|
Restoring Others Galatians 6:1-5
"Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load."
I want to ask Paul "What do you mean 'if' someone is caught in a sin?" Maybe some of us are just better than others about hiding our sins and we don't worry about whether or not our sins will catch up with us. The Israelites went so far as thinking that because they were prospering, it proved that they were right with God. "Ephraim boasts, 'I am very rich; I have become wealthy. With all my wealth they will not find in me any iniquity or sin.'" (Hos 12:8) Kind of strange isn't it, that when things are going right, we think that we must be doing things the way God wants. The point is that it is too easy for us to get complacent, drop our guard and fall into sin. Well, the Israelites were really rebellious against the Lord and they were all finally punished when they were taken into captivity. It isn't as if they hadn't been warned that they wouldn't be able to escape their sins. "But if you fail to do this, you will be sinning against the LORD; and you may be sure that your sin will find you out." (Num 32:23) Sooner or later, we will be found out. So what makes us think that we can escape the consequences of our sins?
If someone comes along and tries to restore us, we should listen and be thankful that he cares enough to warn us. However, most people don't listen even when they are approached gently. I think more often than not, people respond like Ahab did. "So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. When he saw Elijah, he said to him, 'Is that you, you troubler of Israel?'" (1 Kings 18:16-17) I don't know how Elijah first approached Ahab, but as time went on, the meetings were more confrontational. Human nature hasn't changed and most people who are deeply entrenched in sin simply don't want to hear about it. Elijah got pretty depressed after his repeated failures at making any changes in Ahab. If you want to see how down he got, just read 1 Kings 19. He wanted the Lord to take his life and end it all. Perhaps this is one of the reasons that Paul said that a spiritual person should restore a sinner. It's easy to take failure personal, even for a spiritual giant like Elijah. The Lord had to have a personal discussion with him to pull him back into service as a prophet.
Another reason that a person should be spiritual to engage in any restoration activity is the very fact that we can also be tempted when we approach others who are in sin. It seems strange that this should occur, but Paul is warning us. I don't think the temptation is the same as the one that came to John and James when Jesus was rejected in a Samaritan town. They wanted to bring down fire from heaven to punish the town. I'm well acquainted with this temptation every time I'm told of a dolt who walks out on his or her spouse. I also have these carnal desires when I see some of the other sins that are going on in our country. I think Paul was more concerned with the temptation to engage in the same sin that the guilty party has fallen into. During an investigation of the sin, hearing the story of the problem is a heavy spiritual burden that can cause a weak Christian to have problems of his own. It could also be that the one in sin puts up some good arguments and sways the person who came to get him out of the spiritual mess. Whatever it is, we need to be on our guard.
Paul then tells us that we need to carry each other's burdens. Restoration isn't simply confronting someone with his sin, but is a process that can take time. Confrontation is only the first step in the process. Carrying another's burdens in the case of restoring another individual means more than just lending a sympathetic ear. The concept of bearing a burden is to lift a weight off of another and to remove it. A big problem that occurs in the church is the notion that a person can simply be confronted with a sin and he will then turn and everything will be ok. The trouble is that there are many sins that are learned behaviors that need to be un-learned then replaced with proper behavior. A person may know full well that verbal abuse is a sin once it has been pointed out, but they have always used this method of communication. His whole family may have used the same style. This is common in alcoholic families. In a case like this, carrying the burden would take more than pointing out the sin. It would mean some in-depth counseling and training the person how to use language that is wholesome and can be used to build others up. (Eph 4:29)
When we bear one other's burdens in this way, we are fulfilling the law of Christ. "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:12-13) Stop to think about the commitment it takes to help a person who has been caught in sin get back on the road and establish a lifestyle that keeps them walking with the Lord. You may not lay down your life to do this, but it is a huge commitment of time, effort and most of all, love. Good Christian counselors can help but they don't see the day-by-day life that their counselees live. The most effective counselor is a person who can spend time and observe the counselee's life to see if he is "walking the walk" or just "talking the talk" in the counselor's office. Lord, give us more people who can come alongside and train others in godly lifestyles.
Let's go back to temptations. Another temptation is that a spiritual person just might get puffed up when they find out how good they are at restoring those caught in sin. Being around the backslidden can cause me to feel superior to those who are undergoing problems. "The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: `God, I thank you that I am not like other men-robbers, evildoers, adulterers-or even like this tax collector.'" (Luke 18:11) When I stop to think about this verse in the context of restoring someone, it hits too close to home. When I read these words in Luke it seems silly that anyone would be so blatantly proud of their "spiritual maturity". But when I think about counseling people who have problems that I've either long since overcome, or never had, I'm more Pharisee than tax collector. It's pretty easy to deceive ourselves.
Paul tells us that before we can engage in restoring others, we'd better have our own act together and test ourselves. David was totally open to the Lord most of his life. "Though you probe my heart and examine me at night, though you test me, you will find nothing; I have resolved that my mouth will not sin." (Ps 17:3) He was confident at this time of his life that he was where the Lord wanted him. His heart was right with the Lord and he was resolved to stay away from sin. Yet the Bible records several of David's sins and the devastating consequences in his own life and on the nation of Israel. 70,000 people died as a result of his sin when he counted his armed forces. Testing our own actions isn't something that we can do every once in a while. It is something that we need to do regularly, even daily, least we grow complacent or over confidant.
If we compare ourselves with ourselves, we can see what kind of progress we are making in our walk with the Lord. If we compare ourselves to others, we become like the Pharisee above. "But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment." (1 Cor 11:31) We need to judge ourselves to find out what corrective measures that we need to apply to our lives. When we do this, we will be bearing our own burden and won't need someone to restore us.
May you love the Lord so much and walk with Him so closely that you will be able to carry your own burden and help restore someone caught in sin without being tempted.
In Jesus,
Ray Ruppert
If you would like to know how to surrender your life to Jesus, click on Eternal Net on the left.
|
Last Updated - 01/30/12 08:50 AM
|
|
