Recently I was reading the biblical account of a man called Job. If you’ve heard a little of his story, you’ll know that he suffered a great many losses and challenges at one point in his life. Even though Job mistakenly believed that it was God who was causing all these bad things to happen in his life, he showed amazing resilience at first, choosing to bless and trust God instead of blaming Him.
What made it all just too much for him to bear, however, was when a few of his so-called friends came on the scene. Perplexed by the terrible things that were happening to Job, these four men began to judge and criticise him. “God must be punishing you for your sin,” they told him. “Bad things don’t happen to good people.”
Seeing the way that these men’s words wounded and discouraged Job got me reflecting on the power of community and the incredible power of our words - both for good and for bad.
Most of us have faced hard situations in life where we felt that we just weren’t able to make it on our own. Often the thing that helps us to keep going and not give up is the prayers and support, help and encouragement of others who rally round in our time of need. Even the Beatles recognised this in the well known 1967 song, “I can get by with a little help from my friends.”
But community can have a negative effect on us too - like when we see teenagers who are influenced by peer pressure into drinking and drugs … or young people who get caught up in some sort of sect or cult that makes them feel loved and valuable but leads them down a wrong path.
The Bible says in Proverbs 18: 21 that the words we speak have the power of life and death…. and each one of us can choose which kind of words we speak to (and about) others.
I’ve seen these two forces at work even during these past months of being homeless. A considerable number of people have written to me or phoned me to share Bible verses and words of encouragement. Those words have been life-giving, infusing me with the strength to persevere in an extremely difficult and stressful time.
Sometimes, though, I’ve heard on the grapevine that someone is judging and criticising my decision to stay in Spain and keep trusting God for a breakthrough. Such people no doubt feel that my time as a missionary may be over, and that I should therefore not try to stay in Spain any more. It’s hard to describe the sense of discouragement that comes from learning that people are saying such things behind your back. Somehow, a bit like Job experienced, it makes an already challenging situation feel even heavier to bear.
I’m not speaking about people who’ve written to me and honestly raised the question of whether I should be considering leaving Spain. That kind of question is good and necessary, and I’m actually very thankful for the people who have had the courage to ask me that. What’s hard is when you become aware that people are judging you for seeking to be faithful and obedient to God… but they’ve never spoken to you directly about what you and others are hearing from the Lord.
When we read the word “you” in the New Testament, it’s often plural. We don’t always realise that if we’re reading in English. The Bible is full of “one another” scriptures: about loving one another, bearing one another’s burdens, forgiving one another, encouraging one another, exhorting one another, serving one another … The concept of community is deeply embedded in the biblical understanding of living by faith. So it’s kind of sobering to realise that we in Christian community can make life’s hard times a little lighter for others …. or we can make them a little heavier. I am incredibly thankful for the people who pray for me - exhorting or encouraging me on a regular basis.
Who represents “community” for you in your present context? And what are you doing this week or this month to strengthen and encourage them for the road ahead?
