Why Wander?

Sunday, September 09, 2012, 9:00 a.m. – the Lord woke me this morning with the song “There’s Wideness in God’s Mercy.” Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Galatians 6 (NIV 1984):

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.

Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor.

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!

Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. Not even those who are circumcised obey the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your flesh. May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation. Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule, even to the Israel of God.

Finally, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.

Caught in Sin

I had always, as best as I recall, thought that the “caught” in sin in this passage had to do literally with catching someone in the act of sin, yet, as I read a commentary on this passage, the commentator translated this as a believer in Christ being trapped in, overtaken or overcome by a particular sin. If one believer has knowledge that another believer has been overtaken by a sin, he or she who is spiritual, i.e. who is in a right relationship with Jesus Christ, should restore that person to a right relationship with God, but to do it gently.

So, if you or I become aware that a brother or sister has been literally caught in a sin, or we become aware that he or she is trapped in (overtaken by) a particular sin, what should our response be? Should we wait until we have developed a close relationship with that person over a long period of time before we say something? Oh, how truly unloving and selfish of us that would be to leave that person trapped in sin for such a long period of time, thinking we have to earn the right to speak to the person, when we could have done something to help. That would be like standing on the sidelines and watching someone drown in a pool when we could have done something to save him.

Should we just ignore the sin because we don’t want to be rejected by that individual or others? Should we talk to everyone else about the person’s sin, i.e. gossip about him or her? Should we publicly chastise the person for his or her sin without having first gone through the Biblical requirements for how to deal with our brother’s sin? Or, should we condemn (reject) the person and sit in judgment over him or her, thinking how horrible he or she is but how good we are? These are all approaches that some of us, at one time or another, may have taken when confronted with the knowledge of another’s sinful failings. Yet, the Bible teaches something different from any of these approaches. It teaches loving confrontation with a goal of restoration of the sinner back to a right relationship with God.

Restore him Gently

From what I understand, this word “restore” is a medical term with the meaning of setting a fractured bone. The bone must be set straight. It is set straight through the blood of Jesus Christ. In other words, Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, i.e. he took our punishment upon him so we would be free both from the penalty of sin (eternal damnation) and from slavery to (being trapped in) sin. So, the way in which we set this person’s fractured bone (representing their sin) straight (right) is by pointing him or her to the cross of Jesus Christ. Jesus said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny himself (die to self), take up his cross daily (die daily to sin) and follow (obey) him. We do this by the grace of God and through the strength and power of the Holy Spirit within us, because Jesus already conquered sin through his death and resurrection so sin no longer is our master.

Depending upon the particular sin, and whether or not it had been a weakness for us in the past, it is possible that by helping another person out of sin we may be dragged back into sin. So, we must approach the person who sinned with much humility, gentleness of spirit, consciousness of our own propensity toward sin, prayerfully, and with guarded hearts and minds, exercising much wisdom and discernment. For one, I think a good general rule is that women should speak with women and men with men, though there may be some exceptions to this, depending upon the approach. If God puts it on our hearts to speak with someone, then we need to speak, but we need to make sure we are exercising all wisdom and precautions to keep ourselves from falling into sin, too.

We are to carry each other’s burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ. In this particular context, the burden is one of sin. In other contexts, it may not be. The picture the Lord gave me here was one of bearing the pain and agony of another’s failures so much so that we are driven to our knees in prayer for the other person (or people), and to where we will pray for much wisdom as to when and how to approach those who have sinned in a loving confrontation in order to help them out of their sin and back into fellowship with God. It will burden our hearts almost as though it is our own sin, though it is the sin of another, and perhaps because we once traveled that same path and we still know the pain and suffering of failure but the joy and peace of victory over flesh. And, our hearts are thus burdened so much to see others go free, just as though we are right there with them in their pain of sin.

No Comparison

“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.”

Paul appears to have shifted in subject matter here, though I believe it is still related to the restoration of a fellow believer who has been overtaken by a sin, as well as it ties in with the section concerning other believers trying to compel us to follow their ways and methods. Instead of comparing ourselves to others, i.e. examining ourselves in light of man’s opinions, superstitions, prejudices, practices, theologies, and culture, we are to consider that God has designed each one of us in a specific way and has given us each a particular task that we are meant to fulfill. For one, we need to be so careful that we don’t buy into men’s ways of doing things if they directly conflict with God’s ways and divine character.

