This week David spent teaching the first subject of Module V of the Missions Degree for the Joshua Foundation. His subject was "Managing Offences".
Some of the points covered were:
*Inevitability of Offences; *The value and fruit of offences; *the Gift of Opposition; *Major on the Majors; *The principle of Love over personal freedom; *Responding to Offence.
Here is a very short summary of these points
*Inevitability of Offences (Lk 17:1ff): deal with perfectionism and idealism. How does God work in Scripture ... many are offended by God. (Isaiah 45:9)
*The value and fruit of offences (James 1:2-4): God uses offence to bring us life. Christ is the rock of offence (Is 8:14) a stumbling block for those who approach him by works (Rom 9:32)
*The gift of Opposition: compare Chamberlain and Churchill. Churchill thrived on opposition whereas Chamberlain was all for appeasement even though he was in a time of war. Opposition can propel us forward into our purpose and determination to see the kingdom established.
*Major on the majors (1 Tim 6:3-5): minor on the minors. There are very few non-negotiables in the Christian faith but we cause major divisions over minor things. (Here in Africa it is baptism methods and alcohol) When we make divisions over minor things we are like the Pharisees who tithed their mint and dill and ignored the majors/ essentials (like love and unity and preferring others).
*The principle of love over personal freedom (Rom 14:1-15:7) We are free but don't let our freedom cause another to stumble. The way way we approach diferences can in itself ensure we will not win our brother.
*Responding to Offence:
A. I] don't get offended - don't take the bait or
II] forget it (Lk 9:51) or
III] forbear, lit. cover over (Eph 4:1-3) or
IV] first go to the one who's offended (Matt 18:15)
V] go to those you've offended (Matt 5:23-24)
B. Ruthlessly deal with roots of offence in yourself (Matt 5:29-30)
C. Don't be offended for someone else. (Matt 16:21-23)
D. If your offended - do what it takes to get it right, become an overcomer
E. Live in constant gratitude (Heb 13:5-6)
Quote from Watchman Nee from "Anakim-Caleb's Food" who spent the last 20 yrs of his life in a Chinese jail for his faith:
"Every time you meet a difficulty, every time you find yourself in an impossible situation, ask yourself this question: Am I going to starve here, or am I going to eat the food that is set before me? If you are relying on the Lord for victory and let His overcoming life be mamifested in you, you will find fresh nourishment and increased vitality in accepting "bread" those Anakim that are contesting your progress. Do bear in mind that people who do not eat well cannot grow into maturity. Many people take the Word of God as their meat and the doing of His will as their Meat, but they reject the Anakim as unpalatable food. the more we eat such food the stronger we shall become. Caleb is a grand illustration of this. Because he accepted the Anakim as "bread" he was still full of vitality at the age of eighty-five. So many Anakim had been assimilated by him over the years that he had developed a constitution which showed no trace of age. So it is in the spiritual realm. Some brothers and sisters have met few difficulties, but they are spiritually feeble. The explanation is, they have not conumed enough Anakim. On the other hand there are those who have met and overcome difficulty after difficulty, temptation after temptation; and they are full of vigor The reason is, they have fed well on Anakim. Every difficulty and every temptation Satan puts in our way is food for us."
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