I find this to be a convicting and uncomfortable
truth: How we love others, particularly other Christians, reveals how we love
God. The apostle John puts it bluntly: He who does not love his brother whom he
has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen (1 John 4:20). Our love for each
other is an indicator of the place God holds in our hearts.
God is very good at designing things so as to reveal
our true heart: our faith is revealed by our works (James 2:18), our creeds are
revealed by our deeds(Luke 6:46), and our love for him is revealed by our love
for others. He makes it very hard for us to fake it.
Since the greatest and second greatest commandments
are involved in these things (John 13:33-34), we know they are important to
God. So perhaps the best thing we can do if we call ourselves Christian, is
take an honest, lingering look at the way we treat others. That brings us to the question of Evil and
Wickedness. We see evidence everyday of
man’s evil towards others all around the world.
Evil moves among us in a never-ending search for prey.
Most of us believe we can protect ourselves because of our ability to tell the
difference between good and evil. Sometimes, however, evil unsuspectingly
creeps into our lives through the routine, the usual, the commonplace and even
brought on by friends.
Maybe YOU have been the unfortunate prey, and the
source of the attack on you is shocking and heart-breaking. Why?
Because YOU are ravaged by a fellow Christian, someone you trusted
completely. How should we react to evil
when it is perpetrated upon us by a “fellow Christian” someone we believe to be
our brother or sister in Christ?
The Christian is supposed to be defined by a special
kind of love… the Christian loves Jesus Christ above everything else. This love
is not an ordinary act of the will, as for instance when we decide to read a
book or take a trip or attend a meeting or pay a visit to a friend. The dawning
of Christ’s love is not something we conjure up ourselves. His love is grown in
us by Him, by our obedient submission to everything He has commanded of
us. We love Jesus Christ only when we
realize how much He loved us, to death on the Cross. We grow to love everything
He loves, and He loves ALL His followers.
Galatians 6:2 says we should… Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
As one would expect, this is a command not an option.
This is a verse of Scripture that is frequently quoted
but almost never truly understood. The typical dealings of a local church with
a victim of evil, or the perception of evil among believers, proves that this
is the case. Let me explain.
Most all of us at one time or another have been
touched by evil – by abuse of some type. In this discussion I am singling out
“spiritual” abuse. An abuser, a fellow Christian, abused YOU. The abuser hated
and hates YOU now. It was YOU who had to deal with the person, feeling
vulnerable, beaten down and defenseless. It was YOU who had to expose the
person, confront the person, report the person, protect yourself and your
family from the person. YOU had to do all this, in a body where such things are
not supposed to happen. YOU were the one who was there, among so-called
Christians, and experienced the pain of “spiritual” abuse at the hand of
another Christian.
And yet what happened when you went to a pastor or
other fellow church members, for help? The following is likely what happened to
you, because it happens all the time when one Christian abuses another
Christian:
• You
heard your abuser excused or at least their sins minimized and marginalized.
• You
were told to follow Biblical counsel and go to the person and discuss your hurt
(with the brazen abuser) knowing such a discussion is one-sided if not entirely
impossible.
• You
heard people remind you that “you are a sinner too” (a lie by the way. The
Christian is not perfect, but is no longer classed as a “sinner” by God)
• You
see people seem to show some empathy toward you, and yet they continued to
associate with your abuser, as if the abuser did no wrong, and YOU were the
problem.
• While
YOU could not tolerate being in the presence of your abuser without being
re-traumatized, your fellow Christians continue on visiting with the person and
often even attending church events and activities with the person as if nothing
happened.
Such “friends” have failed to do what scripture says
is the fulfillment of the Law of God. They have failed to truly extend genuine
love toward you because they have failed to bear your burden. Why?
They failed because they think they know everything
there is to know about “what God commands” of anyone and everyone. They think
that they understand what you have gone through at the hands of the evil one.
But they do not know. They do not understand. And really, they don’t want to.
It is too troubling and unpleasant, and ignoring YOU And your abuse is easier
than confronting it. This is how “real
sin” erodes a body of believers who struggle to live as Christians.
If we are going to bear the burdens of victims of
evil, then WE are going to have listen to them very, very closely. WE are going
to have learn about how this kind of evil works. WE must walk in their shoes,
in their steps, and do our best to understand just what it means to be THE
target of abuse.
And until we understand that, we will fail to fulfill
the Law of Christ. You will continue to have no real problem attending a church
service with the victim’s oppressor. You will have no real trouble chatting
with the abuser when you run into the person in the grocery store. Worse, you
will piously preach at the victim – “Come on! Move on! Quit reflecting on the
past. Forgive.” – and other such whitewashed trash talk.
I am puzzled.
Can someone tell me, why those who are comfortable in the presence of a
wicked-oppressing-person feel no remorse at what the “evil person” has
done? Evil people who call themselves
Christians are impervious to Biblical counsel and any attempts at one-on-one
discussion to resolve in love an evil deed.
Why? Because the evil one is right and the abused one is wrong and no
amount of discussion will change that!
Please tell me why “evil ones” are accepted and
condoned in the family of God? How is it that anyone can truly understand the
evil worked upon a victim (who YOU claim to “love”) and still be comfortable in
the presence of that evil? Scripture
tells us clearly… “Purge the evil person from among you.” (1 Corinthians 5:13
ESV; 1 Corinthians 5:2 ESV)
Let me answer for you – you cannot. You do not. And
until you do, you are failing to fulfill the Law of Christ. You are not loving
the widows and orphans… or anyone else among the body of Christ.
And God sees it all… and remembers.
