Dirty Doors Off Track

Last week my husband and I had a going away party for our eldest son at my sister's house.  I took my two sons over to her house Thursday and we set to work cleaning the party areas with her and her sons.  The food was going to be on their deck so we were trying to get the sliding doors to the deck clean. My sister's house has two sets of glass sliding doors about 6 inches apart with a screen between the sets. The dilemma we faced was the screen door and outside glass sliding set were off track, they were stuck.

I am going to be frank in this blog, you may even find it offensive.  We are like those doors. We are stuck and it is keeping us dirty.  We have become stuck on ourselves, on our opinions, on our feelings.  Our current culture has embraced the spirit of offense.  We are offended by people who dare disagree with our opinions and by the suggestion that we change to agree with them or even listen to them objectively.

Like the doors at my sister's house we are stuck in the same place collecting dust, dirt, and grime.  The filth accumulates and makes it difficult to see clearly.  We cannot see people, their situations or the world free of the filters we apply with our preconceptions, assumptions, and judgement.  Our stubbornness keeps us from being washed clean and seeing the beauty in the world God created.

I was created with a stubborn streak. I was determined to help my sister get her doors clean.  My love for her makes her goals my goals too.  I inherited a bit of our father's mechanical aptitude, so it wasn't long before I grabbed a screwdriver and got busy.  It took a lot of time, the removal of ten screws, and some major muscle strain, but I was able to remove the outermost  glass sliding door and the screen door. Removing those doors was a necessary step to getting inner door of the outside slider back on track. I made some adjustments to the rollers, cleaned the tracks and soon the removed doors were back on their tracks. The final step was replacing the removed screws and adjusting them to secure the rollers in place. Once we were able to move all the doors freely then and only then were we able to gain access to the outside of the inner set of sliding doors and begin cleaning.

It was a lot of work, but so is getting beyond ourselves to love others.  Sometimes we have to work hard to remove the things that push us off track -- our stubborn wounded pride, preconceptions, assumptions, and judgement. It is the same filth that clouds our view.  We are not actively loving people when we are allowing their words or actions to offend us.

I am going to take it a step deeper for Christians, We are not BEING the Church when we are focusing on the sins of the other people in the church and allowing it to offend us. We are off track. We all have sins we are battling to overcome with Christ.  When we are called to BE the Church it has very little to do with the pastor's sermons, worship songs, color of the paint, planning meetings, and snacks and has more to do with loving each other like brothers and sisters so that we can reach out together and show the World the love God wants to lavish on them.  When we focus on the meetings we weren't invited to attend, the ministries we aren't willing to help, the misspoken words, and goofy antics of those trying to teach kids and teens that loving God is more than following a set of rules--we are not working together to reach and love the lost.

What a relief, God gave us the tools, similar to my screwdriver, to fix the conflicts that get the Church off track.  We have prayer and the Word.  These are not just any tools, these are power tools.

Prayer is the most powerful tool we could be given.  We have the privilege of talking to God. The time we spend conversing with our Creator allows our brains to focus on something good and holy through the flood of emotion enabling us to respond instead of react.  We give ourselves a chance to remember the grace and forgiveness available through Jesus.

Jesus taught us how to resolve conflicts with our church family in Matthew 18.  The disciples were arguing amongst themselves about who was the greatest.  Jesus tells them to stop being so self-centered and remember that He called them to fish for men.  In verses 15 through 17 Jesus gives us a 3 step guide for confronting sin in the church.

STEP 1: 15 “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother." -- You must talk to the person in private and be willing to discuss calmly what happened, any sins that were committed and be ready to show your brother where in God's Word you found the teaching that corresponds with particular sin.

STEP 2: 16 "But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed." --Your next step is to set up a small meeting with other people who witnessed the same sin and calmly present each person's account of what happened and again be ready to show your brother where in God's Word you found the teaching that corresponds with particular sin. This should not look or feel like an ambush. This is not rallying your friends to support your side of the situation.

STEP 3: 17 "If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church;"--You last step is to bring the sin to the attention of the church body. The most important part of every step is that it should be done in a spirit of love and not judgement.

Jesus warns us in Matthew 7:1-5 against judging others. I try to give careful consideration to verse 3, before I confront another about their sin.

3 "Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?"

I believe it is wise and prudent to make sure the sin that needs to be corrected is not my own. I need to be sure I am on track with a clear view of the situation so that I can be a door that allows God's love to shine through me to the world.