Am I My Brother’s Keeper?
“Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” Hebrews 3:12-13
It’s easy to go astray from what one knows is right. Many have been deceived by sin. It can look pretty good, downright enticing, but then it tangles one in its clutches just like a butterfly gets caught in a spider’s web. It is also easy to push a fellow Christian who sins further down into his or her misery rather than reaching out and pulling them back into seeking forgiveness and a renewed relationship with the Lord. Some folks just don’t want to get involved, but a brother or sister in Christ is already involved because his or her erring friend is dragging the name of Christ, the One we serve, through the mud.
If someone did something to disparage one of our loved ones, would we not step in to bring correction and/or accountability of the guilty one? Some Christians fear that they will be accused of having a “holier than thou” attitude when alerting another of their sinful behavior. The thing is, if we do not approach them in a loving and merciful manner, our actions and what we say to them could make us look judgmental. It is not our place to judge anyone, but, on the other hand, a fellow believer is not being kind if he or she doesn’t attempt to help the one who has strayed from the “straight and narrow”.
Jesus gave us a three step process in confronting a fellow Christian who has sinned, specifically against us. He said to go to the person and talk to him or her alone. If the person receives our admonishment and repents, we will have strengthened our friendship. But, Jesus continued, if the person will not listen, then present the case before two or three other people who are aware of the sin. Now this will take some courage on our part. If the person will still not listen, his or her sin is to be told unto the entire church. Whoa. Do you know how difficult that would be for all parties involved? If he or she still will not repent, then he or she is to be treated as a “heathen” and removed from the church (Matthew 18:15-17). That sounds fairly drastic, but we have to consider the consequences of allowing one who is living in known sin and who refuses to repent to cast a dark shadow over the entire church body. It would be like a parent who allows a child to continuously do things that harm the entire family and spreads his or her mischief all over the neighborhood.
No church is perfect. As has been said, church is not a hotel for saints; it is a hospital for sinners. Some folks feel inadequate to call out others because they have sin in their lives as well. Jesus desires for us to be accountable to one another. James 5:16 tells us to confess our faults one to another, and James 5:20 tells us that whoever brings a sinner back to God will save him from death. It is possible that a Christian who lives in a pattern of sin may have his or her life cut short, because God will not be mocked. The Apostle Paul wrote in I Corinthians 11:30 concerning those who participate in the Lord’s Supper with sin in their lives could become sick or could die an early death. Thus, does God view sin as an extremely serious matter? You bet He does.