Elephants Part 1

The Real/The Rub

Elephant between Clayton and I.

Life is full of moments like this.

So big you can’t miss it.

Nobody wants to talk about it.

The church also has elephants.

depression, pornography, divorce, sin in general.

Scripture makes it clear we’re supposed to talk about these things.

The Read

How do we address these types of things?

They won’t be dealt with if we don’t confront them. They’ll just grow bigger.

We need to learn to be comfortable with confrontation.

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If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

Jesus is dealing specifically here with someone we have beef with.

Don’t let it slide. That leads to resentment.

Privately, with another, with the church.

The purpose is to restore the person to God and to repair the relationship. Not to put sin on display.

If you don’t have proper motives, you don’t have proper rights to say anything.

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Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, 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 they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load.

Paul talks here about how the church should deal with believers caught in sin.

Gently, carry their burdens as long as you avoid sin.

Your friends sometime may need you to help carry them out of sin.

Again the goal is restoring and rebuild the relationship between the person, God, and the church.

The Goal is not just to nitpick or put thier sin on display.

The Ready/The Response

Talking about these things are awkward and quite frankly not much fun.

But they are important and that’s why the Bible tells us how to deal with the elephants in the room.

But we must have proper motives and proper framework for how we address the issues.