Bible Discussion Thread

Psalm 68:6 talks about setting the lonely in families; and Psalm 27:10 says that even if parents forsake us God will take us up (rough meaning).

From my experience; it seems in the Reformed circles the family unit is held in high esteem and in the denomination I was last in before I had to move there basically was a network of extended families that pretty much arranged for favorable meetings for young people to fellowship and often marry those who were at these events; thus pretty much continuing the expansion of the church. Other denominations tend to be more or less dominated by those in their own nuclear families and tend somewhat less to invite strangers into conversations or to their homes.

Whatever the accuracy of my own assessment; we are adopted sons and daughters according to Romans in many passages; Ephesians 1 and Galatians 4:6-7. It is commonplace; nonetheless whether with our blood relatives or church family to default to hanging out with those we find interesting in one form or another and often neglecting the ministry such as rebuke; exhortation and encouragement when necessary. We see passages such as "He rebukes all those He loves" ( Rev. 3:19; Hebrews 12:6 and others) and tend to only think of God Himself doing that work. However; we are to exercise such behaviors as 2 Timothy 4:2 instructs us to. Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep likewise ( Romans 12:15). To behave this way first we need to have a listening mindset; rather than spend much time with needless chatter when we fellowship. Again; the reformers seem to have a better handle on that with some not allowing any discussion apart from the Lord on Sundays. I'm not setting a legalistic mandate here; but suggesting that such boundaries eliminate useless banter; and worse a sin of omission not ministering to those in need who are too polite to interrupt discussion about sports teams; work exploits or just general complaining of the state of affairs in the world today.

I thought I'd clarify a couple things. I am only aware of one situation where I rebuked someone at least gave exhortation; it was a roommate I had for about 9 months and there were things he admitted himself that he was struggling with-in this case it was in regard to drinking and some offensive language which wasn't befitting him. In my life I have been rebuked; in the case of a Christian counselor it was appreciated as I knew he was working on my anger issues going through my divorce. Another individual was very harsh and I realized later stuff he was going through; but his comment on always trying to say something edifying will be something I'll keep in mind. I made a very hard decision not to attempt to meet up on my trip out of town a while back because of several other times he was very agitated; he still sends me Bible verses nonetheless.

In the case of my counselor; he had me memorize a verse in Psalms very similar to Proverbs 15:1. The Word should be our instruction manual; sadly many are starved for rhe Word of God today ( Amos 8:11). In my own situation I still have scars from the divorce and I certainly can relate to the stages of grief someone goes through in that situation. Compassion is something the Lord has given me and a more tender heart; since it is not a spiritual gift that I tend to excel in.

(Don't forge I mentioned encouragement also). Those who are in need for encouragement aren't going to be those in the limelight the vast majority of the time.

Thanks for your encouragement and responses...

Rich P

Richard, I spoke a little about this in my first post.

But in reference to this one I agree with you about useless chatter. I think we need to be watchful about our conversations and try to avoid meaningless talk and especially gossip when in fellowship situations. It is better to speak a few words that have spiritual meaning or helpful info than many words about things that have little to do about the needs of others. I am learning to be better about that.