When times get tough, the tough get tender or at least that is what they should do if they are Christians. We battle the times, we battle lies, but we always fundamentally love individuals. The temptation is never to say anything hard, but we must if we think it true. Otherwise, we have fallen into a false charity that is fundamentally a lie: we disagree, but will not speak.
What is the difference between a hard word that is good and just being hard? I think it is in the hope for repentance, the realization that we too are sinners (or might even be wrong!), and a recollection of what remains that unites us. If we point out error, it is so the erring can change. If we are wrong in our judgment, then we want to change: only humility is safe in tough times. Finally, in rare exceptions, some men are so bad that we must break all fellowship with them forever. They err, but so do we.
We can associate with any Christian whose direction is not toward vice, who does not center their life on their bad choices. We all have blind spots. Sadly, these are days when some glory in their shame . . . make a virtue of their error . . . do not care for the truth, but paste over it with lies. Those who would eat the food of swine must be given the liberty to do so. We are not called to sit in the sty with them, but we do wait, looking for them to come home.
We are always hopeful!
In a tough time, it is easy (for me!) to forget this truth. We must speak the truth boldly, like the prophet Jeremiah, but like Jeremiah, we must associate ourselves with God’s people. He stayed in exile and poverty with people who ignored his message to the end of his days. He spoke of Babylonian victory, but refused the favors of the Babylonians.
We are a bit of a mess just now, but the church must hold together. Of course, whenever I see something wrong elsewhere, I am given the chance to see the faults in my own life. We speak the truth . . . and then let the truth shine a light on us.
Recently, I was asked: why associate with Evangelicals given the mess?
My response: “As a mess myself, this is my family.” I am a traditional Christian: the orthodox faith is true, our moral code liberating. We aspire to great deeds, but fall short.
And the “we” is the key! Nobody should ever try to live outside of a community, but no community is perfect. We speak even hard truths inside the house . . . outsiders don’t always share our aspirations to truth . . . but we share them knowing we are family. We are angry, but not always.
Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil.
Our pastor at Saint Paul’s reminded us that anger is not sin, but that dwelling on anger is sin. It gives place to the devil. We fight during the light, when we can see, but then let it go and rest in the dark. We give no place to the devil because our anger dissipates with the fading of the light. By bedtime, we lay down to rest and pray God our soul to bless.
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