Jump Start # 1818

2 Corinthians 12:10 “Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Our verse today comes from the running lists of Paul’s troubles he endured as an apostle. It was a hard road and most of us could not have done what he did. In prisons. Beatings. Stoned. Shipwrecked. In dangers from all sorts of people. He did this because he loved Christ. He did this because God gave him a second chance. He did this because he was appointed to be an apostle. There was no quitting for Paul. He mentions these things because there were those who were challenging his right to say what he was saying. Paul took the time to defend his position. This list comes up as what he has gone through. This wasn’t bragging, it was setting the story straight. He has always put Christ first.

Among the words we find here are “difficulties.” Weather, travel, opposition, health—those all fall under the word “difficulties.” Today’s church faces many difficulties. These troubles tax God’s shepherds. It’s hard to know what to do. Some do well with these things and others have not done so well. Let me list three areas I see difficulties:

1. The special ed child. When I was going to school, back with Moses it seems like, no one ever mentioned special ed classes. Teachers were teachers. Today, there are a special classification of teachers called, “special ed” teachers. The special ed child often has attention disorder and needs special help. The challenge that faces many churches today is when a special ed child is placed in a Bible class which is taught by someone who is not a professional teacher, and has had no special ed training. The Bible class teacher, the special ed student and the class often all get frustrated. I am not sure if I know what the best answers are for this situation but I do know many congregations that struggle through this and they do not know what to do.

Possibly, it would be helpful for the parents of a special ed child to talk to the shepherds and the Bible class teacher to find positive ways to making this a win-win situation for everyone. What works? Maybe another helper needs to be added to that class to help with the special ed child. If there is a special ed teacher in the congregation, her insights and advice and help would be most useful. Often help is sitting there in the pew but it is not utilized. Don’t fight each other. Work together. Help each other. This is a challenge that many congregations face and they don’t know what to do.

2. The mentally challenged member. There are those who have various mental difficulties and often others do not know what to do with these challenges. Some may dominate a class. Some may speak out during services. I’ve known some congregations that have asked the mentally challenged to go somewhere else. I have known of a situation in which the elders took a person out of a class while it was going on and asked him to leave and never come back. That certainly doesn’t sound like Jesus when we do that! Many of us do not understand, nor have any training in this area. These are difficulties and challenges that many congregations face today. There are so many shades of mental difficulties, from the soldier who returns from war with PTSD, to various kinds of depression, to various compulsive disorders, to various forms of mental illness. Years ago the common solution was to tell the person to have faith. We thought faith was the answer to all these things. We’d give the person a verse and expect that to fix all things. It didn’t. We’d have our preachers preach on it. Still that didn’t always “fix” things. Now we know that there is more to it than just having more faith. It’s hard to understand some of these things. It’s hard to know what to do. Getting advice from experts is good. Reading and studying about these things is important. Knowing what to say and sometimes knowing what not to say is important. There are souls and families involved and it requires lots of love and lots of patience to work together on these things.

3. The addicted. This too, stretches the patience of a congregation. Often the damage and troubles that follows fills the shepherds schedule with meetings, studies and looking for ways to help. The addicted comes in many flavors and none of them are good. Alcohol…drugs…gambling…over spending…pornography. These things kill marriages. They ruin families. Often it’s a phone call that someone has been arrested because of their addiction. Other times, it comes from a tearful spouse who is so tired of dealing with these things that they want out of the marriage. Because of shame, many of the addicted hide in the shadows for years. Sometimes their families help them hide their secret. Too many times, once it becomes known, there has been a serious problem as a result. The job has been lost because of the addiction. The house is being foreclosed because of the addiction. An affair has taken place because of the addiction. Someone is in jail.

The simple solution is just to tell the addicted, “Stop doing it.” Many would love to. It’s too late. They are addicted. Preaching about self-control might have helped a while back, but it’s too late. They are addicted. What is the church to do? More and more congregations struggle with these enormous challenges. Professional help many times is necessary. It is important for shepherds and preachers to recognize when situations are above their limits and knowledge. Just “winging-it” on advice can be a waste of time and even make matters worse. For generations we have ignored sending people to get professional help. The thought was faith will solve all things. We now know better. Professional help does not replace faith but there are some things that need trained experts to help a person. What happens when a family can’t afford professional help? That is often the case. The answer is not to abandon them with the conclusion that “we told them to get help.” They would if they could, but they can’t afford it. This is when a congregation and brethren need to step up to help. Isn’t it worth any money spent, if it can save a marriage, turn an addict and save a soul? There are limitations upon what a congregation can use it’s money, but even where it can, some don’t want to. Are we not to help one another as Thessalonians teaches? Do will help the addict?

We probably need to do a better job of teaching discipleship when one comes to Christ. Commitment and spirituality and learning to make wise choices is something that we need to teach over and over. Instead of always following the problems with a broom to clean them up, we need to try to prevent problems through a proper teaching of God’s word.

There are reasons why people are addicted. There are steps that lead to addictions. There were a series of wrong choices made that brought about that addiction. It is here that congregational teaching can make all the difference. It is here that faith can triumph.

Today’s churches face many challenges that some do not want to admit. Keeping our head in the sand is not the right decision about these things. Doing nothing is not the right choice. Just hoping that these people will get “fixed” isn’t the right choice. We are family. We need to act like a family, especially when there are difficult challenges. Learn. Help. Be patient. Love. Be there.

I hope this will open the door for some real discussions about these things. Maybe good will result from this. It’s time. In fact, it’s way past time. We face some real challenges and our inability to deal with these difficulties have made some families leave the congregation in tears. There are not quick and easy solutions to difficulties. Lives can get messy and complicated. It can take a long time to untangle these messes and find positive help. Let’s do better.

Roger