PRESCRIPTIONS FOR A HEALTHY CHURCH

See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many (Heb. 12: 15).

This verse is so important that I will deal with it on its own.

The writer has two prescriptions for the health of the church:

1. See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God. What does he mean? Paul throws light on the meaning for us.

As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For he says, ‘in the time of my favour I helped you.’ I tell you, now is the time of God’s favour, now is the day of salvation (2 Cor. 6:1).

Paul followed this statement with a resume’ of the many hardships he and his colleagues suffered for the sake of the gospel. Instead of becoming embittered, he laid hold of God’s grace – His supernatural favour and help which enabled him to endure and overcome. 

On one occasion, Paul cried out to God for deliverance from the hardships that plagued him, which he described as a “thorn”. What was this thorn? Before God’s people entered the Promised Land, He issued a serious warning to His people about the inhabitants of the land.

But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you live (Numb. 33: 55).

It would seem that Paul identified his “thorn” as the many troubles he endured and the unbelievers who plagued him and hounded him from one city to the next as he spread the gospel across Asia Minor and Europe. But, instead of removing his thorn, God gave him a promise.

Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it from me. But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Cor. 12: 8-10).

Instead of “falling short of God’s grace”, Paul gladly acknowledged his weakness and embraced God’s grace to make him strong in the face of all the hardships and difficulties he had to suffer at the hands of those who hated him. He refused to allow the way people treated him and the tough experiences he had to endure as part of his calling, to embitter him.

2. And that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. When hardships come, and we refuse to embrace God’s grace, something happens inside of us. We allow a “bitter root” to grow and cause havoc in the fellowship of God’s people. What is this bitter root? Again we turn to the Old Testament to shed light on its meaning.

You yourselves know how we lived in Egypt and how we passed through the countries on the way here. You saw among them their detestable images and idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold. Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of those nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison (Deut. 29:16-18).

The readers would certainly not be idol-worshippers in this context, but refusal to receive God’s grace indicates a far more subtle form of idolatry. When they harboured grudges against their persecutors and refused to accept God’s grace to love their enemies and to do good to those who hated them, as Jesus taught, they were putting themselves above God which was, in effect idolatry. This attitude was poisonous and would soon affect and infect the entire community of believers.

Life throws us many curved balls. How are we going to handle them? When we hold grudges against others instead of forgiving and letting offences go, it rips a community of people apart. This happens when we think more of ourselves than we do of God who provides the grace to forgive and love instead of becoming embittered. Only on the basis of Jesus’ death which paid the debt for all sin, can we forgive and be set free from bitterness.

This is the solid foundation on which a fellowship of believers is built. Whether offences come from inside or outside the fellowship, forgiveness through God’s grace is the only way to preserve the unity. Selfishness is idolatry and will most surely destroy what God has built through His grace.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.