He said, I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself. Genesis 3:10 

There is an insidious enemy that lurks about the sacred pews and hallowed halls of the church.  It is an enemy that is destructive and divisive.  It is an enemy that lurks in the open as comfortably as it does in the shadow.  It is the Destroyer of relationships.  It is the one, virtually unstoppable crusader against unity and fellowship in the church.

  

That enemy of the church is the people that make up the Church.

 

If it was not for the people in the Church, the Church would be perfect.  But, alas, it is not so.  It is here that we find the problem.  Any time a church splits, it is because of the people.  The symptom of the split might be the color of the carpet or where the piano bench ought to go, but the deep down heart issue of the split is because one person didn’t get what they wanted or had their feelings hurt and reacted with vengeance against the offender.  There seems to be very little room for forgiveness (and a lack of understanding concerning forgiveness, for that matter) in the Church.  We would rather boil the offender in oil and pluck their eyes out and rip them limb from limb before we would forgive.  Or we would rather meddle in the lives of others because we are so spiritual that we know the right thing to do.

 

The thought of how we treat each other in church is rather revolting.  We rush to judgment.  We rush to accuse.  We want so badly to think the worst of someone else.  I remember growing up there was a serious issue in our church.  We had a Christian school.  One of the teachers was accused of sexual misconduct with a student.  The teacher was forced to resign in disgrace and was eventually arrested.  He plead no contest to the charge and ended up with 5 years away from his family.  Instead of seeking the truth of the matter the church stabbed him and his family in the heart and threw them to the wolves.  Years latter I found out that the accusation against him was false.  A young girl had sought to engage in sex, and he turned her down.  She was angry and brought the accusation against him.  Let me ask you this question:  why is it that we are ready to believe the worst about someone in our church, yet we are slow to believe the good that one can do?

 

The answer, I think is because we are so caught up in ourselves that the bad of others deflects our own bad and makes us look better than they are.  The problem with this thinking is that it is pervasive in our churches.  Mr. Smith knows more than the pastor.  Mrs. John thinks she has to do everything.  As we let the sin and offense broil and brood we drive a wedge in the relationship that grows and festers to the point of fracture.  In the end, hearts are wounded and lives are ruined.

 

Here’s a little lesson for us all.  Assuming that your enemy in the church is truly saved, you are going to spend eternity with that person – for an eternity!  Because the Church is made up of people, it is vitally important that we regularly practice forgiveness.  Without forgiveness, the Church is just a social club made up of selfish, messed up people.  With forgiveness, the Church is the Bride of Christ, the Body, a chosen race, God’s own possession (1 Peter 2:9).

 

When next you go to church and see that person that just rubs you the wrong way or has offended you, pray that you will be able to look at them through God’s eyes.  It will change your perspective.

 

mrc