When we forgive we may let them off our “hook,” but they are still on God’s “hook”! Remember the Lord says, “Vengeance is mine.” So, let Him do His work. Forgiveness restores relationship so healing may proceed.įorgiveness removes the offense as a barrier to future fellowship.įirst, forgiving does not mean that we let those who hurt us “off the hook.” They need to pay for what they did. Functional churches, like functional families, share the truth in love.ģ. We have seen people refuse to share the truth. We have seen the truth shared in anger, bitterness, and resentment. Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:15 to “share the truth in love.” Most of us have never seen this. Denial and delusion often reign in dysfunctional settings.Ĭhurch discipline keeps us from becoming dysfunctional by giving us a method to bring wounds and pain out into the open where they can be properly handled ( Matthew 18:15-17 Galatians 6:1-2 and Ephesians 4:15).In dysfunctional families love has to be earned.Dysfunctional families communicate double messages.Like dysfunctional families, many churches are dysfunctional. Discipline exposes issues so they can be handled openly and honestly. He promotes an unforgiving spirit which leads to bitterness and resentment.Ģ.He delights in harsh discipline which drives people away.He delights in causing division and dissension in the church family.Paul wrote that the Corinthians were not “unaware of Satan’s devices.” Unfortunately, in my experience, many Christians are quite unaware of Satan’s devices.
The sheep are not the enemy ( Ephesians 6:10-12: “We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against powers in the demonic hierarchy.”).Warren Wiersbe at a Moody Bible’s Pastors Conference on Psalm 78 shared three things about sheep. How do we heal a wounded individual or a church body? 1. Unfortunately, people who think like this are doomed to disappointment. And if you don’t love me unconditionally, let me down, disappoint, hurt, or cause me pain, then I’ll leave you, and find someone else who will love me unconditionally, won’t let me down, disappoint, hurt, or cause me pain.” On the other hand, I can quietly mention one name to some people and bring tears to their eyes.Įvery Christian will eventually be wounded in church-and in many other places as well.ĭave Ferguson writes: We live in a society where people are looking for perfect companions: “I want someone who will love me unconditionally, never let me down, disappoint, hurt, or cause me pain. We know that a person with a cast on his/her arm is hurt and will be well in six weeks or so. This passage reminds me of the statement by Alexander MacLaren: “Please be kind to everyone you meet because everyone is fighting a battle.” Both the individual and the church are hurting. The church people retaliated and wounded the perpetrator even more. Someone in the Corinthian church hurt a lot of people.
I grieve every time that I speak on this topic and ask for a show of hands of all those who’ve experienced a church fight or split.įortunately, in answer to your query, Paul gives us a simple model for healing church hurts in a short paragraph in 2 Corinthians 2:5-11. I’m sorry you got hurt and it grieves me that your church is devastated. Having observed so much pain and suffering, I’d like to know how do you heal a wounded church?
I’ve been so hurt that I haven’t gone to church for over a month. I’ve decided not to attend either church. The departing group seems excited, but already cracks are showing in their fellowship. Unbeknownst to the old guard, the departing group had rented space in a local high school to start their own church. In a well-orchestrated and planned maneuver, about a third of the members got up and walked out of church just before the sermon. What started as a low rumble between the two factions eventually erupted into war. The pastor was using his position to make the church relevant to today’s changing culture. Many of what I’ll call, “the old guard,” don’t like the new direction some of the younger leaders are taking the church. I’ve heard about the ugliness of church fights but I never dreamed I’d actually be in one. Dear Roger, Our church just went through an awful split.
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