And They'll Know We Are Christians

[SUBVERSIVE UNDERGROUND]
Article # 174

And They'll Know We Are Christians
by Keith Giles

"If any of you has a dispute with another, dare he take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, appoint as judges even men of little account in the church! I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? But instead, one brother goes to law against another—and this in front of unbelievers! The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers. - 1 Cor 6:1-7

The church in Corinth was rebuked by Paul for a litany of failures. They had failed to love one another, they tolerated gross sexual misconduct in their fellowship, and they abused the Lord's Supper table.

In the passage above, Paul is rebuking them for taking one another to court and airing their disagreements publicly. His appeal to them is to consider their witness to the world around them, and to prefer being wronged and mistreated over tarnishing the Gospel of love and peace.

"If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you." - JESUS (Matthew 18:5)

Over the last year I have been saddened to see Christians spew hatred and bitterness towards one another on public forums like Facebook, blogs and message boards. One brother in Christ recently called me a swine on my Facebook page simply because I suggested he read something for himself rather than accept a cut and paste quotation at face value. My attempts to respond in love were rebuffed with more name-calling and public attack. This is not the first time I've been the target of such venomous dialog, obviously, but the ongoing, relentless stream of hatred from brother to brother has started to wear me down.

"But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment." - JESUS (Matthew 5:22)

Can we not see what this sort of behavior is doing to the Bride? Can we not pause for a moment and consider how our hateful words are damaging the Gospel, our witness, and especially, our own brothers and sisters in Christ?

I would rather be wronged, and wrong, than to continue this sort of online dialog any further. We, as ambassadors of Christ must return to a posture of humility and respond in love to anyone and everyone (whether online or in person) for the sake of Christ and in obedience to our Lord's command to be known by our love.

There are several people who I know read these words of mine and feel that I have been the one who is guilty of speaking hateful words here, and in my articles about God's design for His Church. Let me respond to this in advance by saying that my motivation for writing about the church has always been to share what I've learned with others. I will confess that at times I have intentionally crafted a headline or a paragraph to provoke a response, but my hope was to provoke a response which was thoughtful, not hateful or angry.

For those who have read my articles and felt offended I sincerely apologize. My desire is to teach my brothers and sisters in Christ (whom I love) about the exciting things I am learning about God's plan for His Church and how the New Testament reveals something many of us (including myself for many years) have missed.

I have done my best to take Scripture at face value and study and teach what it says to anyone who will listen. My aim has not been to offend or to attack or to harm anyone. I have also done my best, both in the articles and in my response to detractors, to avoid insult and refrain from name-calling. If anyone can show me where I have failed at this I will respond to their rebuke and repent publicly.

"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift." - JESUS (Matthew 5:23-24)

In the last several days I have also attempted, to the best of my ability, to make peace with those who have something against me. Some have responded favorably to my attempts to make peace, others have not, and some have simply ignored me.

My hope is to communicate the truth without harming anyone. I pray that I can shed far more light than heat and, in the future, I will go out of my way to avoid public arguments on this blog, or in response to my articles. If a brother or sister in Christ begins to publicly insult me or to become abusive I will end the conversation publicly and seek reconciliation privately.

I do understand that a discussion of ecclesiology can be difficult between brothers in Christ. Last week I went to lunch with my dear friend Bill and over lunch we had a spirited discussion of this very issue. He had many of the same questions and objections that many others have brought up and we had a very stimulating dialog together. Afterwards, Bill and I prayed for one another, blessed one another, embraced one another and made plans to meet together again soon.

Therefore, I know it is possible for brothers to discuss these issues without resorting to bitterness or name-calling or personal attacks. It is possible if we do our best not to forget that we love one another and that we are part of God's Family.

"How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!" - Psalm 133:1

Peace,
Keith

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ARTICLES TO SHARE:
LET'S JUDGE EVERYBODY
by Brant Hansen

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ONLINE CONFESSIONS

[Subversive Underground]

Online Confessions by Keith Giles

This week I ran across a blog entry that I felt misrepresented the words of Jesus on the subject of forgiveness. I attempted, as lovingly as possible, to ask the author a few questions and explain why I disagreed. This person eventually deleted all of my comments to their article and removed all trace of our debate.

