Soap Bubbles in the Wind
Her heart broken, the little girl stood before her mother. "Mommy, I said some things at school today that hurt my friends. I apologized to them. Some forgave me; some wouldn't. What should I do?"
"Were you really sorry you did it, or were you just sorry you got caught?"
"No, Mommy, I really meant it. I don't want to hurt anyone."
"Well Sweetheart, if you tried to make things right the rest is up to them. It's a matter between them and God, of their own growing and maturity. Come with me. I want to show you something."
The two walked out into the meadow behind their home.
At the top of a little rise the mother pulled out a bottle of soapy liquid. "Here. Pull out the plastic wand. Now turn it a little sideways. That's it. Now, blow gently across the loop."
As the girl did so, dozens of shiny little bubbles raced across the meadow in the wind. "Now, hand me the wand. I want you to go pick up each and every bubble and put it back into the bottle."
"But Mommy, that's impossible. They're all over the place, and most of them have popped!"
"Yes, Sweetheart. That's how it is with what you say, write and do. Those bubbles were made using your breath that came from inside of you. Once they are out there, you can never get them back. The people you send them to can never un-hear them or un-read them. That's why you have to think carefully before you say or do anything that might hurt someone else."
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This little story demonstrates a failing in human nature: speaking or acting before the heart and mind are fully engaged, and thereby causing much damage and injury.
Despicably, the Church is not immune despite having the best guidance and example possible in the Bible. The offenders are not always Judas Goats or wolves in sheep's clothing, either. No, the Body of Christ contains within it far too many "carnal" Christians: those whose lives at times so resemble the lost world that one must closely scrutinize to determine the difference.
Indeed, it has been said that the human component of the Army of God is the only military force in the universe that shoots its own wounded. Many "soldiers" do not hesitate to run down their fellows in arms for real or perceived flaws; tear into them for failures (forgetting conveniently that their own clothes are not exactly fresh and clean); refuse to forgive and welcome the wandering ones back into the fold.
"And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?" ~~ 1 Corinthians 3:1-3
It can be too easy to forget that the enemy is ahead of us. We should be facing the enemy in a unified front, rather than risking the mission with nominally "friendly fire." Remember, if your brother believes the basic tenets of the faith HE IS YOUR BROTHER, less critical doctrinal differences notwithstanding. Were we to keep this in mind, we'd be doing a drastically more effective job of winning the lost and dying, bringing the wandering back into the fold, and edifying the brethren.
This I would urge upon all who call themselves by the Name of Christ:
(1) Anything you hear or read regarding another Christian -- consider the source. Is it/he proven to be reliable, unbiased, and free of agenda? If not, disregard any allegations. Before you share your "news" with others, ask: what really is your motive, the deepest reason in your heart for gossiping?
(2) Be cautions about appointing yourself prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner. Your ego and self-righteousness could expose you more as a Pharisee. "Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:" ~~ Luke 6:37
(3) Walk in instant forgiveness and repentance. "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, 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; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." ~~ Ephesians 4:1-3
(4) Beware of spreading tales concerning especially other believers. "Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people;" ~~ Leviticus 19:16 "The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly." ~~ Proverbs 18:8 "Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth." Proverbs 26:20 "These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, an heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
