BULLYING, THE WORST SIN OF ALL?

I am feeling quite distressed at the moment. I hear and read so many stories about Christians who have been bullied by other Christians or are actually being bullied right now. 
For many years I was bullied by Christian pastors and leaders and I am ashamed to say I became part of the system and I became for a time a harsh and punishing step-father. 

Jesus spoke very harsh words against the sin of Christian bullying.

But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, 'My master is staying away a long time,' and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. Matthew 24:48-49 (NIV) 

• There are also religious bullies who don't get drunk or indulge in sins of the flesh but is Jesus suggesting that bullying is just as bad as getting drunk and indulging the flesh? or worse?

Bullying does not happen by accident or by chance. It is often an expression of a legalistic religious mindset.

What is legalism? It is an attempt to prevent, correct of punish real or imagined sin by human means using human thinking and human rules. 

You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: "'These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'" Matthew 15:7-9 (NIV) 

Religious legalism usually leads to outright bullying. Jesus spoke more strongly against these two sins than any other sin.

• I am not against pastors. There are wonderful pastors and I know some as personal friends. Pastors too can be victims of bullying. I have seen this several times and it is horrible.

The Apostle Paul was also very strong in condemning bullying. In his second letter to the Corinthian church, Paul rebukes the Corinthian believers. Why? Because of sex sin? No. He dealt with that in his first letter.
He rebukes them for submitting unconditionally to pastors and preachers. Maybe you have read the letter but missed that point. Here it is.

You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or pushes himself forward or slaps you in the face. 2 Cor 11:19-20 (NIV) 

• Any pastor or preacher who demands unconditional and total surrender to himself is a false shepherd. 

• Any pastor who becomes angry, intimidating or threatening towards anyone who criticises or disagrees with him is a false teacher and a false shepherd. 

• Any pastor or leader who imposes his will on people to the point that his word is law, that pastor or leader is a false shepherd.

There are many Christians who feel uneasy, resentful or secretly angry towards over confident, controlling leaders but they believe they must not resist because that would be the sin of rebellion.
This is a false understanding of scripture.

• When King Saul tried to kill David, David fled for his life.

• If you are bullied in church, you are entitled to leave the church. 

It is more than an entitlement. In many circumstances it is you duty before God. 
If you are bullied in church, you face an impossible choice. Either you can follow Jesus, who is totally kind and good and on your side, or you follow a nasty arrogant bully who disguises his cruelty and pride with pious words.

You cannot serve two masters.

Supposing you are imprisoned by religious parents or a ruthlessly controlling husband who will not let you escape from a legalistic church. You could be thrown out into the street or lose your children.

• You must be like Joseph in prison who cultivated a secret relationship with God.

He heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds. Ps147:3 (NIV) 

"The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; 

He has sent Me to heal the broken hearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; Isaiah 61:1 (NKJV) 

• It is good if you can talk back to bullies and it is not a sin but sometimes a soft answer is the best policy.

• In extreme cases, the strongest answer is a stubborn, determined silence, especially if you are expected to agree, express submission or apologise when you believe you are not in the wrong.

When Jesus was on trial for his life, He answered many aggressive questions and accusations with SILENCE. 

• His SILENCE was the strongest answer. 

DON'T LIMIT GOD. HIS BEST IS FOR YOU

Psalm 103:2-4 (NIV) A Psalm of DAVID

• Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-
• who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, 
• who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, 

Here David is encouraging himself my meditating on the promises of God for himself. We all need to do this when we are down or in need. 

• If you tell me you are never down or you don’t have any unmet needs I don’t believe you.

Clearly David believes God’s promises are comprehensive. 

• He is saved from the pit of despair and damnation. 

• God forgives all his sins and also heals all his diseases. 

ALL is a bold word. 

• If you believe for ALL these things, you have a very bold faith, and rather controversial because many people want to believe for forgiven sins but not too much more.

