Have you read a book where the author clearly “gets” what it’s like to be human?
Think of a novel filled with the delicate dance of dialogue, with conversations that sound exactly like the strained exchanges that you’ve had with other people.
Or a story’s characters who participate in exciting events—or experience mundane moments—in ways that ring so true to real life.
Or how an author will reveal a character’s innermost and sometimes disturbing thoughts and ruminations that are at once relatable and resonant.
Reading a book where the author shows deep insight into the human condition can be a delight. But sometimes it pricks our conscience: “That’s exactly the proud way that I would justify myself…”
The New Testament authors have such an insight into our character. They write with an incisiveness that cuts to the readers’ heart and lays bare its weaknesses. The power and wisdom of their words are a product of the Holy Spirit’s inspiration. Yet it’s surely also a result of the apostles’ close attentiveness to the behaviour of human beings like you and me.
Let me share a handful of texts that I take to be especially revealing of this apostolic intuition.
Record-Keeping
We know the thirteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians as the great “love chapter.” It is replete with challenging directives for people who struggle to love. But verse 5 stands out as particularly apt: “[Love] keeps no record of wrongs” (NIV).
Because that is exactly what we tend to do. We remember the specific ways that our spouse has failed us. We keep a running record of how our church leadership disappoints us. We recall exactly how our schoolmate hurt us back in 2008. Not only do we remember it, but we let it twist our treatment of the offender. Can you relate to the assiduous record-keeping of the sinner? I know that I can. But it should not be this way. “Love keeps no record of wrongs.”
Grumbling Hospitality
In 1 Peter 4, the apostle outlines the Christian’s new way of life. A practical way to show Christian love is opening your home to other people. We know this, but Peter shows a good understanding of our typical response: “Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling” (v. 9).
Those last two words are a penetrating addition. We’ll show hospitality, but we won’t like it. We grumble, because other people are awkward. The house will have to be cleaned. And what are we going to eat?! In Scripture, hospitality is more than having your friends over for drinks, but it is hosting the new visitors to the congregation, or your nonbelieving neighbour, or the prickly brother in the next pew. Can you really show hospitality without grumbling?
Everything with Complaining
When our kids were younger, Philippians 2:14 got quoted a lot, “Do everything without complaining or disputing” (NKJV). We trotted out that text when chores needed doing and the chorus of complaints had begun.
But this text is relevant to much more than cleaning the toilet or emptying the dishwasher. It is a most perceptive instruction because our response to many tasks (in the home, at work, or in the church) is exactly this: to complain or dispute. “Why is it always me that has to help out? Can’t these people take care of themselves?” But God would have us be children of peace who do everything without complaining.
A Pastor’s Resentment
An insightful word for us who are preachers is 2 Timothy 2:24, “And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.”
That verse includes a whole constellation of challenging words, but particularly the last phrase pricks my conscience. When you’re in a public position like being a pastor, resentment is real. Some people will always voice a critical comment. Some folks never express gratitude. It’s natural then, to become indignant: “This is the thanks I get for being their pastor?” But resentment is not the path for the Lord’s servant. Instead, “Be kind to everyone.”
Tough Love
Paul exhorts in Romans 12:9, “Let love be without hypocrisy.” He knows that it’s too easy to be two-faced. We can act loving to a person’s face and speak politely in the church lobby. Meanwhile, we actually dislike them, gossip about their failings, and would do little to help them if asked. How hard it is to love sincerely!
In the same chapter, Paul shares wisdom about interpersonal conflict. Our relationships can become so complicated that we’re at a loss how to make things better. Healthy interactions with some people are very hard. She always resurrects your past wrongs. He quickly adopts a harsh tone of voice. And the fact is, they’ve done deeply hurtful things against you.
So how fitting is Romans 12:18, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live peaceably with everyone.” Paul knows you can’t control another person’s actions or words. Neither can you change what happened in the past. But something does “depend on you,” and that is your choice in this moment to show Christ-like love, to reach out to the alienated one, to be gracious in conflict. We wish God didn’t lay that responsibility at our door, but there it is: “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live peaceably with everyone.”
Christ’s Penetrating Word
Many instances reveal how well the authors of Scripture understand the human condition. We could reflect especially on the teachings of Jesus, about whom John said, “He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person” (John 2:25).
What is in each person? We have deceitful hearts. We cling to excuses. We shirk responsibility. We forget the good and recall the bad. Even so, Christ is changing us from the inside out.
And in grace he speaks into our lives with a word which is “sharper than any two-edged sword,” one that “piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb 4:12 ESV).
Let this Word pierce you today, judge you, and then give you real hope in Christ.
