Choosing a Christlike Response Toward Weakness in the Church
By Leslie Ludy
And above all things have fervent love for one another,
for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”
1 Peter 4:8
Eric and I spent the first ten years of our marriage speaking in churches and Christian gatherings around the country, as well as overseas. As a young Christian stepping into the excitement of full-time ministry, I had romanticized ideals about what traveling from church to church would be like. It didn’t take long before those ideals were shattered. While we did meet many truly committed and victorious Christians, we also encountered an uncomfortable amount of counterfeit leaders and hypocritical believers.
I was rattled by the weakness I continually saw in modern Christians. And for years I grappled with how I should respond to it. Should I publicize the hypocrisy and compromise I had seen in the lives of so-called Christians? Should I even bother praying that God would bring a spiritual awakening to believers who seemed so apathetic? Should Eric and I attend a regular church, when every church we visited seemed to be spiritually off-track?
After years of praying that God would show us how to respond to the weakness we saw in the modern Church, the answer came clearly one day in the form of a verse from Revelation:
Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die… Revelation 3:2
Eric and I sensed that God was calling us to strengthen modern believers and to become a “spiritual defibrillator” to a weak and dying Church. And that is when the vision for Ellerslie (our discipleship training center) began to take shape.
God gave us a clear and practical response to the weakness we had seen in Christianity — not to simply complain about the problems we saw, but to get in step with His heart and purpose for the modern Church.
Becoming a blanket carrier is a principle that applies to more than just personal grievances. It should also apply to the weakness we see in Christianity as a whole.
I’d like to walk through three common scenarios in modern Christianity. Chances are you can relate to one or more of these issues, and maybe you have wondered how to respond to them. It is critical that we gain God’s heart for these areas of weakness within the Church so that we don’t respond in a fleshly way and become part of the problem rather than part of God’s solution.
Scenario #1 — You are frustrated by compromise in fellow believers’ lives.
Throughout my years in ministry, I have been tempted many times to become annoyed and cynical toward Christians who live in hypocrisy; Christians who speak one thing with their mouths but live another way with their lives. There have even been moments where I’ve wanted to publicly bash those in the Church who seem to be giving Christianity a bad name, or angrily confront believers who have embraced sloppy spirituality as normal. But I’ve learned that while having a passion to see purity and righteousness return to the Church is certainly a godly quality, it is only half of the picture. Our passion for righteousness must also be balanced with love, grace, patience, and gentleness.
As we labor to see the glory of God return to Christianity once again, we must never forget that truth must always be delivered in a way that reflects God’s nature. Our quest for seeing purity return to the Church can quickly turn into a haughty, demeaning attitude toward other believers if we are not guarded against human anger and pride. No matter how right our perspective may be, if we adopt an attitude of fleshly anger and spiritual pride toward other believers, we cannot reflect the nature and heart of our God. Scripture tells us clearly, “the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (Jas. 1:20). It is not merely standing for the truth that matters, but standing for the truth in God’s way.
Be wary of having a “zeal for God, but not of knowledge” (Rom. 10:2) like many well-meaning Christians who, in their passion to fight for God’s glory, look down on those they disagree with and treat them with contempt.
One of the best things we can do with frustration towards other believers is to take it to God in importunate, wrestling prayer. This may not feel as satisfying as a bold confrontation, but it is infinitely more powerful and effective. In fact, there is a beautiful promise in 1 John 5:16 that says, “If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin…”
Let’s never forget that no matter how brilliant our arguments or passionate our convictions, we can never change anyone — only God can. Prayer is a powerful weapon against compromise. It reminds us that we are not fighting the battle on our own — we are fighting alongside the God of the universe — the God for Whom nothing is impossible.
Remember, it is very possible to stand firm in your convictions and challenge other believers to a higher standard, while still exuding the love and humility of Christ. But it doesn’t happen by accident. I encourage you to look to the Scriptures and study the example of Christ, as well as the lives of godly leaders like Moses, David, and Paul. Ask God to infuse you not only with His spiritual passion, but also with His heart, His love, and His burden for believers who are trapped in a cycle of compromise. Unless we operate in a spirit of love and grace toward the modern Church, our zeal and passion for truth will be rendered completely ineffective and empty. (See 1 Corinthians 13:1.)
Scenario #2 — You are disillusioned by weakness in your Christian heroes.
There is a fairly new trend in Christianity that has been a bit disturbing to watch. When an influential Christian passes away, sometimes “new information” emerges that calls that person’s life and ministry into question. Whether it’s through the words of friends and family who knew them, or the discovery of private journals and letters, unknown “dirt” is suddenly discovered. And whether it accurately portrays the full story or not, it casts a shadow upon someone who is no longer alive to defend themselves or offer any perspective on the situation. This often causes confusion and disillusionment for anyone who had been spiritually impacted by that person’s life and example. After all, if our Christian heroes can’t really live in victory, then who can?