You might say David was a specially chosen prophet and king, a special favourite of God. Maybe he is just talking about his own special privileges with God.

• So is David just talking about himself and a few specially chosen ones?

The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. Psalm 103:6 (NIV) 

Here is this word ALL again but this time it is not only ALL sins forgiven and ALL diseases healed but God’s miraculous power and favour available to ALL who need help.

Who is included in God’s favour?

He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel: Psalm 103:7 (NIV) 

In the Old Testament, God worked mighty miracles for Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and many other heroes of faith but God also forgave, healed, protected and saved ALL the people of Israel when they escaped from Egypt and crossed the Red Sea.

He also brought them out with silver and gold, And there was none feeble among His tribes. Psalm 105:37 (NKJV) 

But is God’s mercy and power only for the sons and daughters of Jacob, the people of Israel. David gives the rest of us words of hope.

For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; Psalm 103:11 (NKJV)

A Syrian general was suffering from incurable leprosy. He had a captured Hebrew slave girl who told her about the prophet Elisha in Israel. When General Naaman found Elisha, the prophet sent him a message.

Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, "Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed." 2 Kings 5:10 (NIV) 

The general was angry but he reconsidered and did what he was told. When he came up out of the dirty river for the seventh time, he was healed. 

God wants to forgive all your sins and heal all your diseases but are you willing to honour God with your simple trust and humble obedience?

If you respect and trust God, if you revere and love Jesus, God’s promises are also for you.

But there are always some people who want to believe in a theology that limits God. God healed the Jews and some other people in the Old Testament but what about today?

Matthew 8:16-17 (ESV) 

• That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. 
• This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.” 

When did Jesus take our illnesses and bear our diseases? On the cross. 

This is a quote from Isaiah 53, which is a prophecy of Jesus suffering on the cross for our salvation.

Surely our sicknesses he hath borne, And our pains--he hath carried them, And we--we have esteemed him plagued, Smitten of God, and afflicted. Isaiah 53:4 (YLT)

Here Young’s Literal Translation accurately translates Isaiah and agrees with the Greek translation in Matthew 8:17.

Jesus died to pay the price for your complete salvation, to take away your sin, guilt and condemnation and also to deliver you from the consequences of sin, which include sickness.

GOD TRANSFORMS YOUR SHAME INTO BLESSING

"Fear not, for you will not be put to shame; And do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced; But you will forget the shame of your youth,  Isaiah 54:4 (NASB) 

God remembers everything in your life, the good, the bad and the ugly. 

But doesn’t the Bible say that God forgets your sins when He forgives?

God decides not to remember your sin as sin. But God keeps a record of everything in your past and in your history for another purpose. 

 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 (NIV) 

God keeps a record of your entire life for the purpose of healing the wounds in your soul. 

• Better than that, God uses the wrong things that have happened in your life to bless you and others.

When Moses died, Joshua took over the leadership of Israel. 
Before the Israelites miraculously crossed the Jordan River, Joshua sent spies into Jericho. 

• They narrowly escaped capture when they took refuge in a brothel. The prostitute Rahab protected them because she believed in the God of Israel. 
• When the city of Jericho fell, Rahab’s house was preserved and she was welcomed into Israel as a convert to the true God. 
• She became the grandmother of the grandfather of King David. 
• Rahab is one of only four women listed in the family tree of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. 

Jesus said to the self righteous Jewish religious leaders:

 ... Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. Matthew 21:31 (NIV) 

How many prostitutes have been encouraged to respond to the love of God by the story of Rahab? 

• God uses the record of our past lives to bless us and bless others.

I once heard a very interesting missionary preacher. He told a story of a church made up mostly of converted ex prostitutes. They were wonderful street evangelists. 

• As prostitutes they had hunted for men with shameless boldness. God used this same shameless boldness to make them wonderful evangelists. 

God forgets the sinfulness of your sin but He uses your sinful past to do wonderful things.

A quite different example is the Apostle Paul.

