pramsay posted on March 08, 2007 01:42 1002 views
Cat Fights and Cannibalistic Impulses

The mental picture is rather gruesome. When blood thirsty jaws are chomping for flesh and sharp white teeth are flashing and the knife-like tongue is switching like a blade – call for time-out and ask for some space.

Have you ever seen a cat fight? When those claws are extended from the soft padded fur, watch out! They dig deep and tear mercilessly. And the teeth pierce deeply. If you haven’t seen a cat fight, you’ve probably heard one! The vicious hissing, the screeching and the fierce meowing coming from the arched back feline would frighten anyone. That ball of lazy and docile fur cozily curled up on a chair soaking up the sun can turn into a monster.

When Paul wrote to the Galatians he tackled the issue of false teachers who were disrupting the unity of the believers. They were trying to reinstate the Law by teaching this equation: Law + Christ = Salvation. He urged them to deal with the doctrinal error and the perpetrators but among themselves they were to love and serve each other. Just because they were no longer under the bondage of the Law, they should not suppose their freedom in Christ gave them the license to do whatever they wanted to do. Christian liberty does not mean we’re free to cater to our flesh or to act upon our fleshly impulses. For example, if my immediate reaction to something is one of out-of-control anger or bitterness, I must judge that sin in my life. He reminded them that the entire Law could be summed up by this statement: “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” That’s Galatians 5:14. Now here’s the very next verse:

“But if ye bite and devour one another
Take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.”

Galatians 5:15

The distinguishing feature that sets the followers of Christ apart from sinners is not just LOVE. Jesus was more specific. He said time and again that it was love FOR ONE ANOTHER. (John 13:34, 35; John 15:12, 17) Christ envisioned tightly knit, united and loving groups of believers dotting this dark globe as lights shining brightly for Himself – believers willing to lay down their lives for each other and for the sake of the Gospel.

Tearing one another apart is not spiritual. Sinking your fangs into another Christian’s reputation and trying to tear it to shreds is a dark activity of the flesh – there’s nothing of the Spirit in such activity. Although we may try to coat our slur-balls with spiritual sugar – there’s absolutely nothing Christ-like about such words.

It’s nothing short of a tragedy when embittered Christian parents sit at their kitchen table and in front of their kids discuss the faults of the assembly, make jokes or snide, cynical remarks or pick holes in other Christians or condemn the elders or say just enough to create negative impressions. It’s a tragedy.

What should you do if your parents have been guilty of such an activity or if older Christians around you have engaged in such acts of cannibalism – what should be your response? Pray for their restoration. Drop your own arched back. Stop hissing. Close your own mouth and withdraw your fangs. Confess any negative thoughts you’ve been harboring about that Christian. Confess even the smallest speck of bitterness in your heart. Focus on your own enjoyment of Christ. Ask the Lord to lift your thinking out of the mire of negativity. Focus on how the Lord wants you to personally live for Himself – despite all that may be going on around you at home or in the local church. Walk humbly before the Lord. Read and submit to His Word daily.

If I follow this path here’s what the Holy Spirit will produce in me:

Love,
joy, peace,
longsuffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness and self-control.

Galatians 5:22
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