Tuesday, September 4, 2007
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It used to be that just one superpower had missiles which could carry deadly destruction to American soil. But in today's post-Cold War world, there are several countries that either have or may soon have that capability; which has necessitated some fresh thinking about America's defense against a missile attack. That, in turn, has birthed the idea of anti-missile missiles. It could be a controversial plan sometimes, but it proposes that we launch defensive missiles to pre-empt and destroy an incoming enemy missile.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about "Knocking Down The Missiles."
Now look, I don't know if the idea of destroying an incoming missile is workable or advisable for our national defense. That's not my area. But I do know this: that the Kingdom of God could use more people who knock down verbal missiles before they do a lot of damage. Just look around your church - your circle of Christians. Too much gossip and backstabbing? Too much misunderstanding between spiritual brothers and sisters? Do you see walls and hard feelings and disunity developing?
You can be part of the answer if you'll commit yourself to seven little words that can knock down the missiles that destroy the unity and love of the followers of Jesus. They're based on our word for today from the Word of God in Matthew 18:15. Jesus said, "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault..." Now, notice the scope of your complaint: "...just between the two of you." That could just be one of the most disobeyed commands our Lord ever gave and one of the most damaging disobediences.
We go and talk to everyone but the person we've got the problem with. We would far rather talk about them than to them, and that raises the question of whether we really want a solution or just an audience for our gripes. Now for those seven anti-missile words. When a person comes to you with something negative about another person, get used to saying these words: "Don't talk to me. Talk to him," or, talk to her. Every time you do that, you are standing up for the Jesus-way and you''re standing against Satan's attempts to divide God's children.
The Bible says that "the words of a gossip are like choice morsels" ( Proverbs 18:8). We love to hear the dirt, in other words, but God doesn't. He says, "A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends," ( Proverbs 16:28) and "whoever spreads slander is a fool" ( Proverbs 10:18). The mission of someone who loves Jesus is to contain negative talk - not spread it - and to go direct yourself when you have a problem with another person. You can try to avoid doing it the Biblical way by saying, "Well, they won't listen" or "What good will it do?" Well, really that doesn't matter. Jesus says your responsibility is to go to your brother or sister and keep it (remember the words?) "just between the two of you."
There are way too many missiles being fired by God's children at God's children, and no army can win when they're aiming their weapons at each other. The good news is that you can do something about it. You can show people another way to be; actually, the Jesus way to be. When you hear something negative about a brother or sister, say those seven words, "Don't talk to me. Talk to her (talk to him)." You can knock down some missiles that otherwise could hurt an awful lot of people.