Fire Prevention for Churches

Without wood a fire goes out; without a gossip a quarrel dies down.

Proverbs 26:20

A single match can start a raging fire capable of destroying the largest forest, but only if the conditions are right. Only if there's plenty of fuel to burn. If you drop that same match on a wet patch of grass or in the middle of a dirt path it will simply burn itself out. In the same way, a divisive and angry church member can destroy a church only if the conditions are right. Just like fire, conflict needs fuel to keep burning. 

Proverbs 26:20 tells us that this fuel is gossip. Literally, gossip can be rendered whispering or murmuring. That's what feeds the quarrel and causes it to grow. Without gossip a single, angry church member can't do much damage. He'll burn himself out and leave the church. It's when others start to whisper about what's going on that the conflict spreads. 

As word gets around some people feel the need to take sides (often based more on relational or familial ties than on the details of the situation at hand). Others feel the need to sit in judgment and give their opinion. Many try to apply pressure to church leaders by making passive aggressive threats about what they will do or what "a lot of people" will do if certain actions aren't taken. This is especially destructive, because it blatantly tempts church leaders to consider what will please the congregation when they ought to be prayerfully considering what will please the Lord. We dare not tempt our leaders to turn into man pleasers in such situations! But if we will follow these simple rules, we can create an environment that makes it nearly impossible for large-scale conflict to flare up in our churches. 

When you experience conflict with someone at church, there are only three people you should talk to about it.

1. The person you are mad at. 
2. Church leadership (and this should only be after you are unable to make headway by talking directly to the person with whom you have the problem). 
3. And Jesus.

And if you are not one of these three people then don't talk about it! Refuse to discuss it. Refuse to listen to it. Don't allow yourself to be thrown onto someone else's fire. Don't allow yourself to be used as fuel to destroy a church.

Playing with Fire

The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

James 3:6

On November 23, 2016, two teens, one fifteen and one seventeen, walked down the Chimney Tops hiking trail in The Great Smoky Mountains National Park lighting matches and tossing them off the side of the trail as they went. One or more of these matches started a wildfire that burned for roughly three weeks in and around the national park and Gatlinburg areas. It burned 17,904 acres, destroyed 2,500 structures, and caused about $500 million in damage. Worst of all, it sent 191 people to the hospital and killed 14 more. It all started with a tiny little fire on the end of a matchstick. (Both teenagers have now been charged with aggravated arson.)

It is hard to imagine what these teens were thinking tossing lit matches into a wooded area. How could they not realize that even such a small fire could be so dangerous!? But many of us display the same cavalier attitude in the things we say. We think, "I probably shouldn't say this..." but we just can't help ourselves; so we light the match and toss the comment over our shoulder as we walk away. We never stop to think about how much damage it could do. We slander, gossip, and accuse people, and we think it's no big deal. But James tells us that the tongue is like a fire. Your words can burn with all the destructive force of a wildfire, injuring and destroying anyone in their path. This is especially true of slander. 

Did you know that the word for "Devil" in the New Testament actually means slanderer or accuser? Revelation 12:10 says he is, "the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night..." This fits perfectly with the story of Job from the Old Testament in which Satan appears before God to slander and accuse a righteous man. This is what the Devil spends his time doing, accusing and slandering God's people. So when you slander one of your brothers or sisters in Christ, you actually become the weapon in the enemy's hand that he uses you to attack God's people. You are doing the Devil's job for him! That is why Scripture takes such a firm stance against slander. James 4:11 says "do not slander one another." Titus 3:2 says we should "slander no one." Ephesians 4:31 counsels us to "get rid of all slander." And I Corinthians 6:10 even goes so far as to say that slanderers will not inherit the kingdom of God. 

Brothers and sisters, please be careful what you say. Don't be double-tongued. Don't praise God with the same mouth that you use to curse and slander His people. Instead be known for speaking encouragement, Scripture, and blessings (even when you are being cursed). Keep a tight rein on your tongue, and may we all be more like the righteous man in Proverbs 10:11 than we are like the worthless man in Proverbs 16:27.

Proverbs 16:27- "A worthless man's speech is like a scorching fire."  Proverbs 10:11- "The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life."

Fan the Flames

For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

I Timothy 1:6

Anyone who has ever built a campfire will tell you they have to be tended or they die down. Fires need attention. You have to stir them up, add fresh wood, blow on the flames every now and then to keep them burning at their hottest. In this passage the Apostle Paul tells us that our spiritual gifts are the same. 

God has gifted every believer with the gifts she needs to accomplish the purpose for which God made her. God has a purpose, a destiny even, for each believer (Eph 2:10). He not only calls us to fulfill our purpose but He equips us to do it with the gifts of the Spirit. But we ought not let these gifts lay dormant. Just like a campfire our spiritual lives must be tended or they will grow cold after a while. We have to fan the flames of our passion for God. We should stir up the embers by trying new ways of using our gifts, and add fresh fuel to our fires by regularly engaging in Bible study and prayer. 

Take your spiritual temperature today. How hot is your passion for winning the lost? Are you talking to people about Jesus? How hot is your passion for prayer, for spending time with the Lord, for teaching your children about Jesus. Maybe your passion has grown cold. Paul would say "Fan the flames!" Rekindle that fire. Stoke up your passion.

Here the believer finds encouragement because anyone who has been around fires will also tell you that often when it looks like a fire is completely dead it isn't. There is still some heat down in those dying embers, there’s still life in it. Tragically, unattended campfires are the cause of so many of our forest fires. Someone thinks their fire has died down and they leave it. Then a fresh wind blows and stokes it up, a spark leaves the fire pit and finds some fresh fuel and the fire is off and running. As a cause of forest fires this is a tragedy, but as a spiritual metaphor this gives us hope. No matter how dead you feel spiritually, just a little movement on the Spirit's part can ignite your flame again. If the Spirit blew but a small breeze across your heart, it could kindle a spiritual flame that would change your city 

Never forget I John 4:4, "Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world." So don't shrink back from the attacks of this world. Don't allow yourself to be silenced. Instead stoke up the flames of your spiritual passion. Nurture and grow your love for the Lord. Look for new ways to engage in serving Him. (Mix it up! Try something new.) And pray that God's powerful Spirit would blow a fresh wind into your life today like He did on the day of Pentecost. Who knows what God might do through you!