The Sinner And Church Reconciliation: Much More Perilous Than You Felt It Was

Last weekend I had the good fortune to listen to an awesome 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 by means of the Holy Spirit. As a former "fundamentalist" I am an expert on living life by means of laws and guidelines, and I am very aware of the spiritual death that results. The sinner and church reconciliation was a common topic of dialogue, not to say debate, in those circles. Hold on for some hard information!

The preacher introduced his review by talking about Paul's first orders to the church in chapter 6: "Brethren, if anybody is caught in any sin, you who are spiritual, bring back such a one in a spirit of kindness; 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" since he urges that they be reestablished in the church, and Paul would not have perceived non-Christians to have anything to be restored to.

The reason that confronting the sinner among Christians is so troublesome is that everything that is biblically required of us is contrary to the flesh. The flesh is uneasy with conflict and, when it is perceived, mobilizes "fight or flight" responses. Biblical principles, on the other hand, require us to stay engaged and be submissive. Here are three guidelines from Galatians 6:1 to contemplate:

1. Turning away from the sinner is not optional. "if anyone is discovered in any sin... restore such a one." This is an imperative. We may not ignore and we are not allowed banish, aside from as 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 ideal objective: The opening phase of confrontation ends: "...if he listens to you, you have won your brother." The following measures contemplated are clearly designed to have the same consequence. Even when the church is required to "he should be like a Gentile and a tax collector," we must infer that the intent is to make clear to the sinning Christian what he is losing by refusing to confess his sin. If and when he does so the church will commence the course of restoration that is the contrary of the program that led to his banishment. Similarly, Paul tells the Corinthian church that there is a man or women among them whose sin is so blatant that "I have made a decision to convey such people to Satan for the ruination of the flesh, so his spirit may be saved at the judgement of of the Lord Jesus." Note that Paul's objective is that the person sooner or later be "saved."

3. You must have the appropriate purposes to be qualified to confront. "... you who are spiritual, reinstate such a one in a spirit of gentleness." Anger and disenchantment are harmful grounds for church reconciliation and unity.

Any time we find ourselves reacting to Christian sin within the Christian church with anger, self-righteousness, stress or fear, we must clearly realize that the individuals or church involved are in peril from both the sin and the reaction to the sin. We are not competent to even begin combating the sin until we have addressed our responses to it. We have to pray and submit to the Holy Spirit until we can really say that we are equipped to fight the sin but reconcile the sinner.

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