Today I was thinking about how friends often grow apart, and how that's okay and not necessarily painful or unhealthy.
But then I was reminded of times when it IS painful...when someone withdraws. I mean the cases when it's not just withdrawal from you, it's from the Church. There is grief there. Maybe it's a mixture of pain from rejection, but it's also the pain of knowing that this person may be choosing spiritual death. Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about a little tiff over worship style. I mean those times when you feel in your heart that someone is lost.
For some reason I remembered the film "Fiddler on the Roof" and the father's emphatic "She is DEAD" when his daughter marries out of their faith. His outburst sounds extreme to some, and I wondered if the outburst in my heart was over the top. But I really felt like I lost a family member.
Later, the faces of some teenagers at church popped into my head, and I remembered from another point in the film when the wife (or someone) says, in an effort to move forward with life, "There are OTHER children." Trivial, perhaps?
Jesus went back for one lost sheep... and yet, the disciples were encouraged to go around to different groups of people. There will always be more...but we don't have to forget, do we?
But then I was reminded of times when it IS painful...when someone withdraws. I mean the cases when it's not just withdrawal from you, it's from the Church. There is grief there. Maybe it's a mixture of pain from rejection, but it's also the pain of knowing that this person may be choosing spiritual death. Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about a little tiff over worship style. I mean those times when you feel in your heart that someone is lost.
For some reason I remembered the film "Fiddler on the Roof" and the father's emphatic "She is DEAD" when his daughter marries out of their faith. His outburst sounds extreme to some, and I wondered if the outburst in my heart was over the top. But I really felt like I lost a family member.
Later, the faces of some teenagers at church popped into my head, and I remembered from another point in the film when the wife (or someone) says, in an effort to move forward with life, "There are OTHER children." Trivial, perhaps?
Jesus went back for one lost sheep... and yet, the disciples were encouraged to go around to different groups of people. There will always be more...but we don't have to forget, do we?
Well, you have to keep praying for this person, and realize that they can come back, and may come back with more understanding of what they almost lost.
ReplyDelete"If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life." -1 John 5:16
ReplyDeletePrecisely.
ReplyDelete