Title Acts 09:31 The Church of Sinners
Contents
“So the churches of all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria were in peace, and they went on with confidence, and proceeded in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, and increased in number” (Acts 9:31).
There were some assumptions. The home was always engulfed in darkness. There is always no peace when entering the home. He lives in a big house, has a lot of money, and has a nice car, but when he comes into the house, his family fights with each other. Children also fight when they see each other. So there is no joy. My father, the father, lamented. ‘Now, what is wrong with our family? If we just meet, are there conflicts and fights?’
But when I look at the poor neighbor who lives in my own house, there is always a smile in this house despite its poverty. There is happiness, and your face is always bright. ‘What is the difference between that house and my house?’
One day, the owner of the house met a person who was buying a rented room and asked. “What the hell is the difference between you and us, so we always have a fight when we meet, and in your house, when we meet, we laugh and are always happy?” A three-year-old man said: “Only good people live in your house, and only sinners live in our house.” “What the hell does that mean? Please explain.” Then the person living in a rented room explained it again.
“There are only good, good, and handsome people living in your house, so if something goes wrong, don’t you fight over who is responsible? But our house is not like that. Even if something goes wrong, there is no problem because it says, 'It's all my fault.'
Let me give you an example. Yesterday, I put a flowerpot outside, and the youngest child ran and kicked the flowerpot and broke it. Then the youngest child said, ‘I kicked myself. I’m sorry.’ Then mom came and said, 'No, it's my fault that I put the flowerpot there.' Then my father came and said, 'No, I saw it yesterday and tried to clean it up, but I didn't. It's my fault.' Then Grandpa would come and say, 'No. I shouldn’t have gone to the market to buy that flowerpot in the first place.’ He said it was all his fault. That's why you can't fight. This is the secret of peace.”
When we all stand before God, we must know that we are sinners. Of course, we are forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ, but we are only forgiven sinners. Even though we are justified, we must also be sinners. A person who fights a lot, saying, ‘I’m good, but you are the problem’ is an unhealthy person. Even in counseling, the most difficult people to talk to are those who have problems but believe they don't. When young people with problems stand in front of a counselor, they see the counselor as a spy sent by their parents.
Who among us is righteous? We are all sinners before God. Conflicts and strife arise when I think I am righteous. The cause is not outside, but within me. Some psychologists say that all behavior comes from projection. So it is said that a person who has a log in his own eye sees a speck in the eyes of another. Peace does not come from taking the speck out of another's eye, but from seeing the beam in your own. Peace comes from recognizing that I am a sinner. We must first be able to see ourselves “in front of the mirror of the Word” before we see the faults of others.
A church that confesses to each other that they are sinners is at peace. There should be more people in the church who find their problems before blaming others. The church grows when there is peace.