Mankind, and even in the church, will try to put on us a dress (outward appearance and/or inward faith and practice) not meant for us to wear, kind of like King Saul did with David when David went to fight Goliath. David had to take off the king’s armor and he had to take care of Goliath in the power and strength of the Lord, not with the weapons of the king. David had to be who he was in Christ (his Lord), and we do, too. Culture will dictate that it is impolite to confront someone with his or her sin, or that we should only do so if we have a long and close friendship with the person, thus giving us the right to say something, but that is not what God’s word teaches. The only requirement in scripture is that we, ourselves, first of all be in a right relationship with Jesus Christ, so that we are not being hypocritical in our approach, and so we, ourselves, are not drawn back into sin.

So, we need to be who God has called each and every one of us to be, whether the calling is for all of us to be pure and holy in Christ, and/or whether it is more specifically designed just for us individually. There are those within the church, including and most especially among the leadership, who will try to get us to wear a different personality or calling that will fit better with the culture of the day in order to not offend people with the cross of Christ. They are often those in leadership who water down the gospel message to make it more palatable to the listeners or who entertain the world in order to bring them to “Christ.” They leave out the true message of the cross, or at least they leave out the second half of the message which is how the cross is appropriated in our lives in reality, perhaps out of fear that most people will not want to come to Christ if they know it means death to their old way of living in sin. The true message of the cross is neither legalistic nor libertine.

We need to remain strongly committed to the message of the gospel; of the cross, even when we get rejected because we don’t fit in with today’s culture, even in the church. We need to know who we are in Christ Jesus, and we need to see that he may have something else in store for us than what man would choose for us to do. Man tends to look on the outward appearance and choose people accordingly, but God looks at the heart, and he does not choose his servants and messengers with human standards. Man tends to stereotype people into particular molds or roles that may not be what God intends for them at all. We need to die to the world and worldly attitudes, behaviors, role models, and ways of evaluating people, especially those worldly attitudes that have permeated the church, and we need to be completely abandoned to Jesus Christ to follow him in all his ways.

Sowing and Reaping

If we sow, i.e. if we establish ourselves or entrench our lives in sinful thoughts and behavior, we will reap, i.e. we will gain, win or earn destruction. That is why it is so imperative that we lovingly confront our brothers and sisters when they are entrenched in sin in order to help them to be restored to a right relationship with God. Even if they should gain eternal life due to God’s mercy and forgiveness, still they will destroy much of their lives during their time of sinful rebellion while on this earth, as well possibly destroy the lives of others whose lives they touch, some of which may never be recovered fully.

Yet, if we establish ourselves in Christ and in following him and his commands in order to please him in every way, we will gain eternal life. So, we should never become weary in doing the good (what is beneficial) to others that God has called us to do, for we will gain a spiritual harvest if we do not give up, even in the face of rejection and persecution, and even if others don’t understand why we can’t wear their “garments” because God has something else in store for us other than what man might have ever dreamed of for us. God, who is rich in mercy, takes sinners like me and transforms them into servants of God for his purposes and for his glory, and he will do the same for you, if you will let him.

There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy / Frederick W. Faber / Lizzie Tourjee

There’s a wideness in God’s mercy,

 Like the wideness of the sea;

 There’s a kindness in His justice,

 Which is more than liberty.

There is no place where earth’s sorrows

 Are more felt than up in Heaven;

 There is no place where earth’s failings

 Have such kindly judgment given.

There is welcome for the sinner,

 And more graces for the good;

 There is mercy with the Savior;

 There is healing in His blood.

For the love of God is broader

 Than the measure of our mind;

 And the heart of the Eternal

 Is most wonderfully kind.

If our love were but more simple,

 We should take Him at His word;

 And our lives would be all sunshine

 In the sweetness of our Lord.

Souls of men! Why will ye scatter

 Like a crowd of frightened sheep?

 Foolish hearts! Why will ye wander

 From a love so true and deep?

It is God: His love looks mighty,

 But is mightier than it seems;

 ’Tis our Father: and His fondness

 Goes far out beyond our dreams.

But we make His love too narrow

 By false limits of our own;

 And we magnify His strictness

 With a zeal He will not own.

Was there ever kinder shepherd

 Half so gentle, half so sweet,

 As the Savior who would have us

 Come and gather at His feet?