Family Aflame

And he [Christ] has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.  1^st John 4:21

There are times when Christians will do things, unfortunately, to the detriment of a brother or sister in Christ. Most times it is a struggle of the wills and the offending brother or sister will be right. But it is said, “Doing the right thing is very different than always having to be right.”

I know a man whose wife was caught in an adulterous affair.  She refused his attempts to get her to go to Christian counseling. After months of refusal, she filed for divorce in spite of his pleas to work toward reconciliation.  When this man returned to his home church, because of his wife’s willful sin of adultery, his church body made him guilty by association and shunned him.

One parishioner who was a senior citizen (and ought to have known better), went at this man one night and castigated him because he had remarried.  My friend brought up Matthew 19:9 to his antagonist, where Jesus spoke of the sin of adultery being the only grounds for divorce, reminding him of what his wife had done to him.  This senior lost his temper and said, “I don’t care what it says!  You’re divorced!”  It is interesting this senior believed all the words of Jesus were inspired, except these, and allowed his biases and lack of love and grace, to attack a brother who was wounded and hurting.  It has been said, “The Christian Army is the only army in the world that shoots its own wounded.”  A saying so aptly demonstrated by far too many Christians.

Paul likens the character of walking in the Spirit to “fruits.”  Some of these fruits are Love, Forbearance, Kindness, and Gentleness.  There is no law against these (Galatians 5:22-23).  I don’t see anger, wrath, blame, judgment, or shunning there.

It is well we remember people tend to become angry when they talk about their beliefs, but seldom do when they speak of their convictions. If in reading this you are angry at what I share today, take a look at where those feelings are in your body.  Are they coming from your beliefs, or convictions? From sound Scriptural doctrine or a religion of legalism?  Jesus does call us to doctrinal purity, for sure, but in love, and not our biases. 

We will all have to give an account to Him for everything we’ve done in this body, both good and bad (2^nd Corinthians 5:10). He was our example of how to respond in righteousness (John 8:1-11).  It would do well to imitate His example when the anger tends to leave family members aflame.

Ken