WHEN THE ‘CHILDREN’ ARE CAUSED TO STUMBLE

Dear Believer,

How do you speak of other Believers before the world?

If you have children, what do you say about other Believers before them?

Many Believers do not realize that the words of their mouth can destroy or build the faith of others, especially the vulnerable. Let me give you a very importantly example.

In many homes, the parents speak very negative things so freely about other Believers and ministers of God who they think are not doing things right, and they say all these things in the presence of their impressionable children.

When other believers or ministers do good things or some beneficial works, nothing is said about that, but when these parents believe that something wrong has been done by the ministers, they launch out with scathing remarks and ‘righteous anger’ against the church or minister.

Sometimes they speak so negatively about their own pastors not realizing the long-term negative influence this has on their listening children.

Some pastors use dinner time or ‘devotional time’ to run other ministers and their churches down. All that the children ever hear about other churches and their ministers is negative. And since the children get to know eventually that their own parents and church aren’t perfect either, it is clear what their mind will eventually come to believe.

And you know the result of all these insensitive words?

These children grow up disrespecting the faith, thinking everyone in the church and the pastors are hypocrites. They see nothing good in the faith of their parents and many eventually abandoned it for secularism or even some strange faith.

It is not an error to correct an error, but when more errors are committed in the process of correcting one error, the very purpose of correction is defeated.

When such children start to be disinterested in church and the ministry, messing around with no care for God, the parents blame the devil and pray and fast and counsel them, but in many cases it is already late.

Then it’s the devil’s turn to mock the careless parents. “Thank you for doing my job for me. You’ve programmed your children to hate your God and His people by your indiscretions. You trained them in the way that they shouldn’t go. You’ve made the good principle of the Word of God to work against you.”

Jesus warned us with these words:

But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him if a huge millstone were hung around his neck and that he were sunk in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of occasions of stumbling! For it must be that the occasions come, but woe to that person through whom the occasion comes! Matthew 18-6-7.

Are you causing the ‘children’ to stumble? Are you unwittingly bringing occasions of stumbling before vulnerable people?

There is a lot of bile against the church, and it is pitiful that at the forefront of this crusade of calumny are some prominent Christians and others with a lot of influence over the younger ones. If you join the world to attack your own people, don’t think the world will love you for it!

Why should a Believer do the work of the devil for him? Why should he be the accuser of the brethren? Why ignore the good works of the Kingdom and concentrate on the faults of people? Why not focus more on building people up in the faith?

Many who are engaged in this error believe they are sanitizing the church, but more often than not, the spirit behind this is the self-righteous and sanctimoniousness that wants to make oneself out as better than the ‘others.’

It is not an error to correct an error, but when more errors are committed in the process of correcting one error, the very purpose of correction is defeated.

I once saw a minister challenging others to an ‘Elijah contest’ on social media. This man was zealously calling on others, who he claimed to be false prophets, to come out and ‘fight’ with him like the prophets of Baal fought with Elijah. Let me ask you, what purpose would such a contest serve other than to provide free entertainment for the unbelieving world as they happily watch the display of stupidity by so-called believers?

I do not deny there are preachers of error and false prophets, but something should be known by all. In most cases, those invested in wrong teachings aren’t going to change no matter what you say. The Bible has this to say about them:

• But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. 2 Timothy 3:13.

Believer, it is not your primary duty to call attention to these preachers of error. The way to defeat the lie is to propagate the truth.
The ministry is more about proclaiming the truth than combating error, even though both are important. Let our children know the truth first. Let the good things be our focus first. When we get people grounded in the truth of the gospel, rejecting errors will be easier for them. But when all we talk about are the negative things, all that the children and other vulnerable people around us see is the devil and the faults. Many of them may never recover from the wrong impressions they have about the Church and the people of God.

What I have found out is that Believers and ministers who make it their major duty to criticize others generally raise children who eventually turn out to be ungodly.

To save the next generation, we must use discretion. Believer, don’t contribute to the falling away of any of the ‘little children.’

Let us pray together about this:

Dear Father, we ask you to help us walk in wisdom and discretion with those on whom we have influence, and that we be not the reason for the backsliding of others through the words of our mouth and our actions. Help us to always speak the truth in love and not pull down others by foolish acts of self-righteousness, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Have a great weekend!

Your friend,
Deon.
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For further studies read Romans Chapter 14.