6/19/26 DON'T CONTRIBUTE TO THE CHAOS
A few minutes ago, I re-re-reposted my article "A MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE." This turned my attention to another factor.
I found a message in a bottle one time, at Cape Lookout. As with most messages in bottles, it was not addressed to a specific person. Therefore, I did not need to pass the message on to anyone, nor did I need to respond to the sender.
I live in a community where it is not unusual for another person to receive mail of packages sent to someone else with a very similar address (in fact, sometimes the addresses are exactly the same). Weird, I know.
Being good neighbors, when someone gets another person's delivery, the errant recipient is likely to deliver the item personally, even if they don't know the other party.
Sometimes a very important message is seen by someone other than the targeted person. The recipient may actually know either the sender or the targeted person, but the recipient takes no initiative to connect the sender with the intended recipient. In fact, sometimes the errant recipient takes it upon himself to withhold vital communication. They think they are qualified to decide what is good for the other people involved. Maybe the errant recipient is acting on false information, and as a result, they might end any possible renewal or restoration in someone's broken relationship.
The last people who should ever come between family members are people who call themselves Christian. Not only do individuals take it upon themselves to destroy families, sometimes it is an entire church body that gives comfort and acceptance to a wandering soul. We are living at a time when the malcontents hop from church to church because they are unwilling to grow in grace. People are so gullible that they eagerly interfere with legitimate attempts to reconcile broken lives and families.
Being Christian is being restorative, not being a refuge for people in conflict. If you personally know the facts of a case, you can make a legitimate decision, but if you take sides with one person against another, without knowing the facts, you are guilty of dividing family and in danger of encouraging a person to walk away from truth.
NO, I am not posting this because I am trying to reach a specific person. I am posting this because I am seeing gullible people in churches contribute to the chaos and confusion that some folks are going through because they are running from responsibility and Biblical reconciliation.
The local church is a refuge, but we must make sure we are not supporting people in their rebellion and deception. That kind of support is destructive to everyone, including the gullible church and the people they are wanting to reach for Jesus.