I felt angry that my voice hadn't been heard and felt that I had no recourse but to post my arguments and make my case over at my own blog.

FORGIVENESS DEFECIT
I did try my best, at the time, to be fair and loving and use language that veered away from outright attacking him or condemning him. But now I realize that I could have gone a bit further towards extending this person a little more grace. I know that if this person had been my best friend I I would probably have said something like, "My friend and I were having a little disagreement about a difficult passage of scripture this week. Here's my interpretation of what I think Jesus really says about forgiveness."

Instead, I got pissed off because he was deleting my comments and trying to deflect any and all criticism. That made me feel like I had to find a place to display my side of the story publicly. Where else but my own blog, right? Oh, yes, yes, it also bothered me that he was twisting the words of Jesus and misleading those people who follow his teaching, but in my mind I think I was more upset that he had dared to delete my comments and silence my voice. I mean, who does he think he is, right?

LET'S TALK MORE ABOUT ME
My chief complaint and greatest offense was personal. My secondary offense was that he had twisted the words of Jesus. I don't honestly think I realized that at the time, but now at the end of the week I have to confess that this is much closer to the truth.

So, I need to confess this to everyone and admit that I have re-discovered the Pharisee inside of me who cares more about what people think about him than he does about what people think about God or His Word. This is a painful thing to admit about myself, but I can't deny this is true. I ask for your prayers and for your help in putting to death the Pharisee in me. I am praying that God would help me to see these sorts of things more and more so that I can identify my hypocrisy and pride and submit these areas of my life to Christ, the Great Physician, who (I hope and pray) will be merciless as He cuts this infectious, evil junk out of my heart.

WE'RE NOT DONE YET. OH NO.
On a similar note: On the way to work this morning I realized that I really needed to forgive someone. I was angry at them for something they did and I was keeping it inside.

Last night at house church I sat there and talked about how God has been speaking to me about forgiveness (due to my exchanges with the offending blogger) and how I've been reminded that forgiveness is something I need from God daily, and how I need to remember the "Conversatio Morem!" (Constant Conversion) principle of coming daily to Jesus to bend the knee and confess my sins and lay myself at His feet.

I sat there on the floor last night and said, "It's not like I have anyone in my life I need to forgive right now". Honestly, at the time it really didn't occur to me that I needed to forgive this person. They had hurt me and I was a bit angry at them for the decisions they had made, but I didn't think that I needed to forgive them for anything. I guess I just thought they needed to apologize or change their behavior. Maybe I was hoping that if I just stuffed it deeper inside my heart that eventually the pain would subside. I mean, it hasn't ever worked before but you never know when these acts of futility might eventually start paying off. Right?

HERE'S THE GOOD PART
Anyway, on the drive to work today I was praying and asking God to put His finger on the place in my heart that needed healing and comforting (because I feel kinda sad about some of the things I'm seeing in our house church, and I'm feeling like a bit of a failure in some ways because I can't be all things to all people and I don't have the time I used to have to be there for people I care about, and I'm not sure I know how to lead our church through our current growth phase, etc.), and as I pulled into the parking lot He spoke to me and made me realize that I do have someone I need to forgive. And then He took me back to last night, sitting on the floor and saying "I don't think there's anyone I need to forgive" and helped me to see that I really do need to forgive this person. I need to set them free. I need to set myself free. I need to have this relationship healed and I need to be healed myself.

I'VE BEEN SET UP
When I back all the way up from the events of this week I almost wonder if God didn't allow me to trip over that wacky blog article and respond to his post and get into this drawn out online argument and post a rebuttal on my blog and ask six mentors and friends about their opinion on the issue, and share last night about the need we have for forgiveness...just so I could drive into the parking lot this morning and realize, and admit, and accept, that I need to forgive this person and love them and set them free and allow God to heal the wound in my heart.

STARTING WITH THE MAN IN THE MIRROR
God is showing me so many things about myself these days. Some of them are hard to accept. Some of them are just reminders of things I've known for years, but have recently forgotten. But all of them are for my good. All of them are because He loves me so much it's beyond ridiculous.

I don't know if this confession helps anyone else or not. I just know that, as I let go of my hurt feelings and set this person free in my heart, I am suddenly, incredibly set free myself. The weight is lifted and the chains have fallen off. I have wings. Why didn't I do this a long time ago?

