Church: Dear Believers, do not worry yourself with the evil
in this world. This evil is powerless to stop the amazing plan of God upon your
life and even upon the history of all mankind. Because of Christ, evil is
merely a pawn in the hand of God to show off the glory of redemption. Be
encouraged, and know that all things, even the evil of the curse, work together
for good, to those who love God.
Hurting church member: Thank you, Church. I needed this
encouragement, because I have experienced a lot of pain lately.
Church: Tell me more about this pain.
Hurting church member: Well, a general mixture of church and
non-church people have successfully abused me emotionally and physically, they
have slandered me and those that I love, they have imposed harmful expectations
upon me and those that I love (expectations not in the Bible), they have raised
their voices in anger against me, and several other things. My pain is deep and
real. Can you speak more comfort to me of this loving plan of God to use this
evil for good? Can you embrace me with safe and kind words for a bit? I am
afraid, angry, and confused.
Church: Well, this may be challenging.
Hurting church member: Really? Why?
Church: I know of those that have abused you, and I do not
doubt that a few of them did the wrong thing. From what I’ve learned from you
in the last couple minutes, I can tell that you probably provoked this abuse in
some cases.
Hurting church member: Really?
Church: Regarding the others that you feel abused you, many
of them did not intend to abuse you as you say. You ought to forgive them for
the evil you perceived that they did to you. You also must know that it was
never about you anyway.
Hurting church member: I imagined it?
Church: I know of those that slandered you, and you have to
understand that their words are simply a matter of perspective. If you
understood their perspective, you would better understand why the things that
they said were at least a little bit true.
Hurting church member: I feel like this is something you
should share with them, as well. The slander that they spread came as a result
of misunderstanding my perspective.
Church: You see, that is the problem. You “felt like” they
did you wrong. You ought not to live by your feelings.
Hurting church member: I’m just explaining myself….
Church: Now you are just getting defensive. Obviously,
something else is going on here, and you need to go to the Word of God and grow
in your relationship with Christ. You see, I also know those that imposed their
standards on you and those you love. The truth is that they read the Bible, and
their conscience feels strongly. You ought to be more patient with their conscience
and not seek to offend. You ought to be more teachable, even if you do not
agree.
Hurting church member: I did not mean to offend anyone or be
unteachable.
Church: Whether or not you meant to offend, the fact is that
they are offended.
Hurting church member: But then maybe they should understand
that I did not intend to offend them. Didn’t you tell me that it wasn’t about
me? The way that I live isn’t about them either. My understanding of the Bible
leads me to act in this way, and I gave no thought that anyone would be
offended.
Church: You should be more careful.
Hurting church member: This is all very overwhelming. I
could really use some words of assurance and comfort.
Church: You seem very argumentative.
Hurting church member: My mind is a bit mixed up and
confused right now. I’m just trying to make sense of things.
Church: You shouldn’t be trying so hard. The Bible is clear
about what God wants from us.
Hurting church member: Well, there seem to be a lot of
different opinions flying around about all kinds of things.
Church: If you read the Bible more, you wouldn’t be so
overwhelmed with different opinions.
Hurting church member: When I read the Bible for myself and
acted in obedience, then several church people stood up and spoke harshly to
me. I wish that they would not have done that.
Church: I can already tell from this conversation that you
are a very argumentative person. They probably felt attacked. MacArthur wrote a
really great book about this. You should read it and better understand what God
is saying here.
Hurting church member: But I thought you just said to read
the Bible for myself.
Church: You will not be taught. You will not let go of your
anger. You are choosing to be hurt, and you are bitter. People are not perfect,
you know. You should forgive and grow.
Hurting church member: It seems like you think that no one
really wronged me, that I just imagined it?
Church: Well, you sound a little bit hypocritical right now.
Are you saying that you didn’t sin?
Hurting church member: I don’t know. I’m confused and
devastated.
Church: Take your pain and confusion to Christ.
Hurting church member: Would you say that Christ is your
leader?
Church: Why are you
being so accusatory? Of course we follow Christ.
Former church member: Just checking.
