Dear Christian, what does it mean to be human? From the beginning, before God created Adam and Eve, He announced to the other members of the Trinity: “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us” (Genesis 1:26). And He did: “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). So, we had God’s perfect nature from the beginning, but unfortunately for man, things changed rather quickly; we added on a second nature- a sinful nature–through disobedience to God (see Genesis 2:16-17; 3:1-7).
Sin
brought separation between God and man, which meant eternal separation after
this life, also known as hell. But God, out of His abundant love, sent Jesus to
pay the penalty of our sins; He died in our place, and so, when we acknowledge
our sins and seek forgiveness through Jesus, He forgives and gives us a new
nature with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, guaranteeing that we will be
with Him forever in heaven after this life (see Ephesians 4:30).
This new
nature does not cancel out the sinful nature, however, so we are left with an
ongoing battle between the two. As the children of God, when we want to do the
right thing, our sinful nature tries to draw us to do just the opposite. The
apostle Paul admitted to and lamented over this problem: “The trouble is with
me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself,
for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. …
I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that
is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still
within me” (Romans 7:14-22).
So, if we
admit to ourselves that we each have these two natures in a constant battle, it
should help us to understand that no single Christian is perfect; be it the
apostles Paul, Peter, or James, our pastors, or fellow believers. Let’s
remember this, and try to cut each other some slack. We treat each other as
though they, especially our pastors and leaders, have to be perfect, but they
don’t.
Our
pastors have a lot of responsibilities, both at home and at church; we need to
stop picking on them, and when we have to address an issue with them, do it
respectfully and kindly. They have feelings just like we do. God didn’t call
them into ministry because they’re perfect. He called them so that He could use
them to grow the church and to demonstrate His power through them.
God
called Moses to return to Egypt and ask Pharoah to let Israel go; Moses’
response, in short, was, “Not me! Find another person!” When he finally led
them out of slavery, it was a tough responsibility for him, But God! Those
people grumbled, murmured, tried to stone him; they made his life miserable; he
was constantly praying (see Exodus 17:2-4). There’s no reason why anyone’s life
should be made that miserable. We have an advantage over the Israelites because
we have the Scriptures full of examples, and if we pay careful attention to
what it teaches, we should do better. Let’s not repeat their mistakes. There
have even been church splits because of misunderstandings. This shouldn’t
be.
In order
to enhance our own growth and the growth of the congregation, in addition to the responsibilities
I’ve mentioned above, let’s also pray for our leaders: pray to see how best we
can serve and encourage them. Let’s help them enjoy their calling and
responsibilities. The Scriptures charge us to, “Get rid of all bitterness,
rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior.
instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as
God through Christ has forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:31-32).
When
the Israelites were attacked by the Amalekites in the wilderness, Moses
instructed Joshua to select some of the men to fight their attackers.
Meanwhile, Moses stood on top of the hill with his arm raised with the staff.
As long as his arm was up, Israel prevailed, but when his arm got too tired to
stay up, the Amalekites prevailed. But thank God for Aaron and Hur; they got a
stone for Moses to sit on while they each held up an arm. His arm stayed steady
until sunset. Needless to say, the Amalekites were defeated (see Ex
17:8-13).
Well, are we going to encourage and support our pastors, or are we going to be discouragers and troublemakers? Let’s come alongside them and cheer them on. What a big difference that will make.
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