It's good to forgive and to be forgiven.

Try it sometime.

www.keithgiles.com
Email me directly at "Elysiansky" (at) "hotmail" (dot com)

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THE POWER TO LOVE AND FORGIVE

[Subversive Underground]
THE POWER TO LOVE AND TO FORGIVE
by Keith Giles

Love isn't an easy thing to do. If you do it right, it will cost you everything.

To love someone you must lay aside your wants and focus on their needs. Their happiness takes precedence over your comfort, and their joy becomes more important than your own.

To be honest, I do not often do it right. Often I am too overcome by my own desire to be comfortable or happy to love someone else in this way. Love is difficult. It is challenging. Love is not for the faint of heart.

In Matthew chapter 25, Jesus gives us a glimpse into the future. We get to see what will count for Eternity when we stand before Him at the end of our lives. Surprisingly, what counts is how we have loved others.

"Whatever you have done for one of the least of these, my brothers, you have done it unto me."

Many of us will be surprised at how little weight Jesus gives to church attendance, tithing, drinking alcohol, using swear words, or wearing Christian t-shirts. In fact Jesus makes no reference to any of these things when it comes to the final Judgement. He seems to only care about one thing: How did you love others?

It's not a shock really, since the main command he gave to his followers was to love one another as he loved them. (see John 13:34)

So, in the end, it's all about the love we show, not the outward acts of power and service in the name of God.

Jesus was also clear that we are called to love those who don't love us in return.

"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Don't even sinners do that?" (Luke 6:32)

Our calling, as followers of Jesus, is to love not only those who love us (our parents, our wives, our children, our best friend, etc.), but also those who do not love us (the guy on the freeway who cut us off, the family member who infuriates us, that annoying guy at church, our co-workers, our stupid boss, etc.).

Love, as I said before, is not an easy thing to do.

That's why we need to be changed, from the inside out, so that we can become the sort of people who love unconditionally and extravagantly.

"So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" - 2 Cor 5:16-17

As far as impossible things go, forgiveness is no walk in the park either. I'm reminded of a great quote from the film, "Into The Wild" where one character says to the main character, "When you forgive you love, and when you love God's light shines down on you."

Another thing that happens when you forgive is that you set yourself free.

"Forgiveness is giving up the right to retaliate. Forgiveness is the willingness to have something happen the way it happened. It's not true that you can't forgive something; it's a matter of the will, and you always have the choice. Forgiveness is never dependent on what the other person does or does not do; it is always under our control. Forgiveness is giving up the insistence on being understood.... Jesus forgave those who crucified him. This is a radically new way of thinking. For those who accept and practice this discipline, there is a release of energy and a sense of freedom." - Pixie Koestline Hammond; For Everything There Is a Season

Evil is overcome, then, not by force or by destructive power but by the amazing love of God. Only His perfect brand of love - without strings attached, where only the good of the person being loved is taken into account- can overcome a world of hate and violence and pain.

Like it or not, you and I, the followers of Jesus, have a mandate. We are commanded to love. We are compelled to forgive. Our only hope is to become like Jesus so that we can love like Jesus loved. This is the only hope possible for our troubled world.

Do we really believe that the greatest weapons against hate are love and forgiveness? Do we really put our faith in towels and basins of water as instruments of change? Do we actually trust in the power of daily dieing to ourselves so that Christ can live through us?

"To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." - Colossians 1:27

-kg
www.keithgiles.com

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EMBEZZLEMENT: THE CORPORATE SIN OF AMERICAN CHRISTIANITY
This out of print, hard to find PDF booklet written by Ray Mayhew is available for free if you send me an email at "elysiansky" at hotmail (dot) com with the subject line "EMBEZZLEMENT".

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SLAVERY IS STILL PRACTICED AROUND THE WORLD
FIND OUT HOW YOU CAN HELP
RIGHT HERE

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POVERTY IN THE OC - WEBSITE AND INTERACTIVE PRESENTATION
I've set up a new web resource page to educate people about poverty here in Orange County, California.

It's at
www.PovertyInTheOC.com

Several local pastors have met with me and are interested in having me come and present a free, interactive workshop on poverty in Orange County. If you know of anyone in this area interested in something like this, please have them contact me via the info on this website.

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