Dealing with Sin in the Church PT 2

Larry Crabb “The difference between spiritual and unspiritual community is not whether conflict exists, but is rather in our attitude toward it and our approach to handling it. When conflict is seen as an opportunity to draw more fully on spiritual resources, we have the makings of spiritual community” ‘

There are three things in this passage that I want to point out before we begin.

This is a passage that is about dealing with sin; as we talked about last week sin is serious and it needs to be addressed. However, we need to also be mature and discerning enough to know what is a sin, and what is not. Because Jesus tells us that we should address sin. The trouble is that many times the church is not always good at discerning what is sin, and what is not. Let me give you a few examples-

Stealing is a sin. When someone steals, whether it is from the church, another person, their employer, or anyone else it is sin- every single time. If someone in the church is a thief we are to confront their sin and work towards reconciliation with Christ and the church.

Not wearing a tie to church- not a sin. There is no teaching in the Bible about what we should wear to church. While there are some verses about dressing modestly, there is no Biblical teaching on church dresscode. You, or I, or our church may have some kind of perference or opinion on what we think is appropriate for church; but there is no Biblical mandate that says we are to confront or correct dress. While it may be a deeply held opinion, it is not sin to not wear a tie to church.

Jesus is serious about the holiness of his church. The Greek word Ecclesia- translated church- is used 76 times the Bible. But Jesus only uses the word “church” two times- only 2 so we should probably pay attention to the 2 times that Jesus address the “church” right? They both actually happen in Matthew.

Matthew 16:18 “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

Matthew 18:17 “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.”

Once Jesus is talking about building his church and the other he is talking about protecting the church. Jesus wants us to be very protective of the holiness of the church.

The church of the NT was a lot different than the church we have now. For a lot of reasons, but the one that matters for this passage is intimacy. In Jesus’ day there was not a church on every corner, and there were not 2000 denominations. There was the church in Corinth, and the Church in Galatia, so when you were out of fellowship with the church, there was no other church to go to. There was not “well that church told me I am wrong, so I will go find one that affirms me”

Relational

The Gospel of Jesus is based in relationship. This is why the beginning of dealing with sin in the church is between 2 people, the offender and the effected.

If there is no other thing you hear in this sermon series, please hear this: if you are upset with someone, if they have wronged you, hurt you, or sinned against you- GO TALK TO THEM ABOUT IT!!! Anything other than going to the person and talking about the conflict is short of God’s best and God’s will for us.

Nothing will fracture a church and fracture a group of believers faster than conflict dealt with through passive aggressive behavior and gossip. You know when we want to deal with conflict by telling 10 other people and not the person we need to talk to; or wanting to deal with it anonymously or with statements like “a group of us have concerns”

Jesus say go and tell HIM HIS fault- not his friends, not your neighbor, not the people at lunch- go talk to the person and try and work it out.

You see, in the Kingdom of God relationship is the building block for restoration, and if we do not engage the person, how can we ever expect to have a healthy relationship?

But let’s face it, it is easier- way easier, to talk to others about it; to look for justification for our feelings; to build a case for ourselves.

Which also means that when we are on the receiving end and someone calls us to vent or to talk about the conflict they are having with someone else, we should always ask- have you talked with them about this?

Jesus says the first thing we should do is talk to the person one on one. Because the foundation of a church is relationships- our relationship with God and our relationships with one another- so if we are allowing sin and conflict to erode those relationship then the house will begin to shift, break, and eventually fall.

But what if that does not work? Well, then Jesus says, take someone with you- a person or 2. Expand the conversation. Notice that this is not a confrontational action. Jesus is really asking us to bring in more people to the conversation.

Reconciling

Dealing with sin in the church is to be a reconciling process. What does it mean to be reconciled? Well forgiveness is a one person action- you can forgive someone even if they are not sorry; if they never repent; and you can even forgive someone without them even knowing that you are hurt. Forgiveness only depends on one.

But reconciliation requires 2. Reconciliation means that we are working to be on level ground. Reconciliation is mutual and asks both parties to work towards finding a way forward together.

The point of bringing in someone outside of the hurt is to help the 2 find a common path. The point is not to get someone else in your corner- but to invite a tour-guide.

This is one of the reasons why when I work with someone through Matthew 18 reconciliation I try to encourage them to be very selective about the person they ask to join them if they need to involve someone else. The person really needs to be spiritually mature, and as impartial as possible. That person needs to be able to hear both people and help navigate. You see, the world wants us to only see conflict as a war to win; but conflict is a chance to seek the spirit of God; and grow in maturity, grace, and the likeness of Jesus. So the third person is not just backup to help us win; they are a trusted Christian who helps us grow and seek Christ.

And what happens if the person still does not listen? If the conflict keeps going or the person continues in sin?

Then, Jesus says, take it to the church.

Now, many churches have left the years of church trials and dis-fellowship in the past. And honestly, there are some cases where church discipline was used to harm and hurt people, and was used to abuse people- that is a real part of this story and we need to remember what the point of church discipline is.

Restorative

The point of Church Discipline is to restore.

Notice the words of Jesus- if they refuse to listen treat them as a sinner or a tax collector.

Now, let’s unpack that for a bit----- how does the Bible ask us to treat sinners and tax collectors?

Matthew 9:9–13 “As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.””

Seems ironic in a way. That the man who records Jesus’ words to treat the unrepentant sinner as a tax collector is the reformed tax collector.

How did Jesus treat tax collectors and pagans? He invited them to follow him.

If a person is in the will of God and a Christian then our job as a church is to disciple them, help them grow in their faith, hold them accountable and help them thrive.

If someone does not know Jesus our job as a Church is to introduce them to Jesus; evangelize to them, and invite them into God’s will.

That also means that is someone is in unrepentant sin it changes their relationship with the church. Our church is welcome to anyone- ANYONE; but would we let someone who does not know Jesus Teach SS- no. Would we let them be a Deacon or serve on a worship team- NO; would we put them on the board or anything else- no;

So if someone is in unrepentant sin; this is part of how we are to react.

Friends, when someone is in unrepentant sin our task is to call them back to Jesus.

Dr. Howard Hendricks tells the story of a young man who strayed from the Lord but was finally brought back by the help of a friend who really loved him. When there was full repentance and restoration, Dr. Hendricks asked this Christian how it felt away from the Lord. The young man said it seemed like he was out at sea, in deep water, deep trouble, and all his friends were on the shore hurling biblical accusations at him about justice, penalty, and wrong.

“But, there was one Christian brother who actually swam out to get me and would not let me go. I fought him, but he pushed aside my fighting, grasped me, put a life jacket around me, and took me to shore. By the grace of God, he was the reason I was restored. He would not let me go.”

Also notice that this is the consequence for UNREPENTANT sin- we will talk about this more next week; but if someone sins, we go to them, and they repent then they are to welcomed back as a brother.