Private or Personal?

I was reminded of an event from the past this morning. Many years ago two couples from our church had a falling out and as a result, one couple left. I wasn't particularly close to either couple but would often think of the couple that left and be concerned about them. One day I emailed a pastor and asked if they were doing okay. The response I received was "If you want to know, ask them." At the time I remember feeling shoved away. I wasn't asking for details about what happened, I wasn't a gossip and have never been part of a gossip circle. I just wanted peace about them or to know if I should be praying for them. At the time I was a fairly new Christian and trusted this was the appropriate response. In some ways it was. The pastor was trying to stay out of the situation and send me directly to them. However, I didn't know them well enough to call them out of the blue and didn't want an awkward situation. I also wasn't looking for anything more than if they were okay. Yes or no. Communication was definitely lacking on both our parts. If I had been asked why I wanted to know, or if I had explained why I wanted to know, I trust I would have received a more appropriate response.

The situation reminded me of the question, "Is our faith private or personal? Our relationship with God is as individualized as we are. How we came to know Him, our experiences with Him, how much we choose to grow, are all personalized to us. Is our faith private? Absolutely not. We are called to fellowship, called to be ready to share our testimonies, called to bear one another's burdens and joys. And how can we do these things if we keep everything bottled up inside us? In a true community of faith, things are shared in a healthy way. Not to destroy someone's reputation, but to lift them up in prayer and with encouragement. I truly believe a tone must be set from up front and often about the sin of gossip, but the flip side must also be taught, to feel safe and free to share in order to lean on each other in our time of need.

I remember going through some unsure physical ailment a few years ago and Greg asked if I minded if he shared it with some people. My attitude was, "Sure, the more people that know about it, the more people will be praying for me."

Let's not hide our difficulties from one another. God may use it to give us hope and peace from someone who already went through it or use us to give hope and peace to someone going through it after us. Let's not miss an opportunity to be blessed or to be a blessing. And let's not let life's past hurts influence our todays and tomorrows. Life's too short.