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Shooting
Our Own
But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one
of another (Galatians 5:15).
It has been reported that if a chicken develops an open wound, other chickens
will relentlessly peck at that wound on that chicken until it grows very weak
or dies.
Likewise, it is now being reported that allergies have arisen precisely because
humans have eliminated or reduced contact with many forms of harmful bacteria.
Apparently the human immune system feels compelled to keep busy and attack something;
if there is nothing truly harmful then it begins to treat an otherwise harmless
substance as a threat and thus the allergic reaction.
Groups of people can act in similar ways. If a group member displays some form
of weakness, sensitivity, or problem not suffered by others, the group may attack
that point of weakness or problem and it may lead to the end of that person’s
association with the group. People seem to need something or someone to be against;
if they cannot find or cannot properly identify a real threat they will likely
find something that is not really threatening and treat it as if it is a threat.
We may call this “shooting our own,” an image taken from the battlefield
when members of an army turn on each other as opposed to maintaining their focus
against their enemies.
Paul is very concerned about these tendencies playing out among the Christians
in the churches of Galatia. Paul’s main purpose in writing is to rebuke
and exhort a good number of the Galatian Christians for allowing themselves
to be so quickly persuaded to consider observing the Law of Moses and accepting
circumcision even though they were called to Christ as Gentiles (Galatians 1:6-7,
3:1-5). He speaks quite strongly about the danger of what they are doing and
wishes for the emasculation of those “Judaizing” teachers causing
this dissension (Galatians 1:6-9, 5:1-12). Much is at stake; those who remain
grounded in the truth of the Gospel as revealed to Paul by the Lord need to
defend it and remain firm!
Yet how the faithful Galatian Christians would defend that Gospel is exactly
what leads to Paul’s concern. He wishes to remind them that Christ has
called them to freedom, that the whole law is fulfilled in loving one’s
neighbor as himself (Galatians 5:13-14; Leviticus 19:18, 34). As he would remind
the Corinthians, knowledge puffs up, but love builds up (1 Corinthians 8:1);
such is a concern in Galatia as well. He thus warns the Galatians about the
dangers of what they are or might be doing in Galatians 5:15.
On a strictly literal level it would seem that Paul would be giving license
to a bit of biting and devouring one another: “if you do it, be careful
that you do not consume each other.” On the other hand, we could understand
the verse as placing the emphasis on the negative conclusion: if you bite and
devour each other, beware! You will end up consuming one another. The danger
inherent in the outcome remains regardless; if the Galatian Christians are not
careful, they will end up destroying each other in their disputations about
the faith, just like the chicken with the open wound, treating each other as
the enemy as opposed to keeping focus on the Enemy of us all, directing the
firepower which ought to be used against the forces of evil against one another,
thus doing the Devil’s work for him!
Paul’s warning remains appropriate to this day. It is true that the Apostles
warn about false teachings coming from among Christians and even those who serve
as elders (Acts 20:29-30, Jude 1:3-23). When such people arise, their doctrines
must be exposed for what they are. Yet it seems that some Christians devote
themselves to biting and devouring one another, actively seeking out ways to
disagree with fellow Christians, to smear them as “the other,” and
act as if they are now in Satan’s service, and thus shoot their own and
prove quite willing to destroy a part of Christ’s Body because they needed
to find something or someone to attack. Likewise, there are times when Christians
fall into flagrant sin or completely forsake the truth without repentance; in
such cases disassociative actions ought to be done (1 Corinthians 15:1-13, 2
Thessalonians 3:6-15). Yet there are many other instances when Christians are
actually weak, not as strongly connected to the Body of Christ as they should
be, and in dire need of love, strength, and care, and yet they are treated like
the wounded chicken and “shot” by their own, disciplined and disassociated
from as if they were flagrant sinners. It is as if an army would just shoot
their wounded as opposed to giving them care and rehabilitation to be made well!
Even though Paul was zealous for the truth and stood firm against the forces
of error he always remembered that Jesus came to save people, not condemn them
(Luke 19:9, 1 Timothy 1:12-15). Jesus did not need to find ways to condemn people;
people do that well enough on their own. If Jesus was only about pointing out
sin and actively working to destroy those who sin, He would have no need to
die on that cross, to suffer terribly as He did. Does Jesus’ Body have
this same mentality as Jesus? If the Body of Christ mercilessly tears into their
own if they expose wounding or weakness, are they reflecting Christ? Should
the “immune system” of the Body of Christ go haywire and start attacking
that which is really harmless because it is not properly discerning what is
truly harmful? Should the Army of the Lord do Satan’s bidding and turn
their guns on one another, either firing on each other on the same line or for
those in the rear shooting the advance guard because the latter “looks
like the enemy” because they are the ones at the fore most actively taking
the fight to the enemy? Whatever happened to building one another up or strengthening
one another?
We are rightly disturbed at the behavior of chickens who would destroy the weak
among them. We would be horrified to learn that a unit of the U.S. Army decided
it was best to kill all their injured comrades because they were not getting
up on their own and pressing forward. Those who suffer from allergies know the
misery and pain that comes when the immune system goes haywire. Should we not
show equal distaste when such behaviors are manifest in the Lord’s body,
the church? Should we not be grieved in pain when and where this occurs? We
must defend the truth. We must stand firm against the forces of error. But we
must also love our neighbor and not bite and devour one another. We must always
remember that flesh and blood are not the enemy, but the spiritual forces of
evil in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12). Let us stand firm against the
Evil One, love one another, encourage all men, and seek to find ways to strengthen
one another in the truth without shooting our own!
By Ethan R. Longhenry
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