5月12日

標　　題：忠誠的傷痕

經　　節：朋友加的傷痕出於忠誠；仇敵連連親嘴卻是多餘。（箴言廿七章6節）

耶穌從不為那些認罪的人減輕罪疚感。當撒該為自己的罪痛心疾首，要慷慨地賠償他以前對人的虧欠時，耶穌並沒有說：「撒該，現在最重要的是你為自己的罪痛心疾首。」在撒該面對自己的罪時，耶穌並沒有安慰他（路加福音十九：1∼10）。耶穌也沒有為人的不信找藉口。我們從未聽耶穌說：「嗯，沒關係，我知道我對你要求的信心很多，這是不容易的。」相反地，當門徒不相信祂，祂立即斥責他們。耶穌深愛祂的朋友們，以至於不能苟同、接納他們的罪。

我們有可能過分溫和地對待朋友。當朋友被聖靈指責、迫切悔過時，你是否想要安慰他？倘若聖靈正使某人良心不安，不要試圖減輕某人對罪的不自在！小心不要讓你的朋友認為缺乏信心是可被接納的。倘若你寬容不順服，或以其他角度來看問題，那麼你並沒有付出真實的友誼。親吻總比傷痕令人愉悅，然而，如果你安慰朋友，讓他自在地與罪和平共處，親吻的破壞性會更大。

當我們嘗試撫慰朋友，卻不對他們分享神的話語，事實上，我們對朋友已造成很大的傷害。如果看到朋友在危難中，卻不提出警告，神會向我們討閉口不言的罪（以西結書卅三：6）。你是否是個忠誠的朋友，甘冒忠言逆耳之險，好阻止他們繼續犯罪？

Faithful Wounds

Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. (Proverbs 27:6)

Jesus never gave relief to people who were under conviction. When Zaccheus, in remorse for his sin, shared his generous plans for restitution, Jesus did not say, “Now Zaccheus, the important thing is that you feel sorry for what you did.” Jesus brought no comfort to him as he dealt with his sin (Luke 19:1–10). Neither did Jesus excuse disbelief. We never find Jesus saying, “Well, that’s all right. I know I’m asking you to believe a lot, and that’s not easy.” On the contrary, Jesus was quick to chastise His disciples when they failed to believe Him. Jesus loved His friends too much to condone or comfort them in their sin.

It is possible to be too gentle with your friends. When a friend is under deep conviction by the Holy Spirit, do you try to give comfort? Don’t ever try to ease the discomfort of someone whom the Holy Spirit is making uncomfortable! Be careful not to communicate to your friends that you find their lack of faith acceptable. You are not acting in true friendship if you condone disobedience or even if you look the other way. Kisses are far more pleasant than wounds, yet they can be even more devastating if they lull your friend into being comfortable with sin.

In our attempt to appease our friends and our reluctance to share a word from God, we can actually cause great harm. If we see our friends in danger and do not warn them, God will hold us accountable for our silence (Ezek. 33:6). Are you a friend of such integrity that you would risk wounding your friends in order to deter them from their sin?