Subtitle: Lettuce be kind, squash gossip and turnip for church.
Excerpt: Christians should prioritize kindness and grace, avoid gossip, and remain committed to their church despite sin within it.
Theology on the Lighter Side—Kindness, the lack of gossip, and regularly going to a Biblical Christian church are not bad goals for entrance into God’s eternal garden.
Kindness
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. - Ephesians 4:32
Kindness and grace need to be the hallmark of the Christian life, directed to the saved and the unsaved. There will be times when “iron sharpens iron” (Proverbs 27:17) and rebuke of the practices of the lost. However, God is love (1 John 4:8) and we need to also represent His love as the Lord’s ambassadors.
Gossip
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. - Ephesians 4:29
Gossip is bad for the body of Christ but worse for one’s testimony when helping the lost. My background is in chaplaincy in the workplace with an agency that has as its mission to share the gospel. There is nothing more destructive to offering counsel to unbelievers going through difficult times than to breach confidentiality through gossip. If a chaplain cannot hold the trust of employees, it will spread like wildfire throughout an organization and block future openness of others. Trust in the ability to have private conversations without disclosure (unless there is imminent danger to the individual and/or others) results in an expanding ministry.
Church
Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. - Ephesians 2:20-21
Many today who call themselves Christians have rejected the church. Some are lazy on Sunday mornings, some don’t want to hear the truth that challenges their behavior, some have been hurt by sinners in the church, and some have gone to bad churches that don’t support Biblical Christianity. The reality is that mankind was never meant to be an island in our Christian faith and practice. Furthermore, individuals who reject the church due to the presence of sin should examine their own shortcomings (Romans 3:23). To choose not to look for and attend a “good” church is the first step on the path to faith deconstruction, for oneself and those who, as parents, are held accountable for training up a child (Proverbs 22:6).
Salvation – Eternal Life in Less Than 150 Words
Distributed by – BCWorldview.org
