The fabric of a local church is rather complex. It is made of mature Christians, babes in Christ, many who are somewhere in between, and you have those who are nowhere in terms of their decision for Christ. An important goal of the local church is to help all of these become faithful followers of Christ.
There is much room for disappointment in such a mission. That’s because people aren’t perfect. They won’t always get with the program. In particular, I want to quickly talk about two areas where fellow church members may disappoint us. One has to do with their personal lives. Their imperfection can manifest itself as infidelity, tax evasion, alcoholism, etc.
The other area has to do with their service in the local church. For instance, when I was a pastor, I wanted everything our congregation did for the Lord to be done in the spirit of excellence. So I was always concerned when I had to commit some ministry work into the hands of a person who had never done it before. I had to bear in mind that the person was new to the task, and would probably make some mistakes along the way, but that the impact would not be catastrophic. Interestingly, one thing I notice about many churchgoers is that they won’t volunteer to do anything for the Lord, but they are quick to criticize those who love Him enough to try.
When we are preoccupied with criticizing others, it puts them in bondage. They are not willing to go beyond their comfort zone because they fear the possibility of failing. On the other hand, love liberates. It conveys to our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ that if they fail we will not crucify them, but we will genuinely love them forward.
Are their times when we have to confront others about their actions? Of course, there are. But here is the point. It’s much easier for us to provide constructive criticism to others when they know that we have consistently shown them love in the past. On the other hand, if all we have ever done in the past was find fault with everything they did; they will count us as the enemy and will not be as willing to receive our two cents. We can love the way this verse tells us to because God is love, and He has put His love on the inside of us.
Copyright ©2011 by Frank King. All rights reserved.
There is much room for disappointment in such a mission. That’s because people aren’t perfect. They won’t always get with the program. In particular, I want to quickly talk about two areas where fellow church members may disappoint us. One has to do with their personal lives. Their imperfection can manifest itself as infidelity, tax evasion, alcoholism, etc.
The other area has to do with their service in the local church. For instance, when I was a pastor, I wanted everything our congregation did for the Lord to be done in the spirit of excellence. So I was always concerned when I had to commit some ministry work into the hands of a person who had never done it before. I had to bear in mind that the person was new to the task, and would probably make some mistakes along the way, but that the impact would not be catastrophic. Interestingly, one thing I notice about many churchgoers is that they won’t volunteer to do anything for the Lord, but they are quick to criticize those who love Him enough to try.
We must bear in mind that as Christians, we are not called to be overly critical but to love. “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins,” the Bible says (1 Peter 4:8). Note the words above all. As I stated earlier, an important goal of the local church is to help believers become loyal followers of Christ. But according to this verse, above all, we must walk in love toward each other. This verse is not about our justifying or covering up one’s faults, but it is about us loving others in spite of their failures and shortcomings.
Are their times when we have to confront others about their actions? Of course, there are. But here is the point. It’s much easier for us to provide constructive criticism to others when they know that we have consistently shown them love in the past. On the other hand, if all we have ever done in the past was find fault with everything they did; they will count us as the enemy and will not be as willing to receive our two cents. We can love the way this verse tells us to because God is love, and He has put His love on the inside of us.
Copyright ©2011 by Frank King. All rights reserved.
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