Good morning,
During the years that Jean
and I were on the mission field we had the privilege of getting to know
some very special missionaries. One of these special people was our
language teacher. She had been in Ethiopia for many years and was
highly respected by the people there. The course was nine months long,
so we had the opportunity of seeing her in many challenging situations
which often involved some energetic enemies. I’ll never forget the
first time I saw her practice one of the principles that the Lord gave
his disciples in dealing with ungodly people. Someone had just given
her a hard time about something. She looked them in the eye, turned
around and walked away. I thought, “How rude.” The problem with my
reaction was that she wasn’t rude with anyone in other circumstances.
She didn’t argue or give them an angry look. There was nothing about
her body language that said she was proud or afraid. It didn’t occur to
me until later that what she did was follow one of the Lord’s
guidelines for dealing with difficult people.
The principal that I saw in
operation was one that the Lord gave his disciples in Matthew 15.
Jesus’ enemies had been criticizing Jesus for not keeping their
traditions. Jesus countered their attack by pointing out that their
traditions actually had become more important then the commandments of
God. Jesus then turned and walked away. The disciples warned Jesus
that his enemies were really upset with him. His response was “ignore
them” or as other translations read “leave them alone.” The fact that
someone is angry with us does not always mean that we have to engage
them in further conversation. If the issue that is raised is one based
on tradition or personal interpretation, we are then dealing with people
who are not speaking God’s truth. These people are not there to help
us know God’s will, they are there to convince us to obey their will.
Jesus used two illustrations to help us see his point. Plants that God
hasn’t planted are weeds. Blind guides who are trying to lead other
blind people will end both of them in the ditch. To continue a
discussion with these kind of people only gives their ungodly opinions
credibility. There are times when it is right to ignore or leave people
when so directed by the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 15:13 Jesus replied, “Every plant not planted by my heavenly Father will be uprooted, 14 so ignore them.
They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides
another, they will both fall into a ditch.”
Roy Wisner
