Reaching the Un-churched Christian

Dealing with offenses

God has been speaking to me recently concerning the “Un-churched Christian”. Many people sit at home with emptiness inside longing for that real christian fellowship. The still love God but they are hurt. They still believe in HIM but can’t bring themselves to commit to the church again. So they stumble through their Christian walk without that needed Christian support and guidance from a church family. Offenses have caused more people to quit church than anything else has. And we are dealing with a generation of believers where church attendance has dropped in priority. Because people have been hurt or offended they have allowed a wedge to driven between them and God. Some of the hardest people to reach are not those who have never been in church but those who at one time where there but for whatever reason they have quit.

Pro. 18:19 A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle.

Jesus tried to warn us of this happening!

Luke 17:1-5

1. Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come!

2. It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.

3. Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.

4. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.

5. And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.

In this scripture Jesus deals with both the offender and the offended. A woe is given to the offender and a lesson of forgiveness to the offended. As we look again at the story of Samson we see again an all too familiar picture of how the church sometimes deals with it’s own.

Jud. 15:9-15

9. Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi.

10. And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us.

11. Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them.

12. And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves.

13. And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock.

14. And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands.

15. And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.

Here is one of the most harmful offenses. This is the offense of betrayal. Trust is broken. Relations mean nothing here. The reason it seems that people in church will hurt you more than people in the “world” is simply because you don’t expect it from the church. You don’t expect it from family.

Psa. 41: 9 Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.

Psa 55:12. For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him:

13. But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance.

14. We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company.

Samson was betrayed by his own countrymen. He made them swear that they would not kill him themselves. Why? He did so because he was not anointed to fight Israel. This is a key to those of us in ministry who have been harmed in the past by fellow believers. Samson showed the spirit of Christ by yielding and not fighting his brothers. When we are dealing with brothers or sisters who are hurting or betraying us we should remember they are many times under the influence of the enemy just as the men of Judah were. We should look beyond our hurt and pain to see what is really at work. Is there a spiritual force that is simply trying to cause a division? Is the other party under the influence of fear and oppression? We should not fight our family members but rather eliminate the source of the evil influence.

They had not the guts to kill him but did something far worse. They attempted to hand him over to the enemy for torture, humiliation, and then death. In sinning against God’s man they sinned against God. This didn’t seem to derail Samson. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he slew the enemy. Never at any time did Samson show any anger or hatred towards his countrymen.

It is worthy to note that when the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson that the cords that had bound him fell off (literally melted under the power of God). All that his “relatives” had done unto him came to nothing as the anointing came upon him. So hurts from the past are no longer an excuse. Once his spirit comes upon you all that stuff is broken!

1Co.3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

Joh.8:36. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

Pastor Johnny Fortune