Friendly Fire

A few years ago America experienced a great tragedy in the form of a terrorist attack. This then led to a time of war on the foreign soils of Afghanistan and Iraq. During this time we went through periods of patriotism, times when we were proud, and times when we were afraid. After the war had been ongoing for a while, they began to investigate how our soldiers were killed. It turned out that many U.S. soldiers were killed by this thing we call "friendly fire."

That is where we literally killed our own soldiers, by firing on them either by mistake or by incorrect settings on our weapons; but our men died when they really shouldn't have. They may not have been killed by the enemy, but lost their lives to this thing called "friendly fire."

The book of Nehemiah talks about the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem. When the enemies saw these walls, the idea they had to bring them down was impressive. Instead of charging from the outside they planned to destroy the walls from within. That's how Satan is! The danger of the church being destroyed isn't from without! We don't have beer stores coming in trying to shut our congregations down! Why? I believe if something like that tried to happen, it would just motivate us to fight back. So it makes sense if you are going to bring down the church that you do it from within!

James 3 talks about the tongue being a dangerous weapon. We as a people like to complain; we will complain about anything. No matter what situation you are in, someone will complain (room temperature, songs led too fast or slow, preacher preached “5 minutes over”, etc). I hope we, as God’s people, will not kill each other with our griping and complaining. May no one ever leave our congregation because of our complaining. Unfortunately we have people in the church being killed by this type of "friendly fire" everyday, and not only is it helping to work toward the destruction of their soul, but also compromises the growth and integrity of the Lord’s church.

James also talks about the tongue being like a bit in a horse's mouth. The purpose of a bit is to keep control and direct. The tongue doesn't have to be a destructive weapon. If we use it in the right way it can be a mighty tool for God. I encourage you to use your tongue in such a way that will lift others up and glorify God. Help us ensure that no one we have fellowship with, loses their soul because of our "friendly fire."