His reaction was pure flesh.
What was equally sad is that none of his buddies saw this for what it was and none of them called him on it. Instead, they just affirmed his fleshly reaction.
Let me tell you something. With all the talk about “discipleship” and “mission” today, if the cross isn’t front and center in the lives of those who teach on these things … I don’t mean the salvific part of the cross, but the “bearing” and “dying” part of it … then such people don’t know the first thing about discipleship.
The reality of your discipleship gets exposed when you are scratched.
Someone who is truly walking in the Lord, not in pious rhetoric but in reality, can be scratched and they won’t get defensive and fire back.
They know how to absorb hits and punches and exhibit the Spirit of the Lamb in the face of criticism and even persecution.
If this well-known pastor got in the flesh because a sister in Christ expressed her dismay that he didn’t respond to her, what would he do if he was truly being attacked unjustly and slandered by someone who had malicious motives?
“If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?”
I don’t think I have to answer that question for you.
I’m not able to say that this was the only time I’ve seen this sort of thing.
I’ve watched famous Christians respond similarly (defensively and in the flesh), and I think to myself, “How can this person lead God’s people while showing no signs of the cross in their lives?”
So you, dear Christian leader—actual or aspiring—how do you react when someone scratches you?
Don’t take the mistake of silencing your conscience on this point and justify yourself. We all make mistakes and we all blow it from time to time.
But if reacting in the flesh is the impulse you go with and there’s no instinct in you that tells you this reaction is fleshly, then something is desperately wrong with your heart.
I don’t care how many followers you have, how large your influence is or what big names you can drop. This question gets down to the profoundly naked reality of what you’re made of.
Your reaction to such things will reveal more about your spiritual stature than all the stemwinding sermons you’ve delivered or the books you’ve signed or the “great” people you’ve shaken hands with.
Consider it. It’s a wrinkle.
See also The Unbroken Christian and How (Not) to Correct Another Christian
