Dealing With Sin In The Church

This morning I was reflecting on some recent stuff swirling around in the church and everywhere in life, it seems, and I was reminded of something that Jesus said, to help us deal with  sin and conflict, specifically in the Ekklesia and within the Kingdom, found in Matthew 18:10-17 NIV:

[10] “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. [12] “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? [13] And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. [14] In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.” 

[15] “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. [16] But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ [17] If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.”

I included the verses about the lost sheep which immediately precede these verses on dealing with sin because I think they set the context for the following comments by Jesus. He is speaking of the value we all have in the heart of the Father, and the Father's heart for restoration of relationship!  He loves us and values us immensely, and cares about our path, and seeks us in our waywardness, and rejoices when we return to Him, whether we return on our own or are brought back by a brother or sister.

Secondly, any reflection on inter or intra body conflict must be based first on the new commandment that Jesus gave us in John 13:34-35 NIV: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. [35] By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Sacrificial love is meant to be the calling card of our faith, belief and relationship with Jesus and others in the Church. Our love should be the very thing that people experience and see, more than anything else!  

In this context of love, and value for others we can then look at Matt 18:15-17. The first phrase is most telling,  “If our brother or sister sins” is pointing first and foremost to the fact that you have relationship with someone and they are part of the body of Christ.  Secondly, Jesus does not specify the sin, but a form of the Greek word hammartia is used by Matthew, and this word, is used several ways in scripture, as follows: 

• to be without a share in
• to miss the mark
• to err, be mistaken
• to miss or wander from the path of uprightness and honour, to do or go wrong
• to wander from the law of God, violate God's law, sin

Since we don't know what specific sin we are looking at, we must use a generic perspective, and consider this a minor issue, and one that somehow affects us, as Jesus’ next command is that we should go directly to that person, to discuss their behavior that was missing the mark, etc.  We don’t involve anyone else, we don't mention it to someone to get their take, their perspective, etc. Instead, we go to that person directly, one-on-one.

In my experience, one of the most difficult things to bring into the alignment with the Word of God is our tongue, the things we are saying,  and the things we are thinking about another.  I have written a few things lately about the accuser and the courtroom of judgement, and this reflection is related. Going back to the two foundational principles, of value (one could say honor) and sacrificial love of laying down one’s life for another, we must look at our words, commentaries, and conversations we have in our daily life, with our friends and fellows in the church.  If we are ever talking about someone else, we must ask ourselves are my words reflecting the value that they have to the Father, and am I loving them as I should by laying down my life for them?  If the words and thoughts are not from this place of foundation, then it would be better for me to keep my mouth closed.

Getting back to the verses from Matthew, the whole purpose in going one-on-one is restoration of relationship, not to point out another's fault. I find that almost 100% of the time, my perspective of someone’s motivation, or thoughts is wrong.  If I go to them one-on-one, I have the opportunity to discover their true motivation, their thinking and from that place provide commentary or questions about their sin, if any remains.  Again, the purpose is restoration of relationship, and this is supposed to be done one-on-one.

If we look closely, we find that it is only after going to them directly, and their NOT listening that we are supposed to discuss this issue with anyone else. Then and only then! 

This is very much against our present culture, of taking offense about pretty much everything and sharing our offense with others, to get them to take up our perspective. Our news headlines are almost 100% sharing of offense, rather than reporting news, and somehow this mentality has infiltrated the church.  

Rather than being for one another, we find ourselves engaging in “he said, she said, he did, she did” conversations with others, and none of this should be happening in the church, if we haven’t first gone to the other, one-on-one.  The point of bringing in another is not to spread the offense, but to revisit the individual and have further conversation, in an effort to restore them to right relationship.  

If our words are critical or judging towards someone else, and we haven’t talked to them yet, then we are not in alignment with this teaching of Jesus, and we have the opportunity to change or repent, for we are missing the mark ourselves.

I am reminded of one other thing Jesus said in His sermon on the mount, found in Matthew 7:1-5 NIV:

[1] “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. [2] For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” 

[3] “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? [4] How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? [5] You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

In the case of speaking about someone else’s sin without going to them first, we are in a similar state, we have a plank in our own eye, for we are going against the very word of Jesus, and certainly not following His command to love one another as He loves us.

Oh Lord, please help us!

Help us to stop speaking accusations, and judgment!

Help us to stop judging someone’s motive! 

Help us to stop spreading the offense, or conflict!

Help us to instead pray for one another that the enemy would not have access to our ears to spread his accusations against the brethren, our brothers and sisters.

Help us to love one another first and foremost!

Help us to always look to the value that each other has in the heart of the Father and treat each other that way!

Help us to embrace this teaching from Jesus, for it runs counter to the ways of the world.

Help us Lord, to embrace one another, to honor one another and to bless one another!  

Help us Lord!  Help us to demonstrate to the world a different approach to dealing with conflict and sin!  Help us to operate from a Kingdom perspective rather than a worldly perspective.  Help us to love each other as You loved us!

Amen and Amen!