I have a relative who was recently hurt by another Christian. He cannot understand why a believer would have done the things that this person did. And this has been sort of an obsession with him for almost five months now.
The truth is that sometimes our fellow believers do not act in such a manner as to bring credit upon Christ and the sacrifice he has made for us. Sometimes Christians do not realize that when they mistreat another child of God they are mistreating Christ Himself. But we are human and this goes both ways. We can never pretend to be the victim of Christian abuse. It is just as incumbent upon us to forgive as it is for the other to treat us in a loving, Christ-like manner.
Sometimes it is a different situation all together. For my relative, this feeling of being slighted and hurt is one of his own making. I do not believe his fellow church member is aware of the incident (actually and unfortunately, I am fairly certain that this is the onset of dementia). But it has made me think about the Board.
How often do we think that we have been insulted? How often do we believe we are owed an apology? How quickly are we to infer something in another’s words that are not actually stated? How often do we intentionally engage others absent the love of Christ?
I’m not saying that we should not argue with one another. But we should never seek to hurt people. We can debate, even argue strongly against opposing Christian views. But we need to remember that we are arguing against words which represent interpretations, theories, and ideas – not attacking the people who are sitting on the other end of the computer or smart phone. We need to remember this when we read something and feel offended, insulted, or hurt. And we need to remember this when we type something with the intention to offend, insult, or hurt.
If we can’t argue except to go beyond the screen to attack the person – or to allow ourselves to be controlled by feelings of victimization, viewing every negative word as an insult or offense – then perhaps it is best to simply count it loss until such time we can engage fellow believers as fellow believers.
Indeed, I count everything as a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith – that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death (Philippians 3:8-10).
The truth is that sometimes our fellow believers do not act in such a manner as to bring credit upon Christ and the sacrifice he has made for us. Sometimes Christians do not realize that when they mistreat another child of God they are mistreating Christ Himself. But we are human and this goes both ways. We can never pretend to be the victim of Christian abuse. It is just as incumbent upon us to forgive as it is for the other to treat us in a loving, Christ-like manner.
Sometimes it is a different situation all together. For my relative, this feeling of being slighted and hurt is one of his own making. I do not believe his fellow church member is aware of the incident (actually and unfortunately, I am fairly certain that this is the onset of dementia). But it has made me think about the Board.
How often do we think that we have been insulted? How often do we believe we are owed an apology? How quickly are we to infer something in another’s words that are not actually stated? How often do we intentionally engage others absent the love of Christ?
I’m not saying that we should not argue with one another. But we should never seek to hurt people. We can debate, even argue strongly against opposing Christian views. But we need to remember that we are arguing against words which represent interpretations, theories, and ideas – not attacking the people who are sitting on the other end of the computer or smart phone. We need to remember this when we read something and feel offended, insulted, or hurt. And we need to remember this when we type something with the intention to offend, insult, or hurt.
If we can’t argue except to go beyond the screen to attack the person – or to allow ourselves to be controlled by feelings of victimization, viewing every negative word as an insult or offense – then perhaps it is best to simply count it loss until such time we can engage fellow believers as fellow believers.
Indeed, I count everything as a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith – that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death (Philippians 3:8-10).
