“Blood is thicker than holy water” is a quote from Mario Puzo’s The Family, wherein the Borgia pope emphasizes that familial obligations are more important than religious ones.” (Wikipedia)
I have wondered what the saying “blood is thicker than water” means, and there are different theories, one of which is similar to that quoted above. That family bonds are closer than the bonds of Christian baptism, i.e., of brotherhood in Christ. At least this is so often the case.
But it should not be so.
Mat 12:48-50 But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” (49) And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! (50) For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
And again:
Luk 14:26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
Now, let’s apply these principles to the pathetically common scenario of how people “side up” when an abuse victim brings her case before her church family. As we all know, the most frequent outcome is that people choose to side with the abuser. Why? Because earthly, human alliances are given priority over spiritual ones. Good ol’ Joe has been in this church for years. Good ol’ Joe is the uncle/cousin/brother of many of us. Good ol’ Joe owns a business that several of us work at. And so good ol’ Joe, who isn’t good at all, is embraced.
Give very careful attention to the following passage:
2Co 5:16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer.
And once more:
1Ti 5:21-22 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality. (22) Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure.
We are NOT to be swayed by whose brother or friend Joe is. We are not to regard Joe as a mere man, but we are to “test the spirits” to see if they are of God or the devil (1 John 4). We are to prayerfully and carefully discern what spirit is animating Joe. We have this ability in Christ. The Holy Spirit, in conjunction with God’s Word, enables genuine regenerate people to sort out the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. So we must stop analyzing the Joe we see, and evaluate the Joe God sees. Stop regarding Joe according the flesh. And begin to regard him in spiritual terms. Does Joe walk in the Spirit? Does Joe evidence the love of Christ in his relations with others? Does Joe produce unity among Christ’s people, or does he divide? ABUSERS DIVIDE THE BODY OF CHRIST. Always! Scrutinize Joe’s fruit in other words.
The “water” with which genuine Christians have been washed (as symbolized by the water of baptism) is thicker than the blood of all earthly relationships. It is! And where it is not, we have every right to question whether the Lord Jesus is present at all.
Filed under: Unjust church responses Tagged: abuser's tactics, deception, identifying abusers, Jeff Crippen 
