I was angry with My people; I have profaned My inheritance, and given them into your hand. You showed them no mercy; on the elderly you laid your yoke very heavily. (Isaiah 47:6)
Isaiah chapter 47 deals with God’s eventual judgment of Babylon, which would come 150 years after this was written, when Babylon fell to the Persian king Cyrus.
So why did God judge Babylon? Weren’t they the tool that God used to correct His people? Yes they were, yet apparently they went overboard. The Babylonians were cruel and ruthless to the Israelites, even to the point that they put especially heavy burdens on the elderly.
I believe Christians can learn from this today - you see often God will use one of us as an instrument to bring about correction and restoration to another Christian. Perhaps we discover something about them, or the Holy Spirit reveals something. When that happens God is using us to be an instrument of restoration.
The problem is that often Christians go too far - they see themselves as judge, jury, and executioner! A few things we should remember:
We’re not perfect judges
It’s funny how personally we want grace from the Lord, but when we find out about someone else’s sin, it’s hammer time!
The reality is that sin is a problem for all people, Christians included. 1 John 1 tells us...
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. (1 John 1:8-10)
In other words, being a Christian doesn’t mean we never sin - it means that our sins are forgiven, and that we have the blessing of remaining in relationship with God through continual confession when we blow it.
So before we become judgmental about another’s sin, just remember that not one of us is without sin. God is the only perfect Judge!
God exposes sin so that the person can be restored.
I believe that the reason God reveals the error of a bother or sister is not so that we can judge them, but so that we can pray for them!
See, when a Christian willingly allows sin into their life, they’re being deceived by the devil: “It’ll be fun … you’ll enjoy it … it’ll be fine, no one will know…” But the reality it the sin is going to eventually bring pain and destruction into their life. Trust me, that the pain and destruction will be more corrective than anything we might lay on them.
As a pastor, I often find out things about people (I wish I didn’t!), and when I do here’s how I handle it:
#1 I’ll pray for the person - Begin lifting up that person in your prayer time, asking Lord to change their heart, to open their eyes, and even to allow the consequences of the sin to wake them up.
#2 I'll wait to see if and when the Lord opens a door to address it - I’ve found that if I’ll wait on the Lord, He’ll open a door of opportunity to speak to them about the issue. See, if the heart isn’t ready, the person will see our input as interference, and will pull away.
If we'll simple pray and wait on the Lord, He'll have prepared their heart for the instruction! They’ll be more open to receiving biblical counsel.
#3 I remind myself that I need grace, every day! When I think of how much I need God’s grace each day, it’s much easier to approach someone else with the same grace.
Remember the end goal isn’t to punish the wayward brother or sister; the goal is to restore them. That’s why Paul, who had been a legalist all of his life before becoming a Christian, wrote by the Spirit:
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. (Galatians 6:1)
That’s part of all of our ministry - the Ministry of Reconciliation: Reconciling the unsaved to God through salvation, and reconciling the wayward Christian to fellowship through repentance.
Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18)
We can change the world, one life at a time...
Pastor Clay
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