©2003 Larry Huntsperger Peninsula Bible Fellowship
|
07/13/03 |
Restoring Wayward Christians |
Galatians 6:1 |
7-13-07 Restoring Wayward Christians
Two weeks ago I ended our time together
by sharing with you a statement made by Paul
in the first verse of the last chapter of his letter to the Galatians.
The verse says,
GAL 6:1 Brethren, even if a man is caught in any
trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness;
each one looking to yourself, lest you too be tempted.
We had a little discussion about that statement following the teaching time,
and I had almost decided that I’d already shared with you
everything in that discussion that I know about the verse
and there was no value in our investing any more time in it again.
But, as I’ve thought about it during the past couple of weeks
I’ve changed my mind,
not so much because I’ve come up with masses of new wisdom about the verse,
but more because the level of interest I heard several of you express
has made me think it is worth our chewing on the whole thing a little bit more.
If you weren’t with us two weeks ago
it may help if I put this discussion back into the context that got us into it.
We had returned to our study of the second chapter of Ephesians,
but we got there in a rather roundabout way,
spending quite a bit of time in Paul’s letter to the Colossians.
But then, toward the end of our time together
we returned to Paul’s statement in Ephesians 2:15
in which he reminded us about the source of so much of that hideous divisiveness
that has existed within the religious world throughout the history of mankind.
The verse itself is talking about the way in which Christ ended the enmity,
that its, He ended the basis upon which so much of the division and criticism and warfare is founded
by creating for us through His death for our sins
a relationship with our Creator that is not based upon our ability to keep a list of rules.
And then he tells us
that our relationships with one another
should be based upon exactly the same foundation.
In Ephesians 2:15 Paul told us that Christ, “ abolished
in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in
ordinances, that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus
establishing peace...”
The enmity,
the tension,
the warfare
comes from the Law of commandments contained in ordinances.
That’s what was happening between the Jewish and Gentile Christians in the fist century church.
The Jewish Christians, clutching their legalistic standard of measure,
held that standard up next to their Gentile brothers and sisters
and proclaimed, “YOU don’t measure up...and we DO!!!”
And the result was a terrible tension and divisiveness within the Body of Christ.
And from that day until this
every time Christians have reached once again for their Law of commandments contained in ordinances
and used it as the basis for their relationships with one another
the same hideous results have reentered the family of God.
“You don’t measure up!
You don’t meet my standard!
You don’t follow my list of rules as I think you should.
We’ll exclude you.
We’ll view you as one who is unworthy of our friendship or our support.”
And that same tension will reappear between believers whenever one Christian
or a group of Christians once again clutch their sacred list
and hold it up next to their fellow believers
to see whether they measure up.
Without a doubt,
some of the most judgmental spirits we will ever find in our world today
are found within the body of Christ
in the attitudes of church people against church people
as they clutch their mental measuring rods
and run around the family of God
checking to see who measures up and who does not.
It is certainly true
that, as Christians, we are to live with one another
in a way that supports and encourages one another
in our ongoing personal battles for growing practical righteous living.
And in that context
there are times when we must love enough
to address some moral issue in a fellow believer’s life
if our relationship with that person justifies such actions.
But that is a very different thing
from slicing up the family of God
on the basis of our lists.
The real thing,
the true kind of involvement God calls us to always has just one goal in mind -
helping our brother or sister to face and change specific immoral actions.
It is always short term,
and it always ends when the wrong behavior ceases.
And then in closing two weeks ago
I shared with you Paul’s statement from Galatians 6:1
in which he describes for us
what truly healthy involvement in one another’s lives looks like in this area.
GAL 6:1 Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any
trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each
one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.
And that’s where we ended.
Or, more accurately, that’s where I ended.
But then Jill got up to the mic
and asked the obvious question,
“So how do we do that?”
How do we go about restoring such a one in a spirit of gentleness?
How do we effectively involve ourselves in another person’s life
when we see them making destructive choices and want to help?
