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Coming Together for Strength

by Jerry Ousley  
8/03/2018 / Christian Living

            We all know about the ancient example of the sticks … you know, how that individually they can be easily snapped in two but once they are bundled together it becomes difficult if not near impossible to break them.  That’s because together they strengthen each other and are not easily broken.

 

            The problem is that way too many congregations might think this to be a nice example but in reality don’t practice coming together.  Consequently their congregation grows weak and if not strengthened somehow will eventually break up and fall apart.  It is always tragic to me when that happens.  I know because we went through it.  We were a part of a wonderful congregation for 19 years.  It was small and never really grew beyond 45 or 50 people (and most of those 19 years averaged around 30) but it was strong.  Because of the strength of the people we were able to accomplish things that only very large congregations could do.

 

            But one day a small sliver of jealousy entered the congregation.  Then it grew into bitterness and even hatred.  Gossip began to take its toll and one by one the group dwindled down to less than 20, then less than 10.  Unfortunately the ones stubborn enough to remain were those at odds with each other and finally it became obvious that the only sensible thing to do was to throw in the towel and call it quits.  It was painful, and tragic to go through the motions of closing the church.  It hurt as much as being shot with a gun.  It was like living death, at least to me.

 

            The problem was that we knew what needed to be done to fix things but refused to do it.  I can’t tell you how much I learned my lesson from that.  Had we worked things out, confessed to each other and forgiven each other the tragedy might never have taken place.  We would have been strengthened and maybe accomplished even more after that.  But stubbornness and pride can cause a lot of hurt.  James wrote in James 5:16, “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.  The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”  I had preached on that very scripture before but if we had followed what we preached, and put into practice what we taught maybe the outcome would have been completely different.  In fact I am convinced it would have been so.

 

            Owning up to our faults and confessing our sin to each other begins a healing process that cannot be equaled by the medical profession.  Don’t get me wrong; I am not throwing down on the medical profession but I am saying that many physical problems are often manifested from our negative emotions.  Any doctor will tell you the same.  Hatred, jealousy, envy, fear, and many others similar to these cause us to go down inside.  If we continue to live in bitterness we well could live to be an old grouch that no one likes.  You know what I mean; that elderly person who never smiles, looks as if a frown has grown like a fungus on their face and nothing is ever good enough or right as far as they are concerned.  They have the attitude that “I’m right and everyone else in the world is wrong!”  Now there is definitely something wrong with that attitude.

 

            Of course we need people to confess to who are not going to go out and blab everything they hear as soon as they hear it.  That reminds me of a story of three preachers who decided to go fishing together.  They fished quietly for a couple of hours when the silence was broken by one who said, “Brothers, I know the Bible tells us to confess to each other so I am going to tell you that I have a bit of a drinking problem.  No one else knows about it.  I do it in private but I know to drink in excess is sin and I am confessing it to you both in confidence.”  After a bit the second preacher spoke up “Well brother, if you are going to confess then I will too.  I have a lust problem and can’t seem to shake it.  I really wish you two would be in prayer for me.  I know it has to stop.”  The third preacher grabbed the oars and started paddling back to shore as quickly as he could.  The other two preachers asked him what his hurry was and he responded, “Well brothers, I have a problem too.  I love to gossip …”

 

            If someone confesses to us we need to honor their trust and not be like that third preacher.  We need to be understanding, prayerful and willing to help the person who has confided with us.  If we do then we can begin to bundle together and so come together for strength.

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

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