The Omagh Church of Christ

Second grade was going to be fine! The fall had come, the days were cool and crisp. The corn was ready to be harvested and the hunters were out trying to bag some wild game. I was seated right behind Rachael Field, all was right in the world. She was the prettiest girl in Mrs Hoffmans class. It was about time that the boy girl seating arrangement worked in my favor.

My best friend Geoff Hamm had learned from his second cousin Stuart that his friend John had thought he overheard his sister talking to Rachael about me on the phone. John told Stuart, who than told Geoff,  who told me, on the bus, that Rachael "wanted to go with me" that's what we called it in the second grade.

So when Elizabeth passed a note to Rachael in a covert way while Mrs Berg was showing us how to write our R's in cursive. I tried to peek over her shoulder when she opened it, to see if it said anything about me. Big mistake!

Rachael snapped around. Her blue eyes squinted hard. Her little nose turned up and wrinkled. "Thith ith none of your bithness" she hissed! She had recently lost her two front teeth. I felt small. Second grade was not all I thought it would be.

It's hard to mind your own business. Man likes to know. He especially likes to know the taboo, the impractical, the sensational, the dirt. We want the scoop, the low down. And if you don't think so just look to see what occupies the shelf space at your local grocery store check out. 

God forgive us! We never give you that much press, written or verbal. Nothing has changed much from the Garden of Eden to the 21st century. Man wants to poke his nose into areas that are none of his business. I wish I could say the Lord's people were different. Churches talk about other churches. Preachers talk about other preachers. Christians talk about other christians. Elders talk about other elders. Parents talk about other parents. Couples talk about other couples. Is anybody talking about the Lord? " . . . the whole head is sick, and the whole heart is faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is nothing sound in it, only bruses, welts, and raw wounds, not pressed out or bandaged, not softened with oil" (Isaiah 1:5-6).

Isaiah wrote about a sin ladened nation stricken by the Lord for rebellion. From the least to the greatest, the prince to the pauper, they were made a spectacle. Their enemy had come from within. Yes sir, they had made quite an exhibition of themselves. "But if you bite and devour one another, take care lest you be consumed by one another" (Gal 5:15). What weaponry could wreak such havoc? What armourments could inflict such destruction? Wagging tongues, inflated egos, and hearts not set on minding one's own business!

Amos, Isaiah's contempory, with the slurred speech of a carnival announcer calls the Laaaadies and gennnntlemen to the production in Israel as the people of God devour one another. "Proclaim on the citadels in Ashdod and on the citadels in the land of Egypt and say. assemble yourselves on the mountain of Samaria and see what great tumults within her and the oppressions within her midst. But do the know how to do what is right, declares the Lord, these who hoard up violence and devestation in their citadels" (Amos 3:9-10). Israel up on quite a show!

And spiritual Israel does the same thing today. Come and watch. Sit down and see the performance. Look around and see the placards and hear the wispers advertising the events of the season. "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if . . . " how does that go again?

 It is true about what that fellow wrote about everything "I needed to know I learned in kindergarden". I don't know if "mind your own bithness" was on the list, but it should be! I was a little slow learning that lesson. I pray it's not to late for God's people.

How is a preacher to act? What should his disposition towards others be like? I've heard some people refer to their preacher as being fearless, courageous, strong, unyielding, hard, tough as nails! They say these things in a complimentary fashion. They are proud to have such men in their midst. I even know some preachers that would brag about how hard and pointed their preaching is. When folks get upset and leave the congregation these preachers attribute such behavior to faithless and weak hearts. The brethren that stay are tough, in fact just as tough as the preachers preaching.

Let me say before we go any further that in the stand for the truth we need to be unyielding and unbendable. But there is a way to defend the truth properly and if we are not carefull we can miss it. Throughout the bible God's teachers were to be gentle. What has happened to gentle preaching? Why is it that very few preachers would want to be accused of being gentle?

Gentleness is the New Testament pattern that the Lord and the Apostles both taught and displayed. "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart . . . " (Matt 11:29). And Paul said, "But we proved to be gentle amoung you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children" (1 Thess 2:7).

Not only are we to display our gentleness on normal occassions but we are to display the same spirit in the correction of others. Notice what Solomon said, "A gentle answer turnes away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger" (Prov 15:1). Predicating any correction is the quality of gentleness.

"Brethren, even if a man is caught in any tresspass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, least you to be tempted" (Gal 6:1). " . . . with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth" (2 Tim 2:25). So as you can see " . . . the man of God will pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perserverance and gentleness" (1 Tim 6:11). 

We need to understand that gentleness is not softness or leniency toward error and sin. A gentle preacher stands firm on God's word. A gentle preacher opposes error and will not compromise the truth or his convictions. A gentle preacher will teach against immodesty, social drinking, the love of money, self-willed brethren, he will teach the truth on all subjects and a gentle preacher will encourage withdrawal from unrepentant brethren.

What is the difference between a gentle preacher and one who is known for being "tough as nails". The difference is in there attitudes and dispositions. A gentle preacher realizes the power to convert and correct error is in the word of God not the power of personality. An obnoxious spirit, condescending tone, one that ridicules error and pokes fun at those who disagree, does not add more power to the word of God. If anything it clouds peoples eyes to what God really says.

