CALLED TO BE A FAMILY

“The Process of Correction” - I
Gal. 6:1-3
Bob Bonner
May 27, 2007

Awhile back, I was helping some friends move into a rental home that was very spacious in comparison to their previous cramped apartment. As I carried one box after another into their vacant house, a familiar song kept repeating itself in my mind. Pretty soon, I found myself humming it while I was working. You've probably experienced the same thing once or twice yourself. That song was one many of us used to sing by the campfire when we were younger. Do you remember ever singing this tune?

O give me a home where the buffalo roam,

Where the deer and the antelope play,

Where seldom is heard a discouraging word,

And the skies are not cloudy all day.

Home, home on the range...

Do you remember that? While standing amidst all the boxes of this place where my friends were going to set up their new home, I reflected upon the words Charles Swindoll penned concerning that song, and the desire we all have to experience the true warmth of an encouraging home. He wrote: I began to think about that third line, "Where seldom is heard a discouraging word..." I asked myself: Who wouldn't like to be in a home like that? Unfortunately, we usually think of it as existing as a fantasy in some imaginary "Home on the Range." It's probably too ideal to be true. I thought, what we need is a place like that in the city...not on some idealistic blue-sky range far away. I also thought about the need for such a setting in the church today. So I wrote another set of words that could be sung to the same tune.

O give me a church where folks in the lurch
Are encouraged, then healed from above;
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word, 
And the truth is modeled in love.”
(Growing Deeper in the Christian Life, p. 371)

Wouldn't it be great to live in and offer others an environment where they could be encouraged, strengthened and built up? Where no unnecessary destructive criticism or unnecessary discouraging words were spoken? Well friends, that's what we, the church have been called to be. According to the book of Ephesians 4:11-16, God has called us to harmoniously do the work of His ministry together. All the while, we are to be building up each other as together we point others to Jesus Christ, and demonstrate for them how they can walk with Jesus in a deep, intimate and personal way. 

The key to providing that kind of positive environment where people are built up and encouraged was given to us by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:15-16. In those verses, he instructs us, “But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part [member of the body of Christ, each Christian in the local church] causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love”. 

In short, the Apostle Paul tells us that it is God’s perfect plan to use each of us to cause each other to grow up, through the general principle of “loving one another.” What that loving one another looks like on a practical level, is demonstrated by twenty specific other “one another” commands spelled out in the rest of the New Testament. In other words, Jesus doesn’t leave us with some ethereal instruction like “love one another” that is hard to apply. He gets very practical as to what that looks like on a daily basis as we live and work with one another. And only to the degree that each church-family member takes seriously Christ’s specific instructions to them, and applies those instructions to his own life, will the growth of others and the health of the local church family be assured.

In the first seven messages in this series, Called To Be A Family, we have looked at a total of eight of these specific one another concepts that show us how we are to build into one another’s lives. The very first one another that we looked at that exemplifies what it means to practically love one another, and the very first one another that Paul mentions in Ephesians 4, is the instruction to “long suffer with one another.” 

So often we get impatient with the shortcomings or the failures or the lack of progress and growth in others’ lives, that we wrongfully strike out at them with actions or words that are harsh and heavy handed. We don’t give them wobble room in which to grow. In one of our first studies in this series, we discovered that the cause of our impatience with the lack of growth in another’s life is our own arrogance and self-righteousness. We place demands on people to grow at our level of expectation, totally forgetting how much tolerance God has shown each of us in our areas of weakness and struggle to grow up in those areas. So Paul was encouraging us not to be so quick to criticize, but to forbear with others as they spiritually grow up.

But that has left us with a question that, up to this point, we have not yet addressed. And that question is this: “Do we ever speak up to correct someone when they do something that is wrong? Do we simply, endlessly, tolerate their wrongdoing, as God’s Word describes wrongdoing? Is this speaking up in violation of Christ’s command to not ‘judge one another’?”

First of all, when we do speak up, it is not in violation of Christ’s command not to “judge one another.” That command has been so misunderstood by many, because they don’t understand what that Greek word “judge” means. When Jesus commanded us to “stop judging one another” the actual Greek word that He used is the word for “condemn” or a synonym for literally damning someone to hell. Basically, Jesus was forbidding us to act as someone’s eternal judge, telling others that they will never be saved.  Only God has that right to be someone’s final judge. That’s what Jesus was referring to when He prohibits us from “judging” one another. Quit playing God.

