II Timothy 2:3
"Thou therefore endure hardness
as a good soldier of Jesus Christ..."
Christians are soldiers of the Lord.
We are in a war, a spiritual war.
We, as Christian soldiers,
fight against the devil and evil powers.
That is why we must put on the spiritual armor that God has provided.
Christian soldiers must live up to certain standards. If one is a good soldier, he must obey rules, follow the orders of the superiors, and keep his body in physical condition.
An army needs more than one soldier. It is not every man for himself. Rather, it is every man for the others.
So what does one soldier do when another soldier is wounded?
The wounded soldier must be pulled to safety.
A helicopter is used in many battle fields to rescue wounded soldiers.
The medics, doctors, nurses fight to save the life of soldiers who are wounded in today's battlefields.
That is the way it is in the armies of this world.
In God's army, it is quite different.
In God's army, many of his soldiers are shooting their own, and have forgotten to shoot at the real enemy. Some of God's army will sit back and watch the active soldiers fight the enemy, and await the wounding of one of them. Then they jump on the wounded the soldier to finish them off.
The Christian army has been called
"the only army that shoots its wounded." How tragic!
What has happened to the natural love of one soldier for his wounded brother? Why do Christians step on, shoot, and hurt their own wounded? Why do some find fault with one who has been wounded?
None of us are perfect! We have all failed, and likewise been wounded. Still, even some Christians who have been previously wounded show no mercy for others who become wounded. How can we be so inconsiderate?
How can "CHRISTIANS" be so heartless? How has the Christian army become so stupid?
Galatians 6:1-2
"Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault,
ye which are spiritual,
restore such a one in the spirit of meekness,
considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
Bear ye one another's burdens
and so fulfill the law of Christ."
The word "overtaken" is from a Greek word which means "found out, detected..." What do we do when we "detect," or have "found out" a failure in another Christian? What do we do when another Christian backslides? Do we criticize them? Do we ignore them? Do we step on them, as they lie there wounded? Do we kick them out of the church? We know that the devil is out to get even the elect of God. Why does the Christian army help the devil?
Some Christians think their job is "fault-detector." They enjoy finding faults in other Christians. We are not "fault-detectors" for the purpose of criticizing, gossiping, or kicking out the one detected in a sin. We are to be in the restoring business.
"Ye which are spiritual" are to help the carnal, fallen, sinful, weak, abused, hurting, confused saints.
God knows the other "carnal" saints will be of no help to the fallen soldiers. The carnal saints will just use the other's failures to excuse his own. The spiritual saints are called upon to do what should be done, and that is, to lovingly restore the fallen soldiers.
This process is to be done "in the spirit of meekness." This means we are to remain aware of our own vulnerability. We too may sin and be a wounded soldier as the one we are helping. Remember how you will want to be treated when you fall. We would want someone to bear our burdens, lovingly care for our wounds. so, we are commanded to lovingly care for fallen, wounded soldiers in the same way.
John 13:34-35
"A new commandment I give unto you,
that ye love one another;
as I have loved you,
that ye also love one another.
By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples,
if ye have love one for another."
Jesus gave us this commandment, and then He gave us a perfect example of how to do it. Peter denied Christ three times. Despite the horrible failure of one of His own, Jesus told the women at the tomb, "Go and tell the disciples, and Peter..."
Note the special emphasis on Peter. Jesus did not pick on Peter. Nor, did He tell Peter, "I told you so!" Rather, He brought Peter back to a greater place and calling.
Nathan told David a story about a man with one lone sheep. He had dove and respect for his king. Yet, it was David who had caused a man to be killed, and had caused the man's wife to become pregnant. For many Christians, it would have been simple to attack, criticize, gossip, and faultfind the king, but Nathan handled it is such a way, that there was repentance.
David had also treated King Saul with respect, despite Saul's waywardness. He remembered to "touch not mine anointed" (I Chronicles 16:22), and did not take his opportunity to kill King Saul. He allowed God to remove King Saul in God's timing.
Elijah sat under a juniper tree. He was discouraged, scared, and running out of water. God sent an angel, not to rebuke Elijah for his fear, doubt, and discouragement... but to feed, encourage rest, and counsel him.
Jonah was a bigot, full of judgmental attitude, and running from God. God did not give up on him. God continued to work on Jonah, and bring him to Nineveh. How easy it is for many today to faultfind the stubborn and bigoted, without encouraging, strengthening, and binding up those so wounded.
Paul and John Mark must have had a major disagreement. Paul split from Barnabus over the issue. Barnabus was correct on this disagreement. Paul was too ready to give up. Too often Christians are ready to give up on the weak. We need more like Barnabus.
The Christian world would do well to have a national day of repentance for its shooting of the wounded. We need to carry a burden for the weak... Sunday School teachers, pastors, pastors' wives, board members, youth leaders, etc. all need to repent for giving up easily on the wayward, the weak, the wounded, and the stumbled.
I Corinthians 12:25-26
"...the members should have the same care one for another... whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it..."
The early church had contentions. They argued and debated:
what to eat or drink,
with whom to eat,
where to eat,
where to buy meat,
what day to keep the Sabbath,
how to keep the Sabbath,
whether to be circumcised,
whether to keep the law of Moses,
what to wear,
what customs to keep,
etc.
Today's church congregations also have many contentions. We need to learn how to handle those contentions, the contenders, and the victims of such contentions. Too often there are some as in the early church, who are "tattlers," and "busybodies".
I Timothy 5:13
"...learn to be idle,
wandering from house to house,
and not only idle, but tattlers and busybodies..."
Many Christians think they have the gift of tattling, criticizing, fault finding, and gossiping. What a cost these have had to Christianity. These "Christian" soldiers that shoot the wounded, break hearts, abuse the weak, and offend the sensitive, are doing damage to the "body of Christ." How many wrecked homes, broken hearts, and wounded do you know? How many have come back to church to feel shamed, violated, affronted, insulted, aggravated, and repelled?
What is the answer? We need to fellowship with all Christians. Don't despise and judge, but leave that to the Holy Spirit. He has never asked Christians to do His job... we are commanded to love, not to criticize... We are responsible to offer Jesus to the convicted, the hurting, and the wounded...
Demonstrate the love of the Lord to the fallen, the drifting, and the backsliding. Bear the weaknesses of the fallen. If you cannot say something good about someone, then pray for them. Stop jumping to conclusions. When you speak to the wounded, uplift them, love them, care for them, and edify them.
