Dec 05-2008
In light of the recent events there are certain truths that are necessary to know. This would be helpful in proper judgment, as in the times ahead we would see many more ministries being judged.
When a ministry or minister stumbles it causes a lot of damage and pain to that part of the body and to the rest of the body if we are connected.
Now to see healing, there is a proper way the rest of the body should act. Not everyone in the body will necessarily be involved in that healing but these truths can be generally applied to any situation.
1) Find out God’s purpose behind the refining.
When Jesus cleansed the temple, He didn’t just do it just because He was angry with the people for their wrong. He did it because He wanted to make it a house of prayer for all nations. He was motivated to take that kind of action to accomplish a certain purpose. In a similar sense, every time God brings the sins or errors of a ministry to the light for all to see, it is with the intention that His purpose is accomplished through that. If we just see the mistakes without seeing the purpose of God behind that we would end up judging unrighteously. However, when we see His purposes then we can also align ourselves appropriately to speak truths that align with that purpose. This will create an atmosphere of healing and restoration.
So, what are some of God’s purpose for our times?
1) That the church learns to leave its inordinate affections on money and put its trust entirely on God.
2) That the church grows from selfishness to selfless affection towards Christ.
3) That the proper and true foundations of the cross of Christ are restored to the church.
4) That the church leaves its lawless deeds and starts walking in Holiness in the fear of the Lord.
2) True Love should have proper truth and appropriate action attached to it.
I think we have often heard the term “We need to show love to a person in error”. The problem with that is many times there is little or no truth and appropriate action attached to it. Walking in love doesn’t just mean saying nice things to a person. Nor is it turning a blinding eye to a person’s mistakes hoping he would repent.
It is speaking the truth (with God’s heart) in that situation and taking the appropriate steps that would bring healing and restoration.
It could be a word of encouragement or mild correction or stern rebuke. The actions also could vary. It could be correction in private or in public. It could also mean being cut off from fellowship.
If we are having problems with stern words or actions, we need to know that Jesus had some stern words for five of the seven churches. Paul one time asked the Corinthian church to throw out a brother in immorality. Paul rebuked Peter publicly.
Brethren we need to follow the patterns in the word of God if we want to see proper healing and restoration in the body.
Anything else applied is a misunderstanding or misrepresentation of God’s Love.
3) Timing is important.
Recently through a dream God impressed certain truths. The details aren’t too nice; however, it needs to be shared.
There was this person on the commode in a bathroom. As he was using the commode, he saw that his clothes were being taken of through the doors. This made him nervous and agitated. The next thing he noticed was that the walls of the bathroom weren’t high enough and people from the balcony were looking into it. As this happened, he tried to move in such a way that he couldn’t be seen. This somehow led the commode to tilt and all the contents spill over. He was a mess now and even the walls around the bathroom seemed to disappear. Everybody was now seeing his plight.
As graphic and sickening the dream was, I believe this shows that if we don’t allow people the proper time to process their mistakes but expose them wrongly, they could end in a worse state than before. If we are responsible for them, we are the walls and doors that provide the covering.
4) Galatians 6:1
“Brothers, if a man is overtaken in some deviation, you, the spiritual ones, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering yourself, that you not also be tempted.”
There is that aspect to “unrighteous judgment” in which we lose the grace in the particular area we judge wrongly. When this happens, we might fall in the same error as the person we judged unrighteously. This verse could be interpreted in that context. Also, it has another aspect to it.
When we are restoring a person in a particular sin, we have to make sure that our own foundations in that area are strong. If not, there is that possibility of the enemy gaining access into our lives through our weaknesses in that particular area.
So let us not just remove the beam from our eyes. Let us also make sure we are positioned properly to lift the person in the miry clay, that we fall not in with him in the process.
In conclusion my prayer is that we are enriched in these truths. For in the coming times and even now it is crucial that we make proper judgments and take appropriate actions. If we do well, we will save many. and if we don’t, there is a possibility we will lose many.
