One of the
biggest dangers of the people-pleasing self-protection I learned as a child is
that it wants to immobilize me from doing anything when “important” people
disagree on what is the right thing to do. If we reach a crossroads in the path
of life, and one significant person believes heading west is best, while the
other thinks heading right is right, how does one decide whom to follow?
This is
typically where people-pleasing self-protection sits down and busies itself so
distractingly in the hope that it will never need to choose.[1]
The hope is that the big people will make the decision, and we will be able to
stay right where we are without anyone noticing that our resourceful activities
are not moving us along the path at all.
In the midst
of the differences of opinion argued within the church, there are times and
situations in which a decision must be made. Someone is hurting too much for
the new-hearted believer in Jesus Christ to hide in the shadows of
self-protection. We are now the body of Christ, and we have the life of the Holy
Spirit flowing through the body of Christ to enable and equip us all for ministry.[2]
While I have
listened intently to leaders argue their opinions about ministry, I have tried
to look at these things from a comprehensive worldview. I not only want to know
that someone is reading the right owner’s manual, but that they are fully
relating to whatever ministry-needs are staring us in the face. I want to see
that they are not only arguing what the owners’ manual means, but showing how
to put it into practice in whatever difficult situations the church is facing.[3]
The result of
seeking to weigh everyone’s ministry opinions against the plumbline of a branch
abiding in Christ and bearing much fruit[4] is
that I have noticed that, while everyone seems to use Scripture to justify
their doctrinal beliefs, not everyone is bearing fruit in the lives of those
who receive the efforts of their ministry.
In other
words, while all the leaders involved know how to talk-the-talk, not everyone
is walking-the-walk (including their own!). Some get so distracted by the
doctrinal debates that they don’t realize they aren’t really doing any ministry
to the people in question. They are like politicians spending all their time
shooting down their opponents, but never stating how they are going to do
things the right way.
It reminds me
of the religious elite of Jesus’ day bringing to him the woman caught in
adultery.[5] They
confronted Jesus with a situation in which they were sure they could bring
about his demise. Based on Scripture, they believed that capital punishment was
required, and that the true Messiah would carry out the letter of the law no
matter what the Romans might do as a result. In their minds, if Jesus carried
out the law of Scripture, the Romans would put him to death because they would
not allow the Jews to decide issues of capital punishment.
What the
religious elite could not factor into their thinking was that this Jesus of
Nazareth was the Word of God,[6]
the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us.[7] They
did not understand that he was the embodiment of a new covenant that would so
thoroughly satisfy the just demands of the first covenant that sinners could be
eternally forgiven of all their sins and trespasses against God.
Jesus’
response to the situation, knowing that he was dealing with a woman caught in
grievous sin, was to confront his opponents with the full measure of the law
they claimed to honor. If they wanted to judge a situation under the law of the
first covenant, then they must do it without favoritism or partiality. If any
of them were free from sin, they could carry out the law’s judgment on this
woman’s sin. If they were guilty of sin, he would need to carry out the law’s
judgment against them as well.[8]
It was not
long before every one of Jesus’ opponents had drifted off, unable to stand
against his wisdom. The only ones left were Jesus and the accused woman. Jesus knew
Scripture, since he had breathed it out through the messengers of old.[9] In
his Word-became-flesh existence, he lived by every word that came from the
mouth of God.[10]
However, in
his first coming, he did not come to condemn and judge the world.[11]
This first coming was to seek and to save the lost.[12]
He had come to present and ratify a new covenant in his blood. His intent was
to find sinners, redeem them, and transfer them from the domain of darkness
into the kingdom of light.[13]
After leaving
the religious elite to slink away under the judgment of the law, Jesus turned
to this woman under the grace of the new covenant. Based on his purpose in
coming, he presented the way the new covenant would deal with sinners. The new
covenant would not call for their sin to be punished, but would present the Son
of God as the sacrifice for sin. It would not be the sinners who were put to
death for their sin, but the Savior who would suffer and die in their place.
What would
God give to sinners if the death penalty were satisfied in the death of his
Son? Forgiveness.[14]
Those who received the gift of the new covenant would receive forgiveness.[15]
Because of the
gracious purpose of his coming in the flesh, the Son of God spoke to the sinful
woman with these words of light, “’Woman,
where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus
said, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.’”[16]
Jesus made
clear earlier in the gospel account of John, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but
in order that the world might be saved through him.”[17]
Since Jesus did not come to condemn the world,[18]
he would not stand in condemnation of this woman, sinful though she may have
been.
Instead,
Jesus called her out of her sin. She would need to settle for herself whether
he was the Messiah God promised, and whether she would turn from her sin to
follow him. At that moment, she needed to know that this man who just saved her
from the death penalty of her sin (what a beautifully prophetic picture!),
called her to turn from her life of sin.
The reason
that this picture stands out to me is that I hear so many so-called ministries
arguing why other ministries are invalid based on Scripture. They point at
Scripture to insist that there is no such thing as a demonized Christian,
therefore all the ministries delivering Christians from demons are guilty of
judgment and condemnation as a pack of ravenous wolves.
