“Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to His holy people.” (Jude 1:3 NLT)
To see sin in the church and not, in some appropriate manner, do something about it, is sin. Now, the logical question then becomes, what’s appropriate? Prayer is always appropriate and should be our first course of action. Prayer is the platform upon which the Lord will instruct us to: 1) mind our own business or 2) pursue another course of action.
To contend essentially means to strive against or defend and can be understood in the context of war. To contend against an enemy may mean to fortify a position or take pro-active efforts to stop an attack already in progress. But it can also mean gathering enemy intel that may warn of future plans to attack or infiltrate.
We must understand that to be a believer in the Lord Jesus and not be at war with the enemy of our soul is to be either blind or naïve. Following Jesus is not a leisurely activity, like a vacation to the beach or to a favorite State or National Park. It’s to be commissioned by the Commander-in-Chief of Heaven’s Army, the Lord Jesus Himself. What might that look like?
In Scripture an expression used to identify the people of God is the “Bride of Christ”. If my wife and I were close to another couple and either of us heard rumors regarding their marriage, who should we first and foremost contact to express our concern? We should go to the source, right? And please understand, the “source” is not the one spreading the potentially harmful information, it’s the couple themselves.
They need to know that we heard something from this person. Why is that important? For two reasons. First, the couple needs to know we have their backs. Before we would whisper a word of what we heard to someone else (that’s gossip) we go straight to them. But the second reason is, if they told this other couple something in confidence, they need to know they should be very careful about sharing anything else with them. Do we risk hurting our relationship with the couple? Possibly, but not if the bonds of friendship are long-standing and strong.
In the Church gossip is rampant and we have to fight the temptation to simply forward what may have become grounded in a lie, as truth. That’s why it’s critical we go to the source. So, if we hear something about an issue in the church, we go to a Pastor or leader, we don’t perpetuate the possible “lie” by sharing it with others. And, even if we know it’s the truth, who do we benefit by spreading negative press about anyone?
Lisa Victoria asked a pertinent question: “You are not contending for the faith if you don’t love the people you are attempting to correct?” Contending implies working for the benefit of, so, if the questions I’m asking or the statements I’m making about a fellow believer aren’t being asked directly of them or a person in authority over them, assuming they’re holding an office in the Church, then I’m not contending, I’m simply spreading gossip.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 