Difficult People

Tightrope between helping and enabling

Job 14:1 KJV 1900

1 Man that is born of a woman Is of few days, and full of trouble.

Luke 6:17–38 KJV 1900

17 And he came down with them, and stood in the plain, and the company of his disciples, and a great multitude of people out of all Judaea and Jerusalem, and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, which came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases; 18 And they that were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed. 19 And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all. 20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh. 22 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake. 23 Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets. 24 But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. 25 Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep. 26 Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets. 27 But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, 28 Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. 29 And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also. 30 Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. 31 And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. 32 For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. 33 And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. 34 And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. 36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. 37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: 38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

Acts 9:15–18 KJV 1900

15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: 16 For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake. 17 And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. 18 And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.

2 Corinthians 11:23–28 NASB95

23 Are they servants of Christ?—I speak as if insane—I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. 24 Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. 26 I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; 27 I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. 28 Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches.

What have you suffered for His name’s sake?

What will you suffer?

What are you ready to suffer?

EXAMPLE: I was almost put in prison yesterday morning - Story of Luke and I getting ready for the movie last night.

How should we respond to the suffering for His names sake? Even in the ministry at our own church.

Paul’s faith journey began with being told about what he will suffer for God’s name sake. Paul told us about what he experienced for the sake of Christ’s name, and then in 2 Timothy 3 he spoke of what the last days will be like, which many would argue we are in now.

2 Timothy 3:1–9 KJV 1900

1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, 7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 8 Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. 9 But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was.

Job reminds us our life is short, and full of trouble. God told Paul he would suffer for His name’s sake.

The name of God is a revelation of Himself, of who He is. This is why it is worth it to suffer at the hands of others, of the world around us, and EVEN at the hands of other believers, the real and the fake.

There are people who decieve themselves and will cause much headache and chaos in our lives and in the church. There are those who are even believers who are difficult to serve along side. But it is part of what we are called to do, by simply being born into this world, at this time, with our faith in Him, we must see that the suffering, even suffering each other, is worth it because how we respond in the suffering (

miscommunication

disorganization

growing pains

hurt feelings

disappointments

At LEAST we aren’t literally being threatened by the military ,,, yet,

At LEAST we haven’t had someone bust through the doors of our church to harm us.

At LEAST you haven’t been called to be in prison and minister to those whom you share a cell with.

Or maybe I shouldn’t use the word At LEAST because that phrase in connection with those statements only shows that my heart wouldn’t be READY to deal with those scenarios.

The point is, that we all have a cross to bear, we all are called to share the good news, and we all will have some sort of suffering for His name’s sake and I believe it will often be at the hands of those in who’m we see on Sunday morning. Trying to be the Body of Christ, we will inevitably have to work with difficult people who may or may not be intentionally trying to harm us. Either way, the question remains, will you, will we, fight the fight? Will we finish the race. This is part of the reason why we are in this “Difficult People” series, and while it may have been better for this sermon to have been delivered first in the series, I believe there is a reason I’m giving it today. Next week we will talk about NEEDY PEOPLE, and then HYPOCRITICAL PEOPLE and the boundaries that even Christ set between Him and those He was sent to serve.