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The Sinner And Church Reconciliation: Way More Risky Than Everyone Believed It Was
Last weekend I had the excellent fortune to hear an excellent sermon based on Paul's letter to the Galatian church. Galatians is one of my favorite books because it is pretty much all about living the Christian life through the Holy Spirit. As a former "fundamentalist" I am a specialist on living life by means of rules and restrictions, and I am profoundly aware of the spiritual death that results. The sinner and church reconciliation was a frequent topic of discourse, not to say dispute, in those circles. Hold on for some tough information!
The preacher began his review by discussing Paul's first orders to the church in chapter 6: "Brethren, if anyone is trapped in any sin, you who are spiritual, bring back such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be enticed." We are aware that Paul is speaking of Christians who are "caught...in...sin" due to the fact that he urges that they be restored, and Paul would not have considered non-Christians to have anything to be restored to.
The reason that confronting the sinner among Christians is so problematic is that everything that is biblically required of us is offensive to to the flesh. The flesh is uncomfortable with confrontation and, in its presence, mobilizes "fight or flight" responses. Biblical principles, on the contrary, require us to stay engaged and be submissive. Here are three points from Galatians 6:1 to examine:
1. Ignoring the sinner is not optional. "if anyone is caught out in any sin... recover such a one." This is an imperative. We may not ignore and we cannot banish, except as a last resort.
2. The purpose of confronting sin is restoration. "...restore such a one." Even Matthew 18:15-18, which ends in possible excommunication from the church, has restoration as its main purpose: The earliest stage of confrontation ends: "...if he listens to you, you have won your brother." The following measures contemplated are plainly intended to have the same consequence. Even when the church is forced to "let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector," we must infer that the intent is to make clear to the sinning Christian what he is wasting by refusing to confess his sin. If and when he does so the church will get started on the process of restoration that is the contrary of the process that led to his banishment. Similarly, Paul tells the Corinthian church that there is a man or women amongst them whose sin is so blatant that "I have made the decision to deliver such people to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved at the judgement of of the Lord Jesus." Notice that Paul's purpose is that the individual ultimately be "saved."
3. You must have the correct motives to be qualified to confront. "... you who are spiritual, bring back such a one in a spirit of gentleness." Irritation and frustration are flawed motives for church reconciliation and unity.
Whenever we find ourselves reacting to Christian sin within the congregation with anger, self-righteousness, tension or fear, we ought to immediately realize that the individuals or church involved are in jeopardy from both the sin and the reaction to the sin. We are not qualified to even embark on dealing with the sin until we have handled our reactions to it. We have to pray and submit to the Holy Spirit until we can truly say that we are able to battle the sin but reconcile the sinner.
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