Guest Post by Pastor Jonathan Vazquez
I was raised in the Apostolic church. The very first scripture I remember memorizing was Matthew 5:44. This powerful scripture says, “But I say unto you, Love
your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” I have tried to live this scripture in my life.
This passage instructs Christians to handle those who mistreat us with kindness and grace regardless of how we are treated. If the Lord commands love, blessing, good and prayer for those who are enemies, curse us, hate us and despitefully use and persecute us, how much more does He demand grace and kindness to be shown to our fellow believers? Furthermore, if all Christians are instructed to comport themselves in such a manner, how much more should those who have received the sacred call of preaching the gospel hold themselves to a higher standard?
I have been distressed about the liberty of rudeness that so many believers, especially ministers, take in regards to how they communicate with each other – especially on social media. I cringe when fights are carried out in the public venue of Facebook, Twitter or whatever social media outlet is used. The church members we preach to and chastise for certain behaviors read posts that are obviously intended to incite anger or illicit a response.
So many pontificate on their pet doctrines and wait for those who disagree. Even if they are totally right in their point of view, it does not give them the right to carry the argument in a public forum. What do unbelievers think when they see preachers warring with each other in such a way? How does the drug addict who desperately needs God feel when he sees those who claim to have an answer for him fighting over some particular pet peeve? Carry on your discussions in private, face-to-face or on the phone, but don’t smear the ministry by descending into the gutters of arguments that no one will win on social media.
It appears some people just enjoy the battle. They seem to get some sense of satisfaction from “standing for truth” and then adopt a martyr complex if people disagree. A mentality that “I just have to say something” is narcissistic. To think that your argument is the one that will change everyone is foolhardy. The “I want everyone to know where I stand” argument reveals a low self-image or is just an excuse. If your life and ministry doesn’t stand on its own, a social media explanation probably won’t help you too much. Simply put – If you like to argue, you need an altar.
Launching personal attacks on social media reveals a weakness of character and integrity and is certainly not a sign of boldness. It is always easier to hide behind a keyboard than it is to address an issue face-to-face. Please note that I am not naïve enough to believe that there will never be misunderstandings in the realm of social media, but escalating it to personal and drawn-out conflict is never appropriate.
I think that some of the liberty we take on social media may be a result of some of the liberty we have allowed ourselves in the pulpit. Over the years, the most embarrassed I have been about my ministry is centered on times when I feel I have been rude or crude. However, Pentecost has created superstars out of ministers whose calling card is rudeness and bad manners. If certain behaviors are acceptable in the pulpit, then we lose our authority to chastise in private. We must hold ourselves to a higher standard of conduct.
Satan is as vile a creature as there could possibly be. Beside him, Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Hussein and Bin Laden were mere amateurs. If there has ever been a being that deserved to be railed against, it is he. But notice how Michael the archangel handled his fellow, and fallen, archangel: “Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee (Jude 9).” The Complete Jewish Bible says that Michael would not bring “an insulting charge.” The New International Version says that he “did not dare bring a slanderous charge.” How, then, can we feel so free to treat fellow members of the ministry so rudely? Even if you feel a person doesn’t deserve to be in the ministry, he or she are certainly not on a level with Satan!
Jesus, in a conversation with His hand-picked preachers, said, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another (John 13:35).” We don’t prove our ministries by arguing and fighting with each other publicly; we prove it by showing love one to another. Regardless of who started it, we should take the initiative to finish it. How I am treated doesn’t give me the right to reciprocate. Jesus said, “For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same (Matthew 5:46)?”
Paul said, “I … beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:1-3).” We should walk worthy of our calling. Paul talks about traits which we should exhibit: lowliness, meekness and longsuffering. He declares that we should “forbear” one another in love. To forbear means to “put up with,” to endure and to “bear with.” The bottom line is that we will never agree with nor like everything about each other but that is where forbearing comes in. At times, we must simply endure, bear with and put up with each other’s idiosyncrasies and variations from our personal feelings. The Apostle finally instructs that we should be endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. The word “bond” in the Greek means “the uniting principle.” Our uniting principle is to keep peace among the brotherhood and, by doing so, we keep the unity of the Spirit. Notice that Spirit in this passage is capitalized not lower case indicating that it is talking about the Spirit of the Lord. You cannot be in unity with the Spirit of the Lord and be at war with your brother.
Notice how the Apostle John instructs the church: “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also (1 John 4:20-21).” According to the Bible, those who justify hate and bitterness are lying to themselves when they say they love God. We have a direct commandment from the Lord to love each other. For a good study of exactly what that means read 1 Corinthians chapter 13. Love suffers long, is kind; is not envious; does not boast, is not proud, is not rude, is not self-seeking, and is not easily angered. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. Any preacher who does not teach this chapter to his church is derelict in his duties. Every preacher needs to practice this passage in dealing with each other.
One thing that appears to be absent from many in our ranks is the idea of having compassion one for another. In our quest to prove our virtue, we often fail to think how what we say may be received by those around us. I am not talking about compromising the message or any facet of truth; if you know me, you know that. I am talking about “Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt (Colossians 4:6).” Sometimes how you say something matters as much as what you say. The Apostle Peter said, “Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing (1 Peter 3:8-9).” If we would remember that our blessing is tied to how we treat each other, we would all raise our standard of conduct in person and on social media. Paul instructed us to be kind and tenderhearted to one and other (Ephesians 4:32) but then he took it one step further. He tied our own forgiveness to how we forgive each other. Nursing a grudge is tantamount to building a dam on the flow of forgiveness into your own life.
Brothers, let’s focus our fight on the devil not on one another. Let’s not cannibalize the ministry when there is a world to win. Understand that God cares how we treat each other and that He loved the worst of us enough to die for us. Furthermore, public battles on social media, or in any other forum, diminishes those who engage in them and rarely, if ever bring any value to the Kingdom of God. We are ambassadors for Christ and everything we do is a reflection of the One we represent.