Paul’s sinful past was not adultery or witchcraft but self righteous religious pride. 

• Paul’s religious ambition drove him to be an outstanding biblical scholar but there was not humility of love in his heart. His religion led him to persecute and murder followers of Jesus. 
• Paul became an enemy of Jesus and an enemy of the God he thought he served. Then came the day when everything changed.

Acts 9:3-6 (NIV) 

As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 

He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" 

• "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." 

God never forgot Paul’s sin. It is recorded in the Bible, the Word of God.

• Paul also remembered his sin.

1 Timothy 1:15-16 (NIV) 

• Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst. 
• But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. 

Paul was a living example of the mercy and grace that was at the heart of his message and his ministry.

If there is extreme shame in your life, be encouraged. 

"Fear not, for you will not be put to shame; And do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced; But you will forget the shame of your youth ... Isaiah 54:4 (NASB) 

BULLYING IS NOT LEGITIMATE AUTHORITY

There is a doctrine which makes “brokenness” the supreme virtue. It is supposed to be the mark of humility and absolute surrender.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Psalm 51:17 (ESV) 

I still do not fully understand this doctrine. 

• I suspect that like many extreme and dangerous doctrines, it contains important elements of truth which are taken out of context and twisted until it no longer faithfully represents the character of our loving God.

The LORD is near to the broken hearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18 (ESV) 

If you live a life of cruelty and perversion and God reveals His goodness and holiness and His willingness to forgive, your heart may well be broken by the realisation of the harm you have done and your sorrow for sin. 

• This is a healthy reaction to the goodness of God but it is not supposed to be an ongoing way of life.

On the other hand, there are ultra zealous holiness preachers who are obsessed with sin and rebellion even more than with the love and goodness of God. They see it as their duty to lead their congregations into a chronic attitude of brokenness. They actually try to break the will of their people. 

• It is cruel perversion of spiritual authority. 

There are parents who think they must break the will of their children to train them into obedience. 

• This is not what David meant when he wrote about the broken spirit of the repentant sinner.

A son or daughter, an employee or soldier whose spirit is broken by cruel authority figures is a broken human being. 

This is not the will of God for His children. God is LOVE.

• If you are a wife and you are taught you must give your husband total, unquestioning, unconditional obedience, you are being abused, oppressed and potentially deceived.
• If you are a young adult and you are told you must unconditionally obey your parents, you are being misled.
• If you are a church member and leaders tell you that you must never leave one church to join another, you are hearing a man made doctrine. Look for it in the Bible. It is not there.

I heard of a church which taught that everything that happens is the will of God. If you die of cancer, it is the will of God.

• A boy was timid and felt unable to evangelise his friends, so he prayed God would give him cancer, so he could die bravely and people would believe in Jesus because of his faith. After he prayed, he really did get cancer. Four people were converted to Jesus at his funeral.

So did God answer his prayer? Did God give him cancer? NO! NO! NO!

• God is good and the devil is evil.

• Dark spirits also listen to your prayers.

Jesus said:

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. John 10:10 (NKJV) 

If you listen to harsh, negative preaching, you may not pray to get sick and die but you may pray to be broken. As a very young man I was a new convert in a very fanatical and authoritarian church. I was taught that I must be broken, so I prayed that God would break me.
I was mistreated by church leaders and I had a nervous breakdown.

Negative authoritarian religion is terribly dangerous.

I once asked a young Muslim wife how she hurt her face. She said a door hit her. I didn’t ask her if she reported the door to the police. 

So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual up building. Romans 14:19 (ESV) 

God is love. God’s purpose for his children is to build us up, not to break us down.

I thank God that I escaped from this perversion of Christianity. I now count good and gentle pastors amongst my friends

THESE ARE NOT NORMAL TIMES

To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: Ecclesiastes 3:1
In peaceful times only unbalanced people will be obsessed with disasters. 

• There are people who cannot be happy without extreme drama. There are fire fighters who start fires to create excitement and pose as heroes.

