This post is hopefully going to be a balancing act. A
helpful look at where principle and doctrine meet conscience and grace. Admittedly,
I will not be able to cover the whole topic, or even get everything in its
proper balance that I do cover, but we must be working toward that goal.
It would seem that this post would almost be unnecessary.
I mean, don’t we all know that we haven’t
arrived? Don’t we all realize that we can improve in our walk with God? Don’t
we all realize that we haven’t somehow answered all the theological questions that
are posed when reading through Scripture? Since the answer to all the questions
is an obvious yes, the question becomes, why don’t we live like it?
Sometimes Christianity is known more for what it won’t do
than what it does. This creates a love for confrontation, and because holiness will
be persecuted, so we start to pick fights so we are “persecuted” (and therefore
holy). This is not only crazy (I mean this with as much love as possible), but it
also causes the church and Christ much harm.
We desperately need to love truth, and when others don’t
know that truth, don’t quite understand it the way we do, or even maybe refuse
to obey that truth, we need to love them, pray for them, and teach them. For
too long the church has forgotten how much we have been forgiven, and in turn
we have forgiven little. We should not get joy in the false teaching of others,
we should not get praise for “going it alone.” Too often each church believes they
are the only one left standing for Christ, when in reality, there are many
people standing for Christ even if we disagree on some of the peripheral
issues. We have made much of the little issues and little of the gospel.
As a pastor, part of my job is confrontation. Each time
that I am heading into a confrontation my heart has a choice. I can love my job,
love my convictions, or I can love grace. If I choose to love my job, the
conversation will start something like this: “As Pastor, it is my job…..” If I
choose to love my convictions, the conversation will start something like this;
“According to my study and belief……” But if I choose to love grace, the
conversation will start something like this: “I love you, and I know Christ
loves you even more. Can we talk about an area of your life that I see that
might not be reflecting that love the way you think it is?”
How to tell if you love confrontation more than truth:
-
Confrontation gets you more excited and passionate
that God’s Word does.
-
Confrontation is more common than encouragement
-
Confrontation is the thing you are known for
-
Confrontation happens no matter how small the
issue
-
Confrontation is your first thought instead of
grace and forgiveness
There is much more to say on this topic, this post is
just dealing with the surface of the issue. Love truth, love others, love
peace, and forgive daily.
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