They say that
anything that is being done for Christians with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder[19]
involves psychology, and therefore it is thoroughly unbiblical to believe there
is such a thing, or to do ministry to brothers and sisters demonstrating such
an effect.
And now we
have some of the most horrendously painful situations facing the worldwide body
of Christ. We have Christian girls being abducted by a satanic religion and
exposed to a level of sexual abuse and molestation that is unthinkable in its
depravity. The news that military forces are beginning to rescue the victims of
these crimes gives hope that many of these poor girls will be delivered.
But what now?
They are traumatized. They are traumatized now. Those who went into this horror
as true believers in Jesus Christ will come back to the church with all that
has happened to them. Those who were unbelievers going into this experience,
but come to Christ during or after what they endured, will still feel the
severe wounds that need healing in Christ. Some may have explicit memories
haunting them as the ugliness replays in their minds day after day. Others will
have shut down parts of their minds and souls because they were not able to
bear the pain of what they were enduring.
And now the
church will be divided. On one side will be those who see a Savior who came to
seek and save the lost, to heal the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds, to proclaim
good news to those who are so mentally, emotionally, and spiritually
impoverished, to free the prisoners and deliver the oppressed, and to announce
to all that it is the time of God’s favor.[20] God’s
word says that he heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds,[21]and
these people intend to be the body of Christ that makes this work of God real
in the lives of these traumatized sisters in Jesus Christ.[22]
On the other side,
there will be those who will stand by with stones in hand, judging whether any
ministry provides help that is not spoken of in Scripture, or presents Christ
with too much emphasis on psychology, or steps outside the self-protective
boxes of the religious elite in any way.
What will I
do? I will deal with truth in real life. I know whom I have believed, and I
know what he is able to do for his traumatized children. As he shocked the
religious elite of his day by doing things far outside their doctrines and
expectations (without any violation of the word of God), I expect him to do
things that are beyond what anyone could ask or think,[23]
while leaving us in awe of how his work in peoples’ lives is perfectly
consistent with his breathed-out revelation of himself in Scripture.
What it comes
down to is that I am under command of God to weep with those who weep.[24] I
would rather that my beloved brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ feel the
tears of love, and grace, and hope, and faith coming from my heart, than that
my self-protection keeps me sitting at the crossroads hoping that none of the
big people notice I’m not doing anything.
It is time to
do something. Jesus will know what to do, just like always. He is already
working in me and my fellowship of believers both to will and to work for his
good pleasure.[25]
It is up to us to now work out those inner workings and promptings of the Holy Spirit
with a fear and trembling that is overwhelmed with the perfect love of God that
drives out our fear of what people think of us.[26]
What my broken brothers and sisters think of the ministry they receive through
the body of Christ is what matters most.
So, brothers
and sisters in Jesus Christ, if you are intimidated by the religious elite who
want judgment more than mercy,[27] hide
God’s word in your heart,[28] grab
your box of tissues,[29]
and go find a brother or sister who is weeping. Sit down and weep with them
until the word and the Spirit direct you into what to do next. You can be sure
that, if you will let your faith express itself in such love,[30]
you will be the first in line to rejoice when they rejoice.[31]
© 2015 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517,
Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted,
Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good
News Publishers.)
[1]
Even spending time writing blogs about things I do know can be a
self-protective distraction from joining God’s work in people’s lives in areas
that leave me feeling very insecure, and afraid of judgment (people’s, not God’s).
[2]
Ephesians 4:11-16
[3]
Matthew 7:24-27. The illustration of the wise and foolish builders reveals that
God’s will is for us to put Jesus’ words into practice. James, of course,
confirms this with his teaching on being doers of the word, not just hearers (James
1:22-25).
[4]
John 15:5-8 (John 15:1-11 if you want the larger context).
[5]
John 8:1-11
[6]
John 1:1-5
[7]
John 1:14
[8]
James 2:10
[9]
II Peter 1:21; II Timothy 3:16-17
[10]
Matthew 4:4
[11]
John 3:17
[12]
Luke 19:10
[13]
Colossians 1:13
[14]
Psalm 130:4 showed that God has always been a forgiving God. The new covenant
gives God just grounds to freely and justly forgive sins forever. See also Luke
24:46-47.
[15]
Acts 2:37-39
[16]
John 8:10-11
[17]
John 3:17
[18]
His second coming will be in wrath and condemnation of all unrepentant sin, but
that was not the purpose of his first coming.
[19]
Or any of the synonymous labels attempting to describe the effects of trauma on
the human mind and soul.
[20]
Luke 19:10; Luke 4:16-30 (notice what people tried to do to him then as well!)
[21]
Psalm 147:3
[22]
Of course, I am not excluding all the other ways that Christians in these
situations have been traumatized by what they have experienced and witnessed. I
am simply presenting one of the most heart-rending aspects of these tragedies.
[23]
Ephesians 3:20-21
[24]
Romans 12:15
[25]
Philippians 2:12-13
[26]
I John 4:18
[27]
Matthew 9:13; 12:7
[28]
Psalm 119:9-11
[29]
Sorry, no Scripture for that!
[30]
Galatians 5:6
[31]
Romans 12:15
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