The Old Testament prophets warned Israel and Judah about their sins. They warned of disaster to come if they did not repent. 

• They were ridiculed as mad trouble makers but they were right.

In the 1930's Winston Churchill was warning Britain of the threat from Nazi Germany. He urged Britain to prepare for war. 

• It was not long before he was proved right but for several years he was seen as a dangerous extremist. 

The Prime Minister of Britain from 1937 to 1940 was Neville Chamberlain, a religious idealist who believed in human goodness. 

• He was a man of peace who believed he could keep peace with Hitler by diplomacy. 
• The doctrine of Neville Chamberlain from 1937 to 1939 was “land for peace”. It didn’t work.

When Chamberlain was finally forced to declare war in 1939, Britain was not prepared and Hitler succeeded in conquering most of Europe. Britain came dangerously close to defeat.

Events proved Churchill right and in May 1940 Winston Churchill became the Prime Minister of Britain, the leader of the British Empire and the champion Christian civilization’s resistance against the evil coming from Berlin.

Business as usual can be a good policy in peaceful times but a very dangerous policy in an emergency.

• We must be ready to respond urgently in a crisis. Like Winston Churchill we must  recognise emergencies before it is too late.

It is very good to learn from history but we must also live in the present, not in the past.

• There are some people who still see Germany as a bad nation and a potential enemy. This is quite wrong and very unjust! The enemy today is not Germany. 
• The Nazi spirit is alive and menacingly powerful in militant Islam, not only in Iraq and Afghanistan but in fanatical groups in Europe and America. 

But the enemy is not only fanatical Islam. 

The enemy is also in our own society, in the decline of our own culture, in the indifference to the love and truth of God all around us and sometimes in our own hearts. 

These are not normal times. Moral corruption and extreme violence are increasing alarmingly around the world. 

• The news is full of terrorism, random brutality and civil wars. 
• It seems strange that so many people today do not believe in a real personal devil, the Prince of Darkness and his legions of demons. 
• Your Muslim neighbours are not the enemy but rather the spirits of darkness.

As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

• For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 

• and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. 

• That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Matthew 24:37-39 (NIV)

In the book of Genesis, the days or Noah are described rather differently.

The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. Genesis 6:11-12 (NKJV) 

We see the same opposite trends in today’s world. We see horrific crisis and complacent business as usual. 

Will you listen to the voice of Jesus?

• Will you hear the urgent call of His Spirit and enter into His presence, so He can use us as His messengers.

And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.

• But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 

• And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. Matthew 24:12-14 (NKJV) 

HOW DOES GOD FEEL?

If you are a mother or a father with a heart for your children, you know what it means to be vulnerable. 

• When your children suffer, you suffer. 

• If your son or daughter has ever run away from home, been addicted to drugs or gone missing, you know what anguish can be. 

Jesus is respected by millions around the world as a great teacher and prophet but this is not what Jesus said.

Jesus said he was sent by Father God to show us what our heavenly Father is like. 

God is not a remote creator and judge, as Mohammed taught. Mohammed taught Allah is NOT a father and Allah has no son and no children. The Qur’an pronounces a curse on all who believe Jesus is the Son of God.

Jesus taught something quite different.

Jesus prayed to God as his Father.

After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.

• For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.
• Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. John 17:1-3 (NIV) 

The ancient Greeks, like the Hindus of today, believed in many gods. Like the ancient Greeks, Hindus believe some of these gods have visited the earth in human form.

But Jesus was different. 

He was born as a human baby but claimed to be the only son of the one and only supreme God.

No one has ever seen God. But the one and only Son is himself God and is near to the Father’s heart. 

He has revealed God to us. John 1:18 (NLT) 

Only Jesus revealed God as the supreme creator who is also a supremely loving Father.

... the Father himself loves you dearly because you love me and believe that I came from God. John 16:27 (NLT) 

The Father in Heaven gave his only son to reveal his love and truth to his lost children, including you and me.

