The last thing that you go to church for is more problems.
Being surrounded by them everywhere you go, it is natural to prefer that church be a place where you can retreat from them all.
Ideally, church should be a pleasant, trouble-free, and uplifting place. And let’s face it, if you arrive five minutes late and leave 5 minutes early, the chances are it will be that way for you.
But in the real world, you can’t expect it to be trouble-free. After all, people come with their burdens and baggage as well as their blessings. It is inevitable that the devil, given the chance, is going to start on you when someone hurts your feelings and end only when your faith and friendships are in ruin. That’s his style and his mission. He is a church wrecker by nature.
Jesus did not present a Problem-Free Kingdom. The church is a family where all have this in common: God has accepted us with all our issues, and we are expected to accept one another with all of each other’s issues.
This will cause PEACE or PROBLEMS.
PEACE if we help each other in the spirit of Christ.
PROBLEMS if we undermine each other’s growth in the spirit of selfishness.
The twentieth century did us no favours in the area of problem solving. It somehow removed any notion that life and learning is all about ‘trial and error.’ The concept of ‘We live and learn’ was rejected for, ‘I know what I’m doing.’
There are some things that every church of Christ should be known for when it comes to everyday problem solving.*Like Jesus we see problems in light of the salvation of the world.
*We automatically give the other person the benefit of the doubt.
*We have tender hearts but thick skins. *We believe that taking criticisms too personally kills meaningful dialogue.
*We are careful not to champion someone’s cause out of partiality.Believe me, most church problems disappear when we forgive and forget and move on…
John Staiger
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