Why do Christians shoot their wounded? Sometimes it seems like we stand in circles and shoot at each other. How will the world believe that God is love if those that claim to be His don't show love?  Whispering, gossip, twisting facts, backstabbing, pointing fingers—all while acting superior to everyone else, instead of what we all are, equals, sinners.

As believers we are taught to forgive and forget, yet, once a weakness or sin surfaces; friendships are destroyed, we judge and shun instead of love, talk about instead of talk to, and even some who are leaders tearing apart instead of encouraging and lifting up.

When it happens to us personally (it will happen to you, believe me, it has happened to me) we ask, “When is the judging going to stop and the loving going to start?”   I do not know the answer t that question, but I have a better question with an easy Biblical answer, “How do I deal with Christians taking a shot at me when I am wounded?”  Extend the grace to them that God has given to me and forgive them.

Matthew 18:21-35—²¹Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?” ²²“No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!

 ²³“Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. ²⁴ In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. ²⁵ He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt. ²⁶ “But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’ ²⁷Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt.

 ²⁸“But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment. ²⁹“His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. ³⁰But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full.

 ³¹“When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. ³²Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. ³³Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ ³⁴Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.

 ³⁵“That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.”

We need to remember that those who shoot the wounded are human and that Christians can be mean just like any other person.  It's their problem; all we can do is walk on in faith and pray for them. They'll either come back and apologize or we will discern and that this person is not walking in the same faith that we are. Christianity has variety of folk, a variety of fallible folks—just like every person walking this earth, you and I sin and fall short of the glory of God. 

“When is the judging going to stop and the loving going to start?”   Right now with you and me, even if we are wounded and people are lining up to take potshots at us, let us love, forgive, and give grace just as God has done for us!

With love, forgiveness, & grace;

Phil

Wounded Soldier

I am a wounded soldier but I will not leave the fight

Because the Great Physician is healing me

So I'm standing in the battle, in the armor of His light

Because His mighty power is real in me

I am loved, I am accepted

By the Savior of my soul

I am loved, I am accepted

And my wounds will be made whole

© 1985 Mercy/Vineyard Publishing