Jesus always acted with love and compassion for suffering men and women.

The Apostle Peter summed up the practical love of Jesus in these few words.

You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 

 You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached-- 

 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. Acts 10:36-38 (NIV)

If you are a heartbroken mother or father, God understands your pain because it is also His pain. 

• He wants you to know Him as your Father who also loves your children. 

If you are a young person abandoned by your parents or a wife rejected by your husband, God wants you to know He watched His son Jesus dying in agony on the cross, a victim of cruel religious leaders.

God is not the supreme puppet master who determines everything. 

• He has given you and me freedom to choose. 
• That is why this world is a mess, because of the bad choices of  men and women, including you and me.

You must choose what to believe and who to trust. 

• Will you decide to trust in the Father in Heaven who loves you enough to sacrifice His only Son Jesus for you?

Jesus suffered and died on the cross but he did not stay dead.Three days later he returned from the grave. Death could not defeat the eternal Son of God.

"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;

• and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" John 11:25-26 (NIV) 

SUPERNATURAL LOVE

But you, dear friends, BUILD YOURSELVES UP in YOUR most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. 
Keep YOURSELVES in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Jude 1:20-21 (NIV) 

It is so important to build YOURSELF up in your faith. So many of us depend too much on others for spiritual inspiration. This is a mark of spiritual immaturity but many Christians have been like this for years and years.

• It is not wrong to ask a pastor or evangelist to pray for you. I do at times. 
• But the Bible speaks again and again about YOUR faith, YOUR prayer, YOUR devotion.

These two verses speak about YOUR holy faith, YOUR prayer in the Holy Spirit, YOUR experience of the Love of God, YOUR expectation of the mercy of Jesus Christ and YOUR possession and experience of eternal life.

I love meetings where the blessing of the Holy Spirit flows and I my faith is inspired by the faith of others.

• But neither Jesus nor Paul ever described the Christian life as a series of meetings.

You can be so busy attending meetings, that you have little time or energy left for quality time with God or quality time helping and reaching people outside the church.

Does this mean fellowship is not important?

• Is it only about “ME AND JESUS”?

That is going from one extreme to the other.

Jude addresses his readers as DEAR FRIENDS.

The foundation of really fruitful Christian life is deep loving relationships, firstly with God and secondly with other believers and not only believers in your own church. 

Many Christians experience pressure to attend lots of meetings and conform to the expectations of church leaders. 

• This kind of pressure often leads to busyness and conformity but not spontaneous love or deep friendship. 

• Over organised church programmes can produce shallow relationships.

If you transfer from one church to another, some people who were friendly to you in your former church may no longer be interested in you.

• This pattern of church life is not Christian at all. 
• It is superficial sectarian religion and it does enormous damage.

On two occasions I visited churches where I had once been a member.

• In one, the pastor greeted me with cold politeness. 
• In the second, the pastor greeted me with spontaneous enthusiasm, as a dear brother. Here we see dead churchianity and true Christianity.

If you belong to Jesus, ALL Christians are your brothers and sisters.What gives true power to Christianity? 

By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:35 (NKJV) 

• Where does this love come from?

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 (NKJV) 

• Jesus did not dies only for you or for members of your church but for ALL, for every human being on the planet and for ALL Christians.

This love is supernatural.

Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Romans 5:5 (NKJV) 

How do you know this supernatural love is active in your life?

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 1 John 3:16 (NIV)

Do you actively love, serve and care for other Christians?

Do you see Christians in different churches and traditions as your dear brothers and sisters?

• If not, why not?

Is it because they believe differently, pray differently, teach differently and think differently?

Who are you to judge your brother or sister?

Who are you to judge another's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand. Romans 14:4 (NKJV) 

God is the judge and He loves everyone who trusts in Jesus.You and I cannot be right about everything.

For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 1 Corinthians 13:9 (NKJV) 

And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. 

But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him. 1 Corinthians 8:2-3 (NKJV)