Sin in the Congregation

Are there Bible commands that are optional? I’m not talking about details under the Old Law like not eating pork or issues that may relate to culture like head-coverings. I am talking about the clear and direct commands of Jesus Christ. Do we have optional commands? We certainly have some that are rarely practiced, hardly noticed, and generally ignored.  Why?  They require such humility, selflessness, honesty and forgiveness that we read right over them with barely a glance. 

I’m talking about the Bible’s methods for dealing with sin.

If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. (Matthew 18:15-17)*

This a command.  Just like a thousand other commands that we insist that we and others follow.   There is no bowing out, no hoping someone else (like our elders or our ministers) will be responsible for us.  This is the way Jesus commands that we deal with sin in our midst.  

Let’s imagine a scenario. 

You are at the grocery store grabbing three things before dinner.  You hear a brother’s booming voice one aisle over.  You are on the way to say hello, when you hear him speak to his wife in a way he shouldn’t speak to a dog.  You don’t want to interfere but as you step away you are shocked by his venom.  What do you do?

This one is tough because there are gender issues involved.  You can’t necessarily ask him to have coffee, and the grocery store is not the place for a private conversation.  But you could call him on the phone, explain what you heard and let him know that he was not displaying the gentle love that Christ has for the church for his wife. 

Could you call an elder and ask for some advice?  Or maybe consult with your husband before giving him a call?  Much depends on Jesus’ exact words.* However there is no escaping the fact that your brother's sin has become your personal responsibility. 

What if on the flip-side, we are the problem?  How does Jesus say we must deal with our own sin and the chaos it causes in our relationships?

Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.(Matthew 5:23-24)

Jesus is making us uncomfortable again.  If we are the source of the conflict in our church, it is our responsibility to go to our brother and make it right.  It’s our responsibility to do it NOW before we go on with our everyday life of loving God and serving Him.  

What will it take for us to actually practice Jesus’ words?  Courage.  It is scary to go to a sibling and tell them about their sin.  Love.  We have to care a lot about someone to risk rocking the boat.  Humility.  Our pride takes a beating when we go and confess our wrong and ask a brother’s forgiveness.  

Obedience.  

We have to want to follow Jesus in these difficult command as much as in the easier ones. 

Any body of believers who humbly followed these two commands would be inoculated against the viruses of dissension and division that so often plague our churches as well as have a much lower rate of saints drifting off into sin and leaving their first love. I know it’s hard, uncomfortable, scary and painful but change in a congregation starts with one believer who follows Jesus with all her heart, even when it’s hard.

Helene

*There is a significant amount of ambiguity in the Greek text. If you check several versions you will see that in about half of them first phrase is “If a brother sins against you.”  Two words translated “against you” appear in some manuscripts but not others. However I am confident that the point that we are responsible personally to confront in all love any brother or sister who is practicing sin can be supported from other passages. For example, James 5:19-20 says, “My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” Regardless of whether we were simply witnesses or the recipient of the sin, we are commanded not to turn a blind eye to our brothers.