Dealing with Fellow Christians
In case you haven’t heard, Anne Rice recently left the Church, and it seems any formalized type of Christianity, saying that she was fed up with Christians. In her words, “In the name of Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen.”
I understand the impulse – it can be difficult to “belong to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group” known as Christians. To say we often don’t do Jesus proud would be putting it mildly.
God knows (literally and figuratively) that the behavior of Christians is sometimes embarrassing, damaging, and even shameful. We could say the same for any individual (myself, sadly, included). And yet in spite of that – or perhaps because of that – Jesus became man and died for us. He continues to love us – calling us to be better, and more like Him.
So since God is always ready to forgive us, despite all the harm we’ve done to Him and others, how can we possibly do otherwise? If we are true followers of Jesus, how can we give up on anyone, let alone our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ?
We, the Church, are the body of Christ (see 1 Cor 12:27, Eph 5:23). So to give up on Christians is in fact to give up on Christ!
No part of this job is easy. But it is our responsibility not to turn our back on our brethren! We must help them – and humbly receive their correction when we’re the ones not acting like Christians. “Correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction (2 Tim 4:2), “Encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone” (1 Thes 5:14). Easy? No. But following Christ rarely is.
Christian Living | admin | 
August 13, 2010 8:06 pm
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By Byron, August 14, 2010 @ 9:13 pm
I agree with you, Jesus should be our example and never give up on our our brethren, or anyone else in our life that may not know Jesus.
When I hear or read something like this, I think about the parable of Luke 13:6-9, where the master wants to cut down the unproductive fig tree, but the keeper pleads for one more year to care for the tree.
We should also be like that, never give up on others, but continue to support, and nurture them.