In response to that question I shared a few comments,
but this morning I’d like to take this whole area
and organize and expand those comments a little more.
And let me start by dealing with the question
of when we have a basis for involvement
and when we do not.
The first comment I’d make here
is that, as a general rule,
we have no basis for attempting to intervene in the moral decisions of a nonchristian.
When we enter the family of God
we are not issued Jr. God badges
that then qualify us to function as the moral policeman of the world.
There are some obvious exceptions to this, of course -
if we see someone hurting another person and we can prevent what is happening,
or if we could be personally held morally or legally accountable for another person’s actions,
of course we take what steps we can to intervene.
But as a general rule,
we are not called to involve ourselves
in the moral choices of the world around us,
except as we do so through our governmental structure,
or when we are given a position of authority over others.
Just as an example,
a Christian employer can and should require his nonchristian employees
to conduct themselves and their work ethically when on the job,
even if the employees have no personal work ethics whatsoever.
But when it comes to our general association with the world around us,
we simply are not called to involve ourselves in their moral choices.
Paul said it so well
when he was talking with the Corinthian Christians
about a problem of immorality within that church.
In the context of that discussion he said,
1CO 5:12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do
you not judge those who are within the church?
1CO 5:13 But those who are outside, God judges...
His point is obvious -
God’s people are not called to be the moral policemen of the world,
nor is the world morally accountable to us.
Each person’s moral accountability is always before God alone.
That, of course, is why it is utter foolishness
for the human race ever to try to grade itself on some kind of moral curve.
To look at our own life
and decide we are certainly as good as the next guy
and probably better than most
and then, on the basis of that evaluation,
to decide that we will come out OK at that judgement thing after we die
is the ultimate in blind stupidity.
When we stand before our Creator
He will not bring out a diagramed moral curve of the human race,
show us where we are on that curve,
and then tell us that because we scored 65% or higher on the curve
He will give us our entrance into heaven.
When we each stand before our God
it is always, only a personal interview
with no curve, and no other human being’s conduct or behavior discussed.
And there are only two options available in that interview.
Either we can try to stand before God
on the basis of our performance,
in which case we must be able to offer God a life of absolute moral perfection
from the day of our birth until the instant of our death,
or we must be able to point to the cross of Jesus Christ
and to the place where what Paul calls our “certificate of debt”
listing all of our sins for all time
was nailed to that cross by Christ Himself
in response to our faith in His assurance that His death was a complete payment for our sins.
But I’m getting off track here.
Paul’s point to the Corinthians
is that it is of no value for us to run around the world
trying to get nonbelievers to clean up their lives morally
because even if we have some success
it will do nothing whatsoever to better qualify them to stand before God,
and in fact
it may even do harm
because it gives them a mental hiding place from the true underlying heart issues
that really need to be addressed in their relationship with their God.
So, my first point in this whole restoration thing
is that, as a general rule, we involve ourselves only in the lives of our fellow believers.
Second,
before we do anything
we must be brutally honest about our own motives.
If we want to involve ourselves because we’re angry at them
and our real motive is to force them to face what they did to us,
we should not get involved.
If we simply find that their behavior personally irritating or offensive
and we think someone really should face them with their offensiveness,
we should not get involved.
With one crucial exception,
if the moral offense was not against us personally,
we should not get involved.
The one exception is in those situations
in which we have built an accountability relationship with a fellow believer.
And let me just say
that if you have to ask yourself whether such a relationship exists between you and some other person
then the answer to that question is most likely, “No, it does not.”
One of the many beautiful things that God does within His family
is to lead us into the establishment of relationships
in which we take care of one another,
relationships in which we become responsible for one another and to one another
in the most beautiful ways.
Such relationships are not established structurally,
they are established in spirit,
and where they exist
we will know it at the spirit level.
Last week following the service
I had a person come to me and tell me about something he’d done wrong.
