A few weeks ago I was driving and heard a news report of a soldier wounded in a bombing in the Middle East. He had lost a leg and an eye in the bomb blast and had fought hard to stay alive. Many of his fellow warriors had fought the battle for life and lost. In an effort to honor his comrades he had set a goal of going back to the mountain side his platoon had trained on and to scale the mountain again in honor of his friends who had died. The day his climb was successful he endured through limited vision and his prosthetic leg. At some point closer to the top the prosthetic proved more of a hindrance than help so he removed it and proceeded to crawl to the ascent. His victory came as he remembered his brothers at the pinnacle of the mountain.
I was greatly inspired by this warrior’s testimony and admired the depth of his love and loyalty to his brothers at arms. Then my mind pondered why we brothers and sisters of faith don’t express our devotion to our God and each other like that. Instead there are many times just the opposite is true. Christian warriors have been known to wound their own at high rates. Words and attitudes are the weapon of choice. Shunning or leaving fellow warriors out is a form of warfare used. Judgmental and critical heart attitudes cripple. Not everyone in the local church acts like this, but if only a few do it can cause many hurt and wounded warriors.
Maybe you could name someone right now who once attended church regularly but due to an experience with a fellow believer has distanced themselves from the church. Do you know of an unbeliever who has said to you “I would go to church, but the people there are no different than anyone else.” As believers we are instructed to be different.
Check out Romans 12:9 through the end of the chapter. Paul says from the beginning that our love must be sincere or real. He urges us to outdo one another in showing brotherly love. He goes on to instruct believers to not lose their spiritual zeal, which means to persevere in love and obedience to the Lord Jesus. He instructs us to help those in need and to practice hospitality. The last verses talk about dealing with others who are not kind or loving to you. He instructs us to live at peace with all men as much as it is up to us. It encourages us to return good for evil and to heap burning coals of kindness on the other person’s head. In the end Paul says “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” What a great challenge!
If you know someone who has been hurt by the church or a church member, go to them and apologize for whoever or whatever hurt them. You can’t go back and “fix it”, but you can love them and treat them with respect. Develop a friendship with them and when the time is right, invite them to come to church with you. If you were the one hurt, choose to forgive even if the other person never apologizes. God will reward that. Get back into the fellowship of believers. We must persevere as the wounded warrior did in climbing the mountain. It will not be an easy path to minister to those who have been wounded or to forgive those who have hurt you, but it is needed. I am joining you in climbing this mountain and with God’s help we will see Him heal those around us. We will make it to the top even if it means crawling. In the end the most important thing is to bring honor and glory to The One who really matters. Climb on!