Tension

In less than a month, I’ll be celebrating one year at Leesburg Christian Church. In that time, I’ve gotten to see dozens of baptisms, people go from disciple to discipler, and I’ve been able to help start multiple programs in the church, like our discipleship program, community groups, and our Trail Life/American Heritage Girl programs. My plate went from very little to getting fuller throughout the year, and I’ve loved every minute of it. I’ve been able to build friendships within our staff, leadership, and throughout the congregation of our church. This year has been incredible! I’ve told people most Sundays that I’ve got nothing to complain about, and I mean it. Leesburg has been a blessing to me and my family. 

Now I turn my eyes to year two. What does God have in store for my ministry within the ministry of Leesburg? How do I help to move forward the vision and the values of this amazing church and its leadership? What are the pitfalls? Where are the blind spots? What potential issues could I run into? Whatever they are, they are all necessary to advance the Gospel. Most of us look at tension as a negative. We try to avoid anything that could make us uncomfortable or potentially bring out negativity. We don’t like to argue. We prefer to just keep everyone happy. What if that wasn’t the best way to handle everything? Sure. There are times when it’s best to just keep the peace, but there are also times when we need to work it out…and that may include some tense moments. So what does the Bible say about this?

In Galatians, we read about a disagreement between the apostle Paul and the apostle Peter. Paul calls Peter by the name given to him by Jesus, Cephas, which means “rock”.

 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
Galatians 2:11–14

In the Jewish faith, one must be circumcised at the age of 8 days when born into a Jewish home or upon conversion to the Jewish faith. Also, adult Jewish men must be circumcised if their fathers didn’t fulfill this obligation when they were newborns. However, when Christ was crucified and three days later resurrected, those restrictions were no longer held by God. Many faithful followers of Christ struggled to accept this and were condemning those who would not fall in line with the practice of circumcision. Peter happened to be one of those. Paul could not allow Peter to keep doing this to new converts to Christ’s Church. He openly challenged Peter, and Peter eventually came around to a better understanding of the freedom we have in Christ.

So what does this mean for us? In the most simple terms, it means we need to hold each other accountable to the truth. Sometimes, we can misinterpret or misread what we see in the Bible and teach things based on those misinterpretations. We can take phrases such as “love your neighbor” to mean “accept any lifestyle choice that your neighbor makes”. However, that is not what that means. True love actually corrects. True love will sometimes rebuke. True love knows that the end game is more important than the moment. Proverbs says this beautifully.

Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.
Proverbs 27:5–6

My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.
Proverbs 3:11–12

What is more hateful? Is it rebuking a brother or sister when they are incorrect, or is it letting them continue to spread false teaching? Is it better to keep the peace by letting a brother or sister keep living in sin, or is it better to correct them in love? Our end game is Heaven, and it is eternity with Christ. We can’t allow discomfort to push us away from helping someone else realize that eternity.

Tension is a necessity in life. We don’t learn boundaries as children until we push those boundaries. We can’t grow muscle in our bodies without the tension of lifting, pulling, and pushing heavy things. We also can’t grow in our faith if we don’t push and pull a little. It’s in this tension that we grow the most. Even Jesus, as a child, pushed. When His family went to celebrate the Passover in the Temple, Jesus was sitting among the leaders and asking them questions. The only problem was that His parents, Mary and Joseph, had left and didn’t know where He was. His response was simply, 

“Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
Luke 2:49

Jesus wasn’t being disrespectful here. He was simply stating that He needed to be in His Father’s house. Knowing how 1st century Jewish men were, this probably didn’t sit well with Joseph, but Jesus was doing the right thing. Luke even tells us that Jesus showed no disrespect in how He handled the situation.

And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them.
Luke 2:51

Many times, we see rebuke or correction as a cruel act or something that pits us against each other. Instead, we should use this correction or disagreement as an opportunity to grow in our faith and in our understanding of God’s Word. Tension can be uncomfortable. Tension can be hard. In the life of a growing disciple, the tension is good.