SIX UNAVOIDABLE FACTS: Part 3
by Tony Rozendaal
This is the third in a series of devotionals based on counseling in the local church. Dr. Timothy Lane of The Christian Counseling and Education Foundation (CCEF) teaches that there are “Six Unavoidable Facts.” Those facts are as follows;
Someone had a problem in your church this week.
We have everything we need in the gospel to help that person (2 Peter 1:3).
People seek help first from friends, family members, or pastors before professionals.
That person either got no help, bad help, or biblical gospel-centered help.
If people don’t get meaningful help, they will go elsewhere.
Whatever help a person receives, it will be used to help others!
In our first devotional we considered what it means to have everything in the gospel to help people who are having a problem (#2), even if (or perhaps especially if) that person is my own self. In the second devotional, we looked more closely at #3 and #4 in light of what it means to bear one another’s burdens.
The question that arises from fact #5—If people don’t get meaningful help, they will go elsewhere—is, “How can I be sure to provide meaningful help?” For an answer from Scripture, let us look at Colossians 3:15-17:
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
I’m a Jeopardy fan. Every night at 6:00 PM, I am listening to Alex Trebek read the answers to questions that the contestants must ask correctly to advance in the competition. So in true Jeopardy tradition, let’s treat this passage as if it were the answers to questions that we have.
The first answer is “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts since as members of one body you were called to peace.” The question is “What if someone comes to me with a problem that is beyond my ability to help them with.” Remember, we have the Gospel on our side. Regardless of their problem, we can always point them toward Jesus and His sacrifice for us, and His victory over death on our behalf. Satan is eager to use anxiety and division to distract us from the Gospel. Our first response should be peace. We can have peace because Jesus has us. We can be bearers of peace for the same reason.
The second answer is “And be thankful.” The question is “Why is God putting this person, or problem, or situation, or season in my life?” The end of the passage follows up with this “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” God puts difficult people and situations in our life so that we can meet Him in those areas of tension. Suffering has a way of sharing itself with others. When someone we love suffers, we suffer as well. Even when hearing of the trials of someone with whom we are not in relationship, our nature is to suffer for them. It’s difficult to be thankful in the midst of trials, whether they are our own or someone else’s. Yet this passage commands us to be thankful (also see James 1:2-3). Again, this points us to the Gospel. We can be thankful that even if the very worst happens, Jesus has conquered death and we will live in His presence for eternity. If less than the very worst happens, and if we persevere, we will have a closer, fuller relationship with Him because we have “shared in His sufferings” (Romans 8:17). Finally, we can be thankful that our Lord considers us worthy to share in his suffering, and to be His instruments of peace in this world.
The third answer is “Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.” The question that this answers is “How do I help someone who comes to me with a problem?” This verse puts in a few words those things I tried to cover in my first two devotionals. Notice that the theme of gratitude is contained in this verse as well.
Our hope, our desire and our prayer, is that when someone comes to Fellowship Bible Church with a problem, they will encounter a church body that is equipped to listen to them, to pray with them, to point them toward the Gospel, and to explain how the Gospel applies to their life. When this happens, then the last fact (#6: Whatever help a person receives, it will be used to help others!) will result in the building up of the church!
Photo by Joeri Römer on Unsplash
