Grace when courts decide
part three of five
When we speak against our spiritual family because we disagree about social ills, we become divided within ourselves and we are dividers in the Church. And when the Church is divided, her ministry becomes weak and her testimony, OUR testimony, fails to demonstrate that we are indeed presenting the first fruits of the Creator. We who are new creations are ambassadors from Christ. It is from our lives and our lips that we model and teach reconciliation through Christ (2 Corinthians 5:18–20). We must speak the wisdom of God, even when we disagree.
Wisdom from above is pure, peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial, and sincere (James 3:17). The reaction of the world to most controversies is selfish, violent, harsh, stubborn, full of hate, and lacking self-control. Christians must not be on such friendly terms with the world that they consider these ungodly reactions legitimate. Grace can disagree with wisdom. Grace seeks out the glory of God. Grace thinks, reasons, and listens before speaking.
And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life and set on fire by hell…No human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
