Troublesome Topic: HOW SHOULD WE TREAT PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN DIVORCED AND REMARRIED?

1. Try to be as accepting of others as God is

God accepts us whenever we go to Him, regardless of the mess we are in. There are many messes contained in the baggage we drag with us when we come to God. Remarriage after divorce should not stand alone. We should accept one another regardless of the fact that someone may be living in a situation that is less than idea.

Examples of people that God accepted:

Saul of Tarsus who persecuted followers of Jesus.David after the Bathsheba incident. (The situation with King David says more about God than it does about David.)

2. Try to be as gracious as God is

God is gracious to us when we do things in ignorance.

Acts 17:30 says that God “overlooked” the ignorance of the past.

The point about sins of ignorance in the OT was to say –“learn all you can about what is required of you. Be aware of your surroundings, and the dangers there.”

God does not reward complacency, or purposeful ignorance.

Those of you who have been divorced and are remarried did so in good faith, being fully convinced (by your pastor) that it was OK.

Re: divorce

Let’s try to recognize the pain that those people are in who have been through a divorce.

Let’s be supportive to them

Let’s pray for them.

Let’s be there to listen to them.

Let’s accept them as they are.

3. God is the judge; we are not

When we are judgmental toward others, we accomplish no good for anyone.

We usually do it to make ourselves feel better about ourselves and to lift ourselves up by cutting others down.

The next lesson is: We Have Two Options