How Manuka Honey Helped in Dealing with Mockers in the Church

Whoever corrects a mocker invites insults;
    whoever rebukes the wicked incurs abuse.
Do not rebuke mockers, or they will hate you;
    rebuke the wise, and they will love you.
Instruct the wise, and they will be wiser still;
    teach the righteous, and they will add to their learning.
Proverbs 9:7-9

The sayings above clearly mention the danger of dealing with mockers.

How do you deal with them if they happened to be part of the church and at the same time mock God by continued disobedience, covertly and blatantly?

The church’s usual tendency is righteous indignation, which is relatively easy. It’s easy to go through the rules and declare the mocker’s disqualification.

However, this easy solution would probably result in losing the chance for redemption and restoration of the mocker, whom I believe deserves the compassion of Christ.

Follow Matthew 18:15-17?

These verses are the standard Jesus Christ set, which proved very helpful in my pastoral experience.

However, I see this as applicable to churches that have been established already, and the members have known and committed themselves to following these rules.

What if you’re starting a church, and those attending are “babes in Christ”, and they’ve just started appreciating their newfound relationship with the Lord?

Also, in a multicultural congregation, one needs to determine the socio-cultural dynamics of ethnic groups in dealing with such situations.

So, how did Manuka Honey figure in the controversy and help?

When I encountered the situation, I prayed for God’s wisdom.

Then I recalled when we visited Comvita at Te Puke, New Zealand’s largest genuine UMF™ certified Mānuka Honey producer, last December 2013.

We were fascinated by the honey production, especially seeing the live honeycomb with live bees exhibited.

Since the honey production looks sophisticated, I thought there was a unique way to harvest the honey other than the traditional method.

So, I asked the guide how the honey is harvested. She replied that they smoked the hive to drive the bees and get the honey.

Learning from this age-old wisdom, I resolved to “smoke” the mockers in the church with the Word of God.

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

God’s Word works effectively! Amen!

PHOTO CREDIT: Jade Mark Jarbadan