Killing of the church

Not too long ago I heard the quote “ the topic of judging others actually can be told in a two word sermon. STOP IT!” If only that was all it took, obviously that isn’t the case. if it were true then maybe this epidemic would have stopped along time ago, but instead it continues to grow, so much that now even in the church we have come up with ways to make it socially acceptable. In most situations you have different layers of intensity or different layers of sight, the topic of judging is the same. there are issues with in judging that everyone sees and then there are the issues that no one sees, so lets start with an easy issues that everyone at one point or another has been involved in, an issue that fuels our own individual egos, an issue that fuels modern day Media, and is part of the reason that so many of us tend to obsess with a prayer chain.

Ultimately if the first issue is not resolved then the church will continue to die, when it comes to judging people most times we do it without acknowledging that we are judging. But how is that even possible? How can you actively judge with no recollection of it? That takes us to the first problem with in this issue, at some point in time we where taught that talking about others sin is not judging its merely protecting ourselves or that person. GOSSIP IS THE MAIN CAUSE OF DEATH OF THE CHURCH . Not only does gossip ruin the witness of one or more people, it also divides the church. When you choose to discuss/share a personal issues for someone else, that person will lose trust in you and they will in some instances back away from the group of people you told. The church of all places is so post to be a safe environment, a place where you can talk to people about your life and don’t have to worry about it being told to the whole world. so why isn’t it that way? After all there are numerous passages of scripture that teach of guarding your mouth, Ephesians 4:29 “ no foul language is to come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear.” ( worst case scenario but this example will have to do) obviously we are not so post to protect a drug addict who is oblivious to how it is wrong, that does not mean that if one of our church members comes to an individual asking for help with a drug addiction that the individual is allowed to inform the rest of the Church. When someone trust you enough to seek you out for help, don’t betray that trust by letting their personal life out. I do recommend that what ever the situation may be at least bring it to your pastor, never try to address a situation yourself because that can lead to more problems.

Gossip is a serious issue that as a church we need to stomp out, we need to fix our eyes back to our first love, maybe even go back to elementary school and start memorizing “what would Jesus do?”. So often we have this upfront motive of “ Jimmy is doing/stuck in this sin we need to tell the church to pray for him!” Don’t get me wrong group prayer is a powerful thing, but before you share what Jimmy is doing ask yourself if everyone needs to know that? Ask yourself if your only sharing this so everyone knows Jimmy is bad? Because if you ask your self those two questions every time before you share anything you might find your church changing for the better.

“what people fail to realize, is that once it comes out of their mouth its to late! You can not put tooth paste back in the same bottle, human speech was meant to be a good thing! God created it for communication with him and others! Toothpaste is a good thing, but no matter how they are used it can never be taken back.” -unknown

My biggest problem growing up was my ears, or perhaps my ability to read lips, or maybe it was because I always paid attention when anyone was talking even at a young age. When I was a child gossip was running rampant at church, it was like a monster hidden in the shadows eagerly awaiting its next catch. Gossip spent twelve years ruining my life, as a child I didn’t understand the seeds that had been sown in my life, I became okay with a foundation of lack of trust. Trust is such a fragile little thing but yet it’s so vital for growth. A few years ago God taught me a lesson with morning glories, spring had just sprung and some mornings the weather had forgotten it was spring even though the flowers did not. Morning glories slowly beginning to open for their morning sunlight as a quick cold breeze went past us, for a moment the flowers started to close but as the sun continued to beat down giving its warmth they returned as before. Sunlight something so important for a flower to receive, but the cold would make it second guess receiving the sunlight.

Just like sunlight is important to make the flowers grow discipleship is what helps us grow, trust is like the warmth on the flower that tells it to open its bud so it can receive the sunlight. Without trust we can never make an impact. I’ve seen it in my own life, when people do something that makes me lose my trust with them it doesn’t matter what they say because they’ve proven I can’t trust them. Church’s need to stop discussing other people like they are objects, they need to stop causing division between people who are close to one another, I strongly believe that if church’s continue on without recognizing what a strong role trust has in our lives they will continue to become irrelevant. No one follows a leader they feel they can’t trust, No one joins a ministry if they feel they can’t trust the people in it, No one has fellowship the way it was intended to be if they can not trust that group of people.

“Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for oneanother; love as brothers, be tender-hearted, be courteous;”  – 1 Peter 3:8

We can’t be of “one mind” if we can’t trust one another, We obviously don’t have compassion for one another if we are willing to spread lies about each other, how can we call ourselves tender-hearted if it doesn’t bother us when we have lost someones trust, how can we be courteous of one another if we can’t follow the first part of that verse?

I will finish with this, to many times I’ve had people say they are afraid to be in church because they know people are talking about them, that’s a problem! You can not minister to the hurt if you are the one causing the pain, people are going to make mistakes that’s inevitable but you have a choice in everything you do, you have to decide if you are going to help hold up or help tear down.

*stock photos from Pinterest