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February 28, 2011When You Are the Offender, Part 1

by Charles R. Swindoll

Matthew 5:23-24

Matthew 5:23–24 describes in a nutshell the correct response and procedure to follow when we have been in the wrong and have offended someone.

Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.

The scene is clear. A person in Jesus’s day has come to worship. At that time, in keeping with the Jewish law and custom, worshipers brought sacrificial animals or birds with them. The sacrifice would be slain before God, providing cleansing of sin and a way of open access to prayer.

Today, it would simply be a Christian coming to his or her Father in prayer. Either way, the worshiper is suddenly seized with the inescapable thought, the painful realization that he or she has offended another person. In the words of Jesus, you “remember your brother has something against you.”

What do you do? Stop! Don’t ignore that realization. Don’t just plunge on into prayer, even though that may be your first reaction. God wants us, rather, to be sensitive to His quiet prompting.

In verse 24, we are instructed to do four things:

Stop—”leave your offering there.” Go—”go your way.” Reconcile—”first be reconciled.” Return—”then come and present your offering.”

The key term is reconciled. It’s from a Greek verb that means we are commanded to go through a process that will result in a change. Clearly, the offender is to initiate the action.

That needs little clarification. We are to go (ideally, personally—if not possible, at least by phone or letter) and confess both the wrong and our grief over the offense, seeking the forgiveness of the one we wounded. Then, we are free to return to God in worship and prayer.

“But what if he or she won’t forgive?” Good question! We’ll tackle that tomorrow.

Excerpted from Improving Your Serve: The Art of Unselfish Living, Copyright © 1981 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. (Thomas Nelson Publishers). All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission.

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The Dignity of Man

Do you ever go through seasons when you just don’t feel like your life counts for very much? Everything seems about as pointless as a first-quarter NBA score in November. People treat you with less interest than a flight attendant’s lecture on oxygen masks and exit doors.

But what’s easy to forget at times like these is that your value is not something other people can assign to you. They don’t get to grade this. You have been given great worth by your Creator. Your significance is inborn.

Think of the dignity you possess, merely by being a product of God’s design. You’re able to reason and make choices. You can appreciate beauty and feel emotion. You have the ability within your reach to bless others, to extend your influence and impact into another person’s life.

You have even been given the privilege of communicating with your heavenly Father—a right he wasn’t obligated to offer you, but one he freely extends because of his rich, abiding love for you. Everything about you has been “woven together” in his all-wise mind and heart. Each day of your life has been “written” down by the one who made you. (Psalm 139:15-16). That’s how valuable you are to him.

Instead of being bombarded by all the ways life has mistreated you or what a mess you’ve made, make this a day to celebrate what God has invested in you. You are worth far more than you realize.

Pray this prayer: I do get down on myself a lot, Lord. I have a hard time imagining that you love me. Would you remind me today? I could really use that. 

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“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Not that kind of gas! Just had to clarify that right of the bat! Do you go to the beauty shop (or barber)? Is yours a place where people gather to ‘discuss’ the goings on in the community and world around you? Mine is. I had my boys in for a long overdue cut and another customer came in. One of the first things that she said was, “Well, gas has gone up 15 cents overnight.” No comment about the beautiful weather we’ve been having. Nope, just an immediate jump into the negative

Yes, gas prices are up and will continue to go up as long as we are driving vehicles and the oil folks can make money. But Jesus tells us that this world will continue to disintergrate as we draw closer to the end. But He also tells us to take heart, not to be afraid, to trust in Him, and continue to be faithful to Him who called us according to His purpose. What does this have to do with gas prices? Our response to them.

What if we join in with everybody else and theorize what will happen if gas is $5.00 or if the economy fails again or if the Middle East implodes upon itself? What does that say about our relationship with our Father? That we don’t trust Him. That we think He doesn’t have everything under His control. Do you think He’s surprised that gas went up? No, I don’t think so. He knows what is ahead. We don’t.

