This Far And No More Series

Too often we allow little things that take place to hinder our relationships with our Christian brothers and sisters. That is exactly what we see here in the ministry of Paul when he draws an imaginary line in the sand with regard to John Mark.

Un-forgiveness Hinders…

1. Our Walk v. 38 – Any time we allow offenses from our brothers or sisters in Christ to become a point of contention we allow our walk with Christ to be hindered. Jesus made very clear that the principle that should be used in these matters is to forgive others if you want to be forgiven. This attitude of un-forgiveness will eventually lead to contempt and bitterness. Our attitude should always be to forgive others so that our walk with the Lord is not hindered, only then can we proceed in a way that brings honor to Him.

2. Our Witness v.39 – Too many times in the heat of conflict we can’t see beyond ourselves. We forget that in the midst of our childish temper tantrums that others all around us are watching what we do. It reminds me of a young child who when playing hide and seek covers their own eyes and thinks that you can’t see them. Even though we may think we are justified in our anger others around us can readily see the beam in our eye as we stomp and snort about the speck in our brothers eye.

3. Our Work v.39b-40a – Sometimes dividing the workers and working in different directions is a productive process however if the division arises out of a petty dispute the results are often less than productive and can even be harmful. We can see however that over time Paul recognized to value of his brother in Christ as noted in II Timothy 4:11 and Philemon 24.