I wasn’t personally involved in the incident in any way,
but both he and I know
that an accountable relationship exists between us
and he wanted me to know what he’d done.
We talked about the situation
and then together found an approach to resolving the problem.
That’s healthy stuff for Christians.
Such accountable relationships are not quickly or easily built,
but when and where they exist
they become some of the most valuable gifts our Lord ever gives us.
But when it comes to our involving ourselves in the moral conduct of others,
unless we have been the one sinned against,
or unless an accountable relationship exists between us,
we have no basis for getting involved.
Third, the only adequate and effective motive for our getting involved
is our love for that person,
a love that gives us a longing to free them from the bondage
that always comes with wrong moral choices.
And right here I’m going to make
what I believe to be the most important,
most valuable statement I will make this morning.
If you hear only one thing I have to say about this whole business,
I hope it is this...
The most powerful single tool we will ever have
in our efforts to restore a wayward fellow Christian
is our ability to approach them in a way
that enables them to hear and believe our love for them
that has motivated us to get involved.
If they hear a judgmental spirit from us,
if they hear condemnation,
if they hear self-righteous arrogance,
if they hear moral superiority,
if they hear any other motive from us,
our efforts will likely have little if any positive impact,
and will most likely have a negative impact
both on their behavior
and on our relationship with them.
Did you hear Paul’s wording in that passage?
...restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself...
You see,
the truth is there is no such thing as moral superiority within the Family of God.
No one is morally more superior than anyone else,
and anyone who believes they are
is simply living out a religious game of their own design.
There are those who are making right choices
and those who are not.
But making right choices is in no way the same thing as moral superiority.
As Christians
our righteousness...our true moral purity
has come to us not through our improved behavior,
but rather as a gift given to us from our God
as a result of our faith in Christ.
2CO 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our
behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
And if we ever begin to believe
that it is our right choices
that qualifies us to then speak to others about their wrong choices
we have understood nothing about the basics of life with God
and life with one another through faith in Christ.
The one thing that qualifies us to speak is our love for the other person.
And what if the love isn’t there.
What if our motive really is because they drive us crazy
and we want to shape them up?
Then keep your mouth closed
until God has reworked your own heart
to the place where irritation has been replaced by compassion.
Fourth,
the goal is always restoration.
Here again, look at Paul’s wording...
...you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness...
It is not condemnation,
it is not punishment,
it is not to inflict some sort of consequences upon the disobedient person,
it is restoration,
which means, of course,
that when restoration is accomplished
the issue ceases to be an issue.
Fifth,
the only issues we have a basis for addressing
are those within the universal moral framework
given to us by our Lord.
If that concept is new to you
and you’d like to understand it more thoroughly,
I would strongly recommend that you read the last half of The Grace Exchange on the back table.
Just very briefly now
let me say simply
that Scripture makes a clear distinction
between those universal moral boundaries that are established by God
for all people,
all cultures,
all times,
and those personal areas of moral conviction
that grow out of the individual working of the Spirit of God in our lives
within the context of our particular cultures,
and personalities,
and ministries,
and times in life.
There was a brief time in my life
when it was morally wrong for me to wear a watch
because of the individual setting God had created for me
and the things He was doing both in and through me.
With every growing Christian here this morning
there are certain places where,
because of your own situation
and your own vulnerabilities to certain sins,
God has drawn a protective line in your life
and declared, “Because I love you, I do not want you to cross this line.”
But none of those personal moral boundaries
are ever a basis upon which we can approach another Christian.
The only boundaries upon which we can approach another Christian
are those clearly addressed in Scripture as universal in nature
and applicable to all people.
For now, if it helps, you can think in terms of the last six of the Ten Commandments:
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not murder.
You shall not steal.
You shall not covet.
You shall not lie.
There are a few more universal issues,
but not near as many as we think.
And my point here is simply this -
if the issue we want to address in our fellow Christian
is not an issue that is clearly spoken to in God’s universal moral framework,
then we have no basis for addressing it.