You should want a preacher to be solid, spiritually minded, bold and yet gentle in spirit. The combination of all these virtues comes from one having studied and applied the pattern of God. "Tough as Nails" is not a description I read of in the New Testament concerning preachers or teachers of God's word. A brother in Christ once said to me "I'd rather have a group of 10 strong christians than a group of 30 that had weak members in it". I remember Paul saying, "I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak . . . " (Acts 20:35). May all the teachers and preachers of God's word have this spirit in them and may every Eldership manifest the gentleness of the Lord.

How does this question strike you? Actually, it is a question each of us face every day. Everyone lives by faith here in this present physical world. For instance our banking system is based upon faith. Do you trust the figures given on the gasoline pump? What about the prescriptions filled by the pharmacist? Faith is essential to everyday life.

But lets consider the nature of Christian faith. Paul said " . . . we walk by faith and not by sight" (2 Cor 5:7). What is a true believer in God? Moses said, "This day Jehovah thy God commandeth thee to do these statutes and ordinances: thou shalt therefore do them with all thy heart, and with all thy soul" (Deut 26:16). The true believer will comply without question or argument because the command is from God.

As servants we respect His wishes, we do His will! Jesus made that abundantly clear in the Sermon on the Mount as he said, "Not everyone that saith unto me Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven" (Matt 7:21). I am thankful that as a child I was taught submission. Parents today for the most part don't understand the concept any more. As a child I was taught to obey my parents because they were over me. Not as some kind of dictator but by the very virtue that they were my parents and where given that right and responsibility. I did as I was told. God demands total obedience. "You are my friends if you do what I command you." (John 15:14).

Likewise, a true believer does not question the instructions of his master. Occasionally you hear someone say, "Why do I have to attend every service, partake of the Lord's supper, contribute my money, listen to the sermon?" Because the Lord said so. The true believer does not question the Lord. He knows that what the Lord has commanded is best for him. The true believer obeys without question but this obedience is rendered with a cheerful nature, not grudgingly.

When I was a boy my dad would tell me to do something and I would ask, "Why do I have to do that dad?" He would sometimes respond, "because I told you to, that's why?" Sometimes he responded like that because he knew that I would not have understood even if he had explained it to me. I never once doubted that he loved me and had anything but the best intentions for me. God sometimes works that same way. He tells us to do something and we think in our minds, "Why do I have to do that?" Because God told us to, that's why. We may not understand it but we know he loves us and we believe he has only our best intentions in mind.

I love my parents. When they gave me instructions, commands, I (for the most part) did everything they asked me. It didn't seem awefull because I loved them. The same holds true with God. When you love God doing what he has commanded does not seem like a grievous task, rather doing what he commands becomes a joy. 

The question is; Am I a True Believer? By applying the principals stated above you will be able to say with the Apostle Paul, " . . . nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day" (2 Tim 1:2). This is a statement of a real, personal, solid faith. It is a declaration of a commitment. Someone who believes!

The man made his way into the psychiatrist's office for his first visit. As he entered the doctor told him to take a seat on the big comfortable leather easy chair. The patient had perched on top of his head four pieces of bacon a fried egg and two pieces of toast. He said nothing about it, seemingly not noticing this strange head piece, the doctor began, "Just what seems to be the problem?" "Oh," the man said, "I'm not here to talk about myself - I need to talk to you about my brother!"

We all have difficulty seeing ourselves for who we are. The problem, it seems, is with the other fellow. Jesus recognized this when he said, "And why beholdest though the mote in thy brothers eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thy own eye?" (Matt 7:4).

What is man? People will give you a lot of different answers to that question, depending on your point of view. The divine answer is that man was made in the likeness of God (Gen 1:26-28). Man was the crowning act of God's creation. So because God is a spirit, He gave man a similar nature to His own, in personality, will, intelligence, and emotion.

The primary principal that motivates God is love (1 john 4:8). Love is the driving force of Deity. Man was given personality from God and therefore should operate in the same way - motivated by love.

It is important to understand this because we can never know who we are until we understand that we were designed for a purpose. Life was made to orbit around the central force of God's meaning for our lives, and anyone who tries to order his/her life around any other purpose will become bored and restless, frustrated and unfulfilled. He/She is not funtioning as God designed. Know man can know a truly meaningful existance on this earth until God rules at the center of his life.

How was it that Satan first attached? He came to Eve and convinced her that God was causing her to miss out on something. She began to wonder if she was really missing out on something. The more she thought about it in her own mind the more doubt was created that God is really good and it caused her to seek out that which God forbade.

This is exactly what sin is all about. It is choosing our own way rather than God's way. People often think of sin as a specific act: murder, adultery, lying, selfishness, the list goes on. These things are really only symptoms of an inner disharmony, God dethroned from the heart and replaced with self-interest, self-will and self-worship.

We must see this as the root of the problems, whether they are ours or with our brother. Man was given a personality that operates smoothly only when it is feed by the love of God and for God. When man separates himself from the love of God and seeks to run his life by some other motivation, he denies his own nature, what God gave him, how God made him.

Sin must be seen as refusing God a rightful place in the center of my being. It is saying to God, "I want to run my own life. Don't tell me what to do!"

It is only as we deal with this problem of egocentricity that we can solve these problems whether with my self or my brother. It is a matter of humility. There is nothing more vital in life than for all of us to deal honestly, fairly and righteously with my brother, myself.