Troublemakers

"Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message." 2 Timothy 4:14-15

Troublemakers have been a part of life since The Garden. We have never been further from that beginning, by the way. Actually, the devil, satan was the first malcontent in prehistory, and as the father of lies and the leader of the fallen angels led the rebellion against God, leading to the expulsion from heaven of 1/3 of the angels before Creation. What an ugly drama that must have been. Ol lucifer then slithers into the Garden of Eden and spreads his disobedient troublemaking venom into the all too willing hearts of Adam and Eve, (I intentionally do not capitalize his name as a choice of disrespect which is ultimately more satisfying than being grammatically correct) and then comes Original Sin, the Fall of Man, the Curse and we all too willingly choose to continue the suffering with continued troublemaking and rebellion.

I share about dear Alexander today as the issues of malcontents never seem to end, you know, with our predisposition to a sinful nature and all. So this is probably the same guy mentioned in 1 Timothy 1:20, whom Paul' handed over to satan to be taught not to blaspheme'. This action of repudiation evidently didn't help as Paul uses him as an example in his second letter. Alexander most likely testified against Paul both civilly and in the early church also. Another thorn in his flesh no doubt.

Still happens today. Pastors, teachers and ministry leaders, and all of us for that matter deal with those whose life call seems to be being mean. Gossipy, negative, venomous, and destructive--- seeking to discredit, decry, bemoan, belittle and in any other way possible spread negativity about individuals and churches and ministries. Always self-righteous, arrogant, haters and dissers with ulterior motives of self promotion, vengeance or just an immature love of drama. The Alexander types never are accountable, rarely have conscience, and can't be happy, content or peaceable. We must give them over to the Lord. These self-consumed troublemakers are the bane of the work of the Spirit.

My counsel for us today is to pray that their hearts be broken and that their lies are rejected. If you know of them, ignore them. They feed on having an audience for their nonsense. The devil is their spark, their talk is their oxygen, and hearers are their fuel. Take away their fuel, there will be no fire. Let us all take a stand against troublemakers, need I say, without becoming one? I just did. Serious problem, it deserves a serious, prayerful and decisive response.

Oh yeah, troublemakers rarely admit it. If you can, please, "Stop It!!"

Ever onward and upward in Grace Harbor,
Pastor Fred

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