Friday, March 25, 2011
Why Should I Forgive, Part 10 of 34
TEXT: "Then Jesus said to the disciples, . . . 'Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him' " (Luke 17:3).
"Moreover, if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear you, take with you one or two more, that, by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector” (Matthew 18:15-17).
IDEA: A church family needs to be concerned about evident sin in the life of its members.
PURPOSE: To have listeners understand how unrepentant Christians are to be treated after all efforts for their restoration have failed.
In Matthew 18:15-17, Jesus spells out the process Christians are to follow in order to restore someone who has sinned:
STEP 1: We are to go to the person alone in order to win him. We are to go to the person alone about the matter. We must not say something about a brother behind his back that we will not say to his face. If that doesn’t settle the matter, then . . .
STEP 2: If he doesn't repent, then you are to take one or two others with you so that the matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses (Matthew 18:16). We are to take one or two others with us—folks who are neutral and who will be fair. If that doesn’t bring repentance, then . . .
STEP 3: We are to tell it to the church.
The principle in the process seems to be to keep the matter as limited as possible.
The church wants to restore someone. The purpose hasn’t changed. If the person repents, he or she is to be forgiven.
(But what if someone is approached in the right spirit about some evident sin in his life, and these steps are carefully followed and he still refuses to repent?)
STEP 4: He is to be treated as a pagan or tax collector.
The person is considered an outsider.
A pagan was an outsider to the community of faith.
Tax collectors were considered traitors to the community.
The person is to be treated as an outsider.
He has given de facto evidence that he is not a Christian. (Titus 1:6 speaks of such people.) The congregation looks on this person differently. This isn’t punishment: no penalties, no humiliation.
This doesn’t mean that you are unkind to the individual.
In Matthew 9:14; 11:19 notice how Jesus treated tax collectors. You treat them with courtesy as you would any other non-believer.
You don’t invite them to the Lord’s table.
You give the person no role in the leadership of the church or in its teaching ministries.
You speak to them as unbelievers.
The purpose is to win that person to the Lord. That is what we want for non-Christian friends and for Christians who have persisted in their sin.
