What if I Stumble?

What if I stumble?
What if I fall?
What if I Iose my step and I make fools of us all?
Will the love continue when my walk becomes a crawl?
What if I stumble?
What if I fall?

Those words are from a song that was written and performed by DC TALK , a very successful Christian Rock/Rap band. “What if I Stumble” was written by two of the members of the group, Daniel Joseph and Kevin Michael McKeehan. By the way the group’s name stands for “decent Christian talk.

I have not shared the words of this song so that you would know about DC Talk. I am sharing them so that we might think about the message of this song and see what the message may be for us today.

This song is capable of bringing on a lot of emotion, at least for me. The song asks a very important question, “will the love continue when my walk becomes a crawl?” What is your reaction when you hear that a believer in Christ has stumbled or maybe even fallen because of their sinning. Or to bring the message closer to home, how do you respond when you stumble because you have sunk into the deep despair of sinning and that stumbling leads to a fall for you?

What do you do when someone loses their step? How do you react when you lose your step? And what happens if either you or a brother or sister falls because of  making bad choices and is clearly not following Jesus?

Be honest. Isn’t it possible to become a little indignant when we hear of another person’s misstep and think to ourselves “I would never do that.” It is in our nature to become a little or a lot judgmental of others when they commit a very obvious sin. And we sometimes become just a little self deprecating when we take a wrong step.  Sin is like a snowball and under the right conditions it can influence others to join in the havoc with us to do the same thing. And critics often find themselves in the same place as other critics because of the “snowball effect.”

So let me ask you, what will you do “if I stumble,” and what will you do “if I fall,” and what will you do ”if I lose my step,” will your love continue “if my walk becomes a crawl?”

This song is for Christians to evaluate how they react when confronted with the knowledge of the sin in a believer’s life. “What if I stumble” very simply asks if we are going to place ourselves on the judgment seat and condemn a brother or sister in Christ who finds themselves on the wrong path. Or are we going to encourage those who are sinning to be reconciled to God through Jesus’ blood on the cross.

There are two perspectives that we should recognize here before we react to a fellow believer who has fallen.

First, if our initial emotional response to a fellow Christian who has fallen into sin causes us to be judgmental and divisive we may need to set aside a time of self-examination. It would be good if we could have someone help us with this time of seeking what God’s place is in our life when tempted to not love others as Jesus has loved us. (see Ephesians 4:32 and Matthew 7:1-2 below) We can manage our feelings with God’s assistance. Feelings can be controlled with the help of the Holy Spirit. For example Ephesians 4:26 says “be angry and do not sin.” Verse 26 goes on to say “do not let the sun go down on your wrath.” Once the feeling is controlled our rational thinking will be restored. We should be able to easily see the answer to whether or not our love will continue for a person who has stumbled and has fallen.

Second, the perspective of God’s Word as a guide for our feelings should receive the most recognition. We must learn to hear, listen to and discern the Word of God.(see Revelation 3:22)

“Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for; through the fear of the Lord a man avoids evil”.

Proverbs 16:6 (NIV)

“He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends”.

Proverbs 17:9 (NIV)

“No  more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying ‘Know the Lord’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord.  For I will forgive their iniquity , and their sin I will remember no more”.

Jeremiah 31:34 (NKJV)

“Take heed to ourselves.  If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.  And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him”.

Luke 17:3-4 (NKJV)

“And be kind to one another tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you”.

Ephesians 4:32 (NKJV)

“And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.  And do not lead us into temptation.  But deliver us from the evil one.  For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen”.

Matthew 6:12-14 (NKJV)

“Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you”.

Matthew 7:1-2 (NKJV)

Sinning, judging, loving, forgiving and criticizing are all actions that we choose to act out in our life. No person has the power to make us feel a certain way or to control our feelings. It is all on us. We can continue to love someone whose walk has become a crawl with God’s help.

Ron Gaudio, Chaplain