Issue of the week #1

Greg and I were talking the other night on the phone about two topics.

Topic #1: Interpretation of heaping hot coals on an enemies head:

Option 1 (which I was taught in church growing up): To make your enemies feel guilty through loving on them?

Or

Option 2: To comfort an enemy and show him grace as we have been shown grace (unmerited favor, expecting absolutely nothing in return)?

I've been a believer since I was 6 and my parents have brought me and my brothers to several different churches (Wesleyan, Pentecostal, Baptist, from what I can remember). Up until a few years ago I've always been taught this concept was about manipulating my enemy into repentance (which I now hold to be the job of the Holy Spirit). However, recently I was told that people used to stay warm, during Solomon's times in the Middle East, by putting baskets on their heads filled with hot coals. So this concept of comfort with no gain was a 180 for me. So it's not about me at all is it?

Take a look at Romans 12:9-21, also Prov. 25:21,22:

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,"says the Lord. On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

The interpretation for these verses, I believe, is obviously graced based in a Christ like love.

1 Corinthians 13:
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Also look at the entire book of Jonah, but specifically look at Jonah's interaction with God while he waits for God to destroy Nineveh. Keep in mind the intense cruelty and depravity of the Assyrians, especially towards Israel, when considering Jonah's perspective. Be careful about judging this man as weak in his faith because of his disobedience to God and his spitefulness towards the Assyrians. Also with this in mind now try to imagine the amazing depths of God's love, grace and forgiveness, even upon believers, whom God has revealed what is pleasing to Him, continue in our sins. However, I digress. The focus is grace.

Consider chp 4:
But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. He prayed to the LORD, "O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, O LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live." But the LORD replied, "Have you any right to be angry?" Jonah went out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. Then the LORD God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine. But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered. When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah's head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, "It would be better for me to die than to live." But God said to Jonah, "Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?" "I do," he said. "I am angry enough to die." But the LORD said, "You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?"

So I hold that "heaping hot coals" on our enemies head to be a godly act of grace springing forth from a Christ centered love. It's unfortunate that I had to live so many years on this earth with this misinterpretation of using love as a tool of manipulation, but that does tend to be typical of charismatic churches (speaking as someone who spent about 10 years in at least 2 different Assembly of God's and several years in a Pentecostal church affiliated with the AOG). This is why I tend to come down so hard on teachers, especially those who struggle with pride (of which at times can be used to describe myself). I’ve seen prideful, arrogant teachers at work in large congregations in which no one dared to question the great pastor. I've seen egos large enough to practically envelope the entire church building, if that were possible. On the other hand, I've met teachers who are very approachable and seem to treat everyone they meet as more important then themselves.

The Bible does state that teachers will be judged more strictly (James 3:1) and harsh judgment awaits those (most likely teachers) who cause believers to sin (Luke 17:2). This is why out of love and concern, not only for the souls of the congregation, but even the pastor, we should pray for our pastors and teachers.

So does anyone else have an option #3 or beyond?

Look for issue #2 in my next article.