It is between them and their Lord.
If they want to wear a nose ring,
it’s really none of your business...
The reason, I think, is obvious.
When we go
we do not do so on the basis of our authority,
to point out what we think is right or wrong.
We go on the basis of what God has already revealed to us.
The Lord’s training of me in some of these areas began early in my Christian life.
In my early 20's I spent several years on the Island of Trinidad in the Carribean
helping a missionary family to start a church.
Michael was one of our first converts,
a teenager from a rugged past
who came to the Lord while I was there.
The life of Christ was obvious within him from the very beginning.
He had a hunger for the word,
and an obvious love for his fellow Christians,
and a desire to grow,
but he smoked,
and had been smoking for several years,
and I decided this was wrong
and began my own personal campaign to get him to stop.
But everything I tried failed miserably,
and I finally gave up.
Then, several months later I noticed that Michael was no longer smoking.
I finally asked him about it and he said,
“Oh ya, man! Da Lord told me to stop dat, so I did.”
I realize now
that it wasn’t an issue I had any right to address in his life.
There was no universal moral commandment
given to us by our God
that says, “You shall not smoke.”
It was simply one of the countless issues
that remain within the jurisdiction of the Holy Spirit’s individual relationship with the believer.
And then just two other areas I want to comment on before I quit here...
First of all, I want to comment on what we can and cannot do for another person.
We cannot convict another person of sin.
We can tell them their behavior is offensive to us.
We can tell them their behavior is damaging their relationship with us.
We can tell them their behavior is self-destructive.
But we cannot ever bring about a sense of true personal conviction.
We can create a temporary emotional guilt,
but we cannot bring about true inner conviction of sin.
Only God can bring about true conviction.
Christ made this clear when He was talking with His disciples
about what the Holy Spirit would accomplish in the world
once He came following Christ’s departure.
JOH 16:7 "But I tell you the truth, it is to your
advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to
you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.
JOH 16:8 "And He, when He comes, will convict the
world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment;
And just to clarify,
there is a world of difference between emotional guilt
and true Spirit conviction of sin.
I could put a whole bunch of pictures up here on the screen this morning
of children starving throughout the world,
and then talk with you about that meal you’re going to eat once you leave here,
and ask you how you can not get involved in meeting the needs of those who are starving.
And I could create an emotional guilt that might motivate you to give money to a relief organization.
But only the Spirit of God
can step into your life
and bring true conviction about our relationship to our possessions
and what it means to live with a true stewardship mentality toward whatever God has chosen to place within our hands during our time on this planet.
If you go to another person
believing you can convict them of sin,
you have set yourself up for major disappointment.
All you can do is to share with them your love for them,
and your understanding of what God has said and why,
and then you pray that God’s Spirit will give them eyes to see and a heart to respond to Him.
And, just as you cannot convict another person of sin,
so you cannot make another person’s choices for them.
And, in fact, one of the most effective things we can ever do in these situations
is to communicate that truth to the one we love.
“You have both the right and the ability
to make whatever choices you choose to make.
I just want you to know
that I care about you far too much not to talk with you about what’s going on in your life.”
And then, just one final comment
about applying these principles within the family setting.
There are some unique elements to our relationships within the family.
These principles we’ve looked at this morning certainly do still apply,
but the one added comment I would make here
is that, within the family structure,
we must always keep in mind that, for better or for worse,
family relationships are with us for our entire lives.
And whenever we address moral issues within the family structure
we need to do it with a life-long perspective on our actions.
Sometimes, when it comes to family,
because we are family
we are the least qualified to address the issues,
and our best hope and prayer
is that our Lord will bring someone outside of the family
into the life of the one we are concerned about
and use them to accomplish the changes that need to be made.
Sometimes the best approach within the family
is to love unconditionally,
and pray fervently,
and keep our mouths shut
until God makes it clear that He wants us to play a role
in what He is doing in the person’s life.