Jump Start # 1857

Galatians 5:15 “But if you bite and devour one another, take care lest you be consumed by one another.”

The Galatian church had a lot of trouble. It was mostly internal issues caused by Jew-Gentile conflicts and trying to figure out how the law and the grace of Christ worked. Our verse today, illustrates some of the trouble found within that church.

The passage reads on the surface as if Paul is describing a cannibalistic environment among them. Biting and devouring one another, is something you’d find in a zombie movie. He is not talking about this being done literally, but emotionally, spiritually and mentally. They were tearing each other up. If you destroy each other, there won’t be anyone left. The enemy was Satan, not each other. What they were doing was not acting like Christ. The spirit of love, forgiveness, patience—many of which are named at the end of this very chapter as fruit of the Spirit, was missing.

Internal bickering and fighting often results in people leaving and churches splitting. It becomes a mess. Now, instead of one congregation, there are two. Both want a church building, their own preacher, and now, after the divide, both can barely pay the light bill. Tempers flare. Blame and fault is pointed out. Lines are drawn in the sand, and now neither side will speak to each other. This will continue on for at least two or three generations. Small struggling churches that began because some couldn’t get along with each other.

All of this now takes us to a much larger issue. Those that witness these things, often younger people, and those from the outside, make grand declarations that the entire system is broken. It’s enough for some to go find a church that is really loose on things and doesn’t worry so much about the details of the Bible. Love is the only thing that matters. For others, it’s enough to give up totally on ever going to church again. Why, Christians can’t get along. Why, they can’t do what they preach. And, as a result, some declare that it’s not just the Christians that are broken, but the entire system. “Organized religion,” they profess, is a joke. They want no part of it.

This is not only true of life in church, but also life at home. Because folks have trouble staying married, does not mean that God’s design of marriage is broken and wrong. Our failure to stay married is not an indication that God’s plan of marriage doesn’t work. This has given some all the proof they need to justify living together without marriage or even to stand with the homosexual movement. At least, some claim, they can stay together.

God’s plan is perfect. It was designed by God. It was formed in Heaven. It was not a creation of our minds, but His. It wasn’t something that we developed, but rather something God gave to us. Our sins and our imperfections and our failures to live up to what He wants does not mean that it is impossible to be done, nor that it is broken. The failure is with us.

Critics love to point to Christians who fail as an indication that the plan doesn’t work. The plan is not wrong, it’s the people who don’t live up to it. There are always those who want to change things to their own liking. They want to open up the doors to more freedoms. They want more input into what ought to be allowed. They want less holiness and more happiness. They want to do what they feel is needed. More social awareness. More activism. More wholeness of life. More attention upon society’s problems. More dealing with getting drugs off the streets. More help for unwed moms. More options for the homeless. More cleaning up polluted streets and rivers. This is where the modern church has shifted. This is where the attention is. Building better lives for now. Building better schools for tomorrow. Yet all of this doesn’t come from the Bible. We don’t find the first churches following this agenda. The early church was spiritual. It equipped people for Heaven. Stronger faith built stronger families and stronger churches.

But it is pointed out that for too many this didn’t work out. Their faith struggled. They wandered from this. And because the people couldn’t live it, the system was abandoned and a new path was forged. Instead of sticking with the ancient Gospel, modern thinking and modern theology has become the new thought and the new direction.

The Galatians were biting and devouring one another. They were fussing and fighting. I had two brothers growing up. We used to bang heads a lot. My mom told us to go outside. It’s not fun fighting outside. That always cooled things. Paul didn’t change the plan because the Galatians were fighting. He didn’t call for an international conference and amend what he had been preaching. He forged ahead. The message won’t change. It’s up to them to step up and live as Christ wants. Their failure to live it did not mean the system was broken, wrong or needed to be replaced.

There is nothing wrong with the ancient message of Christ. It worked and it still works. Seeing some who can’t live up to it is no indication that all Christians everywhere are failing. That’s a blanket statement without fact nor proof. The Galatians were biting one another. The Corinthians were divided. Laodicea was lukewarm. Throw in the towel? Some in Sardis were doing right. Philadelphia seemed to be doing right.

Some of the failures are not really failures. There is some learning and growing that must take place. Getting the Jews and the Gentiles on the same page took some time. Working through differences such as eating meats sacrificed to idols took some patience. Not everyone is at the same place spiritually. We forget this. It’s like driving on the highway. There seems to always be someone ahead of you and someone behind you. Not everyone is right beside you. So, we are not all at the same place spiritually. Some are doing and understanding things better than I am. They are ahead of me. I can learn from them. Others are behind me. We need to look back and help them along. They can learn from us.

Be careful about painting the condition of your congregation with a broad brush. It’s easy to do. No one here cares, we declare. Everyone is dead spiritually. They are all worldly. They are all stuck in tradition. They are all hypocrites. Be careful. I doubt everyone is. Most may, but rarely is it everyone. Some are ahead of us and some are behind us. Follow those who are doing right and help those who are behind you. You may only be looking at those who are behind you.

God’s way is right. It is perfect. It never needs changing. Don’t give up on the Bible way because some folks aren’t doing what they should be. Don’t let others take you away from Christ.

The way of the Cross leads home…

Roger