While we should never put Christian heroes on a pedestal or allow their example or teaching to be a replacement for the Word of God as our primary guide, I believe that it is unhealthy to over-fixate on human weakness in other Christians’ lives. When we study Christians who have gone before us, our focus should not be primarily on the person himself, but on God’s work of grace in and through that person’s life and experience. Any Christian testimony or story is ultimately all about God and what He can do through a life.
I don’t believe that Christians in the past should be highlighted simply to emphasize and underscore their human weakness because that doesn’t help us focus on God’s power and faithfulness. Rather, we should focus on their godly decisions, their passion for Christ, and their spiritual strengths — not in a way that glosses over any human weakness — but in a way that can inspire and strengthen us in our Christian walk.
The Apostle Paul was a great example of this. He told the early Church to follow him as he followed Christ, but he also said that he was not perfect and that he had not already attained God’s highest. (See 1 Corinthians 11:1 and Philippians 3:12.)
Clearly there was a blend of human weakness along with Christian heroism in Paul. And even though in Scripture there is a clear acknowledgment of the fact that he was not perfect and that he had not arrived, there is a lot more emphasis on what God did in and through him to build up the churches and the example he set for the believers.
Romans 14:19 tells us that we are to focus on things that “make for peace … and edify another.”
I recently read a book that chronicled the last few years of Corrie ten Boom’s life, written by the woman who was her personal assistant and caregiver during that time. Even though these years were among the most difficult of Corrie’s life and there were many struggles she faced due to extreme physical weakness, the book was beautifully expressed and extremely edifying to my soul. The author could have easily focused on the difficulties, the exhaustion and discouragement of her assignment, and the moments of human weakness she saw in Corrie’s life during that time. Instead, she focused on the amazing, enabling grace of God that she experienced as Corrie’s caregiver and the many moments when she saw Jesus shining through Corrie’s life even when things were extremely hard.
Don’t allow the enemy to rob from the testimony of God’s work of grace in other Christians’ lives. Choose not to focus on human weakness, but on God’s mighty power. God’s story — not merely a human story — is what will truly strengthen and edify the Body.
Scenario #3 — You have been hurt by legalism in the Church.
Legalism is a terrible bondage that the enemy often uses to keep us from truly receiving the hope of Christ. Sadly, there are many circles in modern Christianity that are ensnared by oppressive rules and dour religion.
Legalism is trying to accomplish in our human strength what only the Spirit of God can do; to live an upright life before God by trusting in rules and discipline, rather than trusting in the power of Christ in us, the hope of glory. (See Colossians 1:27.)
If you grew up in a legalistic background, chances are you have been hurt or confused by the many lies that accompany that kind of upbringing. And if you’ve had to wrestle through the fog of legalistic bondage in order to grasp the Gospel and understand your liberty in Christ, it is easy to become bitter and frustrated toward those who steered you incorrectly as you were growing up.
If you have been set free from legalism, the enemy will often bait you to wallow in anger toward your parents, church leaders, or others who tried to oppress you with rules or bait you to even publicly throw them under the bus for their mistakes. But instead of focusing on their weaknesses, I encourage you to focus instead on celebrating what God has done in your life. Don’t let the enemy gain more mileage out of legalism than he already has. Instead, focus on the amazing work of grace God has done in setting you free from a legalistic system and helping you gain victory in Christ.
The Bible tells us that, “if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36). I encourage you to walk in freedom, not only from legalism, but also from any bondage of bitterness toward those who may have hurt you in this area.
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1 Peter 4:8 exhorts us, “…above all things have fervent love for one another, for ‘love will cover a multitude of sins.'”
Our human tendency is to expose weakness in others and weakness in the Church as a whole. But when we allow God to overwhelm us with His supernatural, victorious love toward His Body, our entire perspective changes. That’s when we become His blanket carriers, letting love cover a multitude of sins. Let’s ask Him to flood us with fervent love for those in our lives and give us eyes not to see their weakness, but His strength, hope, and redemption.
Love through me, Love of God;
There is no love in me.
O Fire of love, light Thou the love
That burns perpetually.
Flow through me, Peace of God;
Calm River, flow until
No wind can blow, no current stir
A ripple of self-will.
Shine through me, Joy of God;
Make me like Thy clear air
That Thou dost pour Thy colors through,
As though it were not there
O blessed Love of God,
That all may taste and see
How good Thou art, once more I pray:
Love through me — even me.
Amy Carmichael
This article was originally published in Issue 42.
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