I want to write a little bit about appropriate church discipline and forgiveness, as demonstrated in the second chapter of 2 Corinthians. So read these verses to start:
2 Corinthians 2:5-11 (ESV)
"Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. Anyone
whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I
have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of
Christ, so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs."
First off, in a strange way, there's a strange sense of connection when I read this passage for one big reason: THE EARLY CHURCH WAS NOT PERFECT OR DRAMA-FREE!
I don't mention that to condone sinful actions or make light of problems within a church, but sometimes I think we need to remember that (though our technology and culture changes) humans aren't that different from age to age. We're not any worse or any better than the people that made up the early church in Corinth. We have victories, struggles, healing, and hurting alike, and we must surrender to Jesus' leadership.
In light of those observations, Paul speaks to the church about how to appropriately deal with a(n) individual(s) within the congregation that causes harm. And in the interest of not typing a overly long devotional, I think this passage of scripture boils down to one word: FORGIVENESS.
How do we punish the one that hurts us? WE FORGIVE THEM! Even if you're new to this Jesus business, the old "turn the other cheek" idea is probably burned in your brain. GOOD! I am convinced, based on many of the toughest struggles I've been through with brothers in Christ hurting me, there is nothing that speeds healing and mending like FORGIVENESS. Seriously, it opens floodgates of healing into a broken moment.
Now, forgiving an offender in our family does not mean we act stupid and don't learn from the experience and put measures in place to prevent repeat offenses, but it does mean we grant him or her the SAME STANDING OF GRACE as God gives us when He forgives us. As a matter of fact, God tells us that He demands forgiveness when asking for forgiveness. So holding sinful grudges while wanting God's forgiveness for our own many mistakes doesn't cut it.
I've already typed too much (I really am trying to make short devotionals, dang it), so just remember that forgiveness, especially within the Body of Christ, is not just so we all get along, FORGIVENESS TEARS DOWN THE PLOTS OF THE DEVIL. The enemy hates the Church like he hates Christ, so let's not give satan any help when it comes to tearing a church apart.
If the Spirit is alive and active in the hearts of your church brothers, then the conviction from God will do most of the disciplining. After taking the appropriate measures to rectify whatever wrong was done, FORGIVE, FORGIVE, FORGIVE, and move on as a family moving towards Jesus Christ.
Reaffirm your love for your brother after his moment of attack and don't treat the person like he's any less of a believer (you'll want the same forgiveness and mercy when it's you screwing up later).
Love and peace guys,
-Grady
No comments:
Post a Comment