THE SMOLDERING FLAX

THE SMOLDERING FLAX

                `”Behold My Servant whom I uphold; My chosen One in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry out or raise His voice, nor make His voice heard in the street. A bruised reed He will not break and a dimly lit wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not be disheartened or crushed, until He has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.”  Isa 42: 1-4.

                I write a lot these days about gearing up for the harvest… about what we should be aiming for spiritually. I speak about the great shaking that is coming in which everything that is not of God will be shaken out of the nations and out of the church. But now I want to deal with another aspect of this whole time of preparation.

                Every one of us has benefitted greatly from the gentleness and patience of our Lord. More often than He is doing His mighty works through us, He is bandaging our self-inflicted wounds. Spiritually speaking we are prone to shooting ourselves in the foot or falling into our own traps. Whenever our flesh gets in the way, we suffer damage and we stand in need of healing. Training is tough business.

                The trouble is that in spite of our best intentions we often act more like the devil than Jesus. We appoint ourselves as judge and jury over those weaker than we are. In fact we often unknowingly drive wounded sheep right out of the church, rather than dressing their wounds. More often than not we play the role of Pharisees, thinking that we have God in our pocket and that He has assigned us to judge and condemn others who are weaker in the faith than we are.

                Sometimes we are like chickens in the hen house who if one hen has a sore or an injury of some kind, the rest of the hens will peck it to death. It is a pitiful thing to see, for there is no sign of mercy or understanding among the hens. They only know to kill the one that is down.

                Every once in a while I see situations like that in church, where one hen is judging another and pecking her to death with the “love of Jesus, bless her heart” and just like the hens in the hen house there seems to be no kind of compassion, mercy or grace.

                I know that Jesus is returning as King of kings and Judge of the whole earth and it is only right that true justice should prevail in the end. But Jesus has not given us that job. Our job is to bandage and mend and heal the broken hearts of this world. Our job is to allow people space to grow, rather than picking their lives apart and driving them out of the church.

                It was only within the context of the most flagrant and purposeful sins that Paul dealt harshly with people. In Corinth a member of the church was involved in incest and refused to change his ways. Paul chided the congregation first of all for not mourning the situation. Secondly he chided them for not following the protocols of confrontation as described elsewhere; and thirdly for not removing such a one from their midst. He reminded them of the fact that a little leaven will infect the entire lump of dough.

                Paul said: “I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”

                So yes, the purity of the church must be maintained in those cases where a member will belligerently refuse to repent and turn from their sin. However I am not talking about one of those. I am talking about those who are immature in the faith, who are growing, who are willing, who are wounded, who need our love and compassion and help rather than our judgment.

                Too often we play the role of the big brother in the parable of the prodigal son. We don’t want the lost one restored… we want revenge… we want them to pay the price… we want them to suffer. We will say, “That person should not be teaching… that person should not be singing. I know what he or she is really like.” But in truth we do not know their heart like God does. We don’t fully understand the source of their struggles, their injuries, and their fears.

                How much better off the church would be if we would spend more time making crooked paths straight, mending wounded legs and feet, and treating the smoldering flax so gently that it will once again carry a lighted flame?

                Having the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, means that we will be ruled by: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self- control. We are to bless and not curse.

                Satan is the accuser. Jesus is the Mediator and the Reconciler.  So we, in turn, must reflect the character of the One we follow. Indeed Jesus has given us the ministry of reconciliation. 2 Cor. 5:18  

                And to all of us He says: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons (And daughters) of God.” Mt. 5:9.

                Do have any smoldering flaxes in your congregation? Then why not begin to think of yourself as a paramedic rather than a police officer. After all, if you try to pull out the tares before the harvest, you may end up pulling out wheat as well. Selah.