What we should do instead is be a voice of encouragement to those who are anxious. We should be reminding (gently) His followers that He is in control and isn’t taken by surprise. We should be an example to those non-believers in our circle. We should have a peace and calmness that is so evident they just have to ask why we aren’t shaken. And then we have the opportunity to share about our God. We can show Jesus to those around us without even having to say a word.

Next time you’re in the beauty shop or at the water cooler and the talk turns to all the negative stuff going on around us, think about how you should react. Feed the fear and uncertainty or offer Truth from the Word? If we want to be an ambassador for Christ, then we have to be His voice to the world. An encouraging word can go far in giving someone else a glimpse of Him in a uncertain world.

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’By this we believe . . . .’ Jesus answered them, ’Do you now believe?’ —John 16:30-31

Now we believe. . . .” But Jesus asks, “Do you . . . ? Indeed the hour is coming . . . that you . . . will leave Me alone” (John 16:31-32). Many Christian workers have left Jesus Christ alone and yet tried to serve Him out of a sense of duty, or because they sense a need as a result of their own discernment. The reason for this is actually the absence of the resurrection life of Jesus. Our soul has gotten out of intimate contact with God by leaning on our own religious understanding (see Proverbs 3:5-6). This is not deliberate sin and there is no punishment attached to it. But once a person realizes how he has hindered his understanding of Jesus Christ, and caused uncertainties, sorrows, and difficulties for himself, it is with shame and remorse that he has to return.

We need to rely on the resurrection life of Jesus on a much deeper level than we do now. We should get in the habit of continually seeking His counsel on everything, instead of making our own commonsense decisions and then asking Him to bless them. He cannot bless them; it is not in His realm to do so, and those decisions are severed from reality. If we do something simply out of a sense of duty, we are trying to live up to a standard that competes with Jesus Christ. We become a prideful, arrogant person, thinking we know what to do in every situation. We have put our sense of duty on the throne of our life, instead of enthroning the resurrection life of Jesus. We are not told to “walk in the light” of our conscience or in the light of a sense of duty, but to “walk in the light asHe is in the light. . .” (1 John 1:7). When we do something out of a sense of duty, it is easy to explain the reasons for our actions to others. But when we do something out of obedience to the Lord, there can be no other explanation-just obedience. That is why a saint can be so easily ridiculed and misunderstood.

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TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS (Worthy News)– Christian leaders have urged Honduras’ government to improve protection of Christian workers after Carlos Roberto Marroquín became the second prominent pastor to be murdered this year in the Central American nation.

Marroquin, 41, was shot to death Monday, February 21, by two assailants while walking his two Schnauzer puppies in the northern city of San Pedro Sula, explained Security Minister Oscar Alvarez and witnesses.

Investigators said the gunman opened fire after he refused to hand over the dogs, who escaped. Schnauzers can reportedly sell for about $500 in Honduras, where the minimum monthly salary is roughly $311.

Marroquín was the founding pastor of the Pentecostal Church of God in San Pedro Sula, the country’s second-largest city, and a popular presenter on television and radio programs, Christians said.

EVANGELICAL PASTORS

He was also president-elect of the Association of Evangelical Pastors in San Pedro Sula, the founder and president of the Christian Legal Fellowship and co-founder of the Latin American Network of Christian Lawyers.

While police linked the attack to crime, Christian leaders stressed they feared the assassination was part of a project to target devoted Christian workers in Honduras. The Evangelical Fellowship of Honduras said in a statement that the pastor had received threats.

Marroquín was the second pastor to be murdered this year in Honduras, known for its high murder rates. On January 30 the 43-year-old Pastor Raymundo Fuentes, of the New Jerusalem Temple, was killed while leaving the evening service at his church with his wife.

Two days prior the daughter of an evangelical pastor had been killed, though police did not link the two murders, according to news reports.

Christian leaders said at least six pastors are known to have been killed in recent months. “Every day we do our work [we have to] trust in God and [be] prepared to go with Him,” added Pastor Oswaldo Canales, president of the Evangelical Fellowship of Honduras in published remarks.

There were no reports of arrests Saturday, February 26, in the killing of Pastor Marroquin. Local police announced they were looking for the gunman and the person who drove the car.

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