I heard this the other day,
“I feel really bad about the way I acted. I put that woman through Hell!”
Actually, it was over a year ago that I heard it but for some reason I remembered it when reading about the importance of __________ (tell you later what “blank” is) in getting right with God. Apparently it was confession time at a small group at some other church in town. And the ladies gathered were talking about people they’d hurt and things they were wrong about—even ‘sorry about’. One lady confessed to gossiping, slandering and repeated outbursts of anger against another woman who means a lot to me.
The woman who means the world to me and who had to endure the outrageous treatment and malicious gossip was my own wife, Michelle. So…
It’s personal baby!
You see, a long time ago (seems like another lifetime almost) there was a woman at a church I helped plant who suffered from a very common but highly lethal spiritual disease known as, “Big Fish/Little Pond Syndrome.” It’s the kind of disease that may lay dormant one’s entire spiritual life or, in some cases, given just the right set of circumstances; it can roar to the surface and destroy not only its spiritual host, but also most everyone who comes in contact with the ailing person. The long and short of it is that these individuals want to control things but when a move of God grows they soon discover they are no longer a big fish in the little pond. They are more of a minnow in a growing lake. And, if the trend continues, they fear they may actually end up as a guppy in the very scary ocean. But that’s another blog for another time—back to the dangers of the disease. It’s highly contagious and we’d all do better to educate ourselves about this deadly killer.
· It is spread by gossip
· It is spread by even coming close to the infected individual
· It can spread in multiple directions (because the host is usually 2 faced).
· It can spread even when the sick individual appears perfectly fine.
· It can spread all the way to spiritual death—it’s that serious.
I don’t want to see this thing take you down my faithful blog readers. I like you. So here’s where I can help. If you find that you already have this disease, PANIC!
You expected me to tell you, ‘don’t panic’ right?
Well I want you to panic. In fact, I want you to feel very, very bad and yes, even a little scared about it. All of that is very helpful actually. You see, if you can see this killer for what it is you might actually step up to the challenge of taking your treatment.
And what is the treatment?
Well, it’s basically the spiritual version of your great grandma’s ipecac syrup. Remember the stuff that tastes like tree sap but will have you vomiting the bad stuff in a matter of seconds?
Never had to take it?
Good for you. Truth is, modern medicine has better ways of helping us beat the flu bug these days.
But spiritually speaking? No way. There’s only one cure. You have to vomit this garbage out of your life and the spiritual ipecac goes by one word…
Ready for it?
Are you sure?
It’s incredibly unpopular.
Politically incorrect.
Did I mention that it’s incredibly unpopular?
Religiously banned and,
Generally ill thought of universally.
Enough talk, here it is—one word…
REPENT!
Even the mention of it probably makes some of you nauseas doesn’t it?
But you will feel better. I promise. And the cure is complete. At least until another carrier comes along and, by hanging out with them you run the risk of getting sick again. Sadly, that potential danger will only end when we see Jesus face to face.
Until then, if you are feeling ill from this killer…
Repent.
P.S. The woman who “put my wife through hell?” She talked to others about her sin but never actually repented of it and approached Michelle to make things right. So be careful! Without repentance all we do is treat the symptoms of our sin. The disease stays very much in place. So, again, be careful. Somewhere out there are a lot of ticking time bombs and you could be the next victim!