Jumps out of association when something goes wrong.

Some people belong to the same family but do not want to identify with or be a part of other family members.
This kind of division of the heart can result from a variety of situations.
It is especially true that when someone in the family gets into difficulty.
He or she is often left on the outside looking in.
One thing that will never change, however, is the blood flowing through the body.
It is family blood!

The worst cases are when the Christians in a family no longer associate with others in the same family.
I have heard it said this way: "I cannot agree with the drinking, cursing and lifestyles of the family."
So these people shun their family and spend their time around other Christians.
Could it be you are in the family to help every one of your family members come into a relationship with Jesus?

Now, you may be asking yourself,
What was so wrong about what I said?
Shouldn't church leaders speak to the problems in the Church?
So that the world will not have the wrong opinion of them?
What do we as the church and leaders did wrong?

First, we try to defend the Church.
However, no one gave us that job!
Christ can take care of His Church much better than we could ever hope to.

Ephes. 5:25-27
"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless "

This Scripture verse instructs us that Christ has and always will take care of His Church!
He was the One, not I, who died for the Church.
This proves that His love is greater than mine.

In the second place, we try to defend God.
Yet I know that God has never asked me to take care of Him.
God said in Psalm 50:12; "If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it."
God does not need to be defended!
  • He is the all-powerful One.
  • He is above all and is never caught off guard.
  • He is the One who reveals the sin of humans so they will repent.
Man will move by revelation or he will move by tribulation.
God is after restoration.
Even if it causes man temporary problems.

When someone sins or falls away from God, we jump back or out of the number!
  • "I did not want anyone to think I might have any association with these brothers' problems."
  • "I also want people to think of me as a good Christian in a good church."

    • However, the truth of the matter is, we are showing them that we are poor Christians.

    A part of the number who think we show our own strength and goodness by turning away from those in sin.

    All this does is reveal that the Church is too weak to take care of our wounded.
    We must understand that it takes the strength of God to be like Christ.
    Isaiah 53:1
    "To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?"
    This implies that the arm of the Lord, God's strength, will be experienced by those who walk in the footsteps of Christ.
    If we refuse to walk as He walked, then there is no need for the Father to give us His strength.
    WHAT SHOULD WE DO?
    We should repent for the sins our brothers or sisters.
    As though I were the one found in that same sin.
    We should ask those people to forgive us.
    The Church is a fault for causing God's name and Christ's Church to be thought of in ways other than it should have been.
    We need to explain to them that, the sins of these brothers reflect on the entire Church.

    In no way do I make excuses for sin.
    But I can never fall out of love because of it.
    1 Peter 4:8
    "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins."
    THE PRINCIPLE OF CORPORATE SIN
    You may be asking, Why should we repent for the sin someone else commits in the Church?
    The answer is that Christians are one Body.
    Illustrate: If one part of your body, such as your eyes.
    Your eye commits sin by looking upon that which they should not.
    Which part of your body can claim that it had nothing to do with that sin?
    If one part of your body is in sin, then the whole thing is in sin.
    The apostle Paul illustrated this principle by using a very graphic illustration:
    1 Cor. 6:15-16
    Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? So for the Body of Christ to cut a person off because he has sinned would mean a type of disembodiment!
    Staying connected must be our life position.
    The strong are told to bear the infirmities of those who are weak.
    Just as Jesus did, we must intercede from a connected position.
    The Bible tells us that a little leaven leavens the entire lump.
    However, the yeast (leaven) cannot be on the outside of the bread.
    It must be worked into-connected with-the dough.
    Your job is to pray for the church and its leaders.
    Your job is not to go after the members and try to persuade them to become a part of your church.
    This is Jesus' church and His people.
    He can handle everything just fine.
    FAMILY AND CHURCH PROBLEMS
    Even citywide situations or problems need someone willing to stay connected.
    Someone who is a righteous seed to connect with it by staying in the number.
    You could be the one person in your family who will help the entire family come to the knowledge of Christ Jesus.
    If you refuse to spend time with them or identify with them,
    How will they observe an example of Christ in you?
    How often do you pray for members of our family?
    Prayer is one of the main weapons to use when attacking the enemies.
    Enemies who are blinding the eyes and hindering the hearts of men and women.
    From what place will you pray?
    I am not asking from what room or building, but rather from what position.
    It is my belief that Christians in general have stood afar off.
    As we have prayed for the needy people around us.
    Remember that God has us living where we do for a purpose.
    Perhaps you live where you do for the sake of your community and city.
    Because we live in the community and city, our approach to God is as a person who wants the best for the area.

    (Compassion in its fullest sense means saying, "That which is happening should not be happening. I am a part of what is happening, and, therefore, I will do something about it." Keeping that in mind, please carefully read the following Scripture reference):
    "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land" (2 Chron. 7:14).

    (This is one of the Church's favorite passages when revival is the subject.)

    I believe our "wicked ways" also include all the wicked things taking place in our land.
    The passage says that God will come and heal our land.

    The Church also needs to be healed of its standoffish attitudes.
    The Church needs to be freed from the attitude that causes it to disregard God's command to bear the infirmities of those who are weak because we think we are either better than or cannot relate to those in sin.
    To change this attitude, we will have to humble ourselves and become identified with the sin and problems of those with whom we have nothing in common, other than the fact that we are human beings living in this land.
    People both within and without the Body are human and subject to sin.
    • We may not have started the problem (remember Moses);
    • we may not know who started the problem (remember Nehemiah);
    • or we may not have even been born when the problem started (remember Daniel).
    However, none of these factors frees us from our obligation to do whatever is necessary to solve the problems.
    If we have right thinking, we can seek the face of God, pray for change and God will move in ways we have not seen before.
    I believe this is the way the Church demonstrates that we are salt and light to the world.
    Stay in the number, and see the intensity of your prayers change and the answers to your prayers increase.


    Dale Boehs

    29 July 2004

    to load the version for print
    Creates and extends by TimCom     The Way center © 2003-