Forgiveness (Part two of a three-part series)
Be on your guard. If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. Mark 17:3
Believer, the Enemy is out to get you! If you’re not a believer, then he already has you!
The Scripture is unmistakable in pointing out that believers cannot be lost to Christ’s redeeming power, but we can be damaged, disengaged, and decommissioned.
One of the Enemy’s favorite IED’s (improvised explosive device: I hope you don’t mind if I borrow this term from the war in Iraq; it is so accurately apropos) is this matter of “being offended” and its corollary, “taking up another’s offense.” Jesus told His disciples to constantly be on guard against the devastation this matter brings into the Family of God. Whole congregations have been torn apart, missions terminated, spiritual growth aborted, friendships and relationships abandoned, and evangelism indiscriminately obstructed by this prevalent sin.
We cannot be engaged with our calling and carrying out our commission when we are struggling with purposeful disobedience. I don’t believe there is rampant misunderstanding of God’s design here. We are not ignorant of the Enemy’s goal. We indeed may not be “on guard,” but when the temptation, gift wrapped in our least protected vulnerability, arrives, we do make a conscious decision and often without remembering what IED’s do. If I may remind you, they explode, and rain devastation, disillusionment and dissolution on every hand.
Unfortunately, a significant number of God’s folks have adopted the faulty premise that one is allowed to be offended, and while a lesser number embrace the idea that to offend is acceptable, the incidences of the Enemy’s success are legendary. I won’t argue, in fact I rather support the idea, that the Gospel is offensive on its face. Those who are separated from God by the sin of unbelief are seldom going to easily hear of their violation of God’s righteousness without some struggle. What is annihilating relationships, infecting groups, and damaging the very Body of Christ will often not be heard or accepted by believers as a personal, purposeful, willful choosing of sin over obedience. We have our rights, and by George, we are going to exercise them.
Meanwhile the Enemy reaps a harvest of anger, hatred, bitterness, and despair. Something is wrong here!