However, elsewhere, Jesus uses another Greek word, that is also translated in English as “judge,” whereby He expects us to evaluate or judge someone’s life so as to instruct someone in how to do good or avoid evil. So, we are to come alongside each other, hold each other accountable and instruct each other when we need it.

The purpose this week and next, of our study of God’s Word is to learn that there is a time and manner when we must, out of love for the another person, correct and teach them how God would have them live. There is a way to point out to others needed areas of growth in their lives. Specifically, there are three one another concepts listed in the New Testament that instruct us in how and when we are to appropriately correct one another. The first of which we want to look at this morning, is found in Galatians 6:1-3.

In Galatians 6:1-3, we read Paul’s words, “Brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; looking to yourself lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself."

The one another concept here is to bear one another’s burdens. But what does that mean? The word here for "bearing a burden" is a word that means to carry or bear a heavy load. In the Good News for Modern Man, an old paraphrase of the New Testament, there is an excellent stick-figure drawing at the beginning of Gal. 6 that pictures well for us what is meant by this word. It shows a line of a number of figures, each carrying a sack over his shoulder with his left hand and with his right hand extended out in front to lift the burden of the one in front. This picture portrays what Paul has in mind here, when he says, bear one another’s burdens. God never intends any of us to bear the responsibility for living our lives in this world entirely alone. Yes, there are some responsibilities that we must alone carry, but there are also many burdens we carry that can and should be shared by others.

To be specific: Our lives are filled with emotional, spiritual and physical burdens which are hard, if not impossible at times, for one person to carry alone. Whether it be a major failure in the life of a loved one, like a moral failure, divorce, an overdose on drugs or the burden a senior citizen who owns her own home carries, when she is facing a major repair, but she doesn't know who to contact to get an honest evaluation. We all from time-to-time face heavy burdens, pressures, and if we truly love one another, we are to show it by pitching in and helping.

However, the context of Galatians 5 and the first half of 6, indicates a very specific type of burden that we need to be bearing on behalf of one another. Contextually, the burden Paul has in mind here is the spiritual burden of restoring or assisting another brother or sister in Christ move from an experience of spiritual or moral failure to one of victory and freedom from that failure in their lives. 

In verse 1, Paul uses the word "restore." It is a medical term which describes the setting of a broken bone. It is something done very gently and with care, but at the same time is not without some pain. It is constructive and purposeful. The overall idea of the term is to put back in place something that is out of place. 

In this case, Paul has in mind the putting back in place or repairing one's intimacy and close walk with God. When a person is living in sin and caught in Satan's web, his intimate walk with God is broken. In a sense, that person experiences a spiritual death of sorts. He feels shame for his failure. He sometimes finds that his reading of the Bible is unprofitable. He feels so disconnected that he doesn’t look forward to or enjoy going to church. Hence, this bearing one another's burden describes the restoring of this fallen believer’s intimate walk with God, the joy of fellowship with the heavenly Father and his usefulness to God. Like the setting of a broken bone, sometimes the process initially is painful, but in the end, it produces something good.

In these three verses, the Apostle Paul gives us several practical guidelines that must be followed if one is going to be successful in restoring a struggling believer.

The first is that if you are going to be a part of restoring a sinning, struggling, carnal Christian, then you had better have your own spiritual act together. By that, I mean that you are living your life, to the best of your knowledge, as one living in submission to and controlled by the Spirit. In other words, restoring someone else to fellowship with God is not something to be done by those who themselves have private, unconfessed sin taking place in their lives that they have yet dealt with. 

Generally speaking there are two classes of Christians described in the New Testament. Both types are spelled out for us in the previous chapter in Galatians. The first is the carnal or fleshly Christian, whose deeds are described in 5:19-21. A carnal Christian is one who indeed is a Christian and may even do many Christian things like faithfully attend church, could even be teaching a Sunday school class, may even show up at weekly prayer meetings, etc. In our present culture, they may even be considered by others to be quite moral people. But yet, they have no vital personal walk with Christ. They live disregarding or ignoring biblical principles and commands. They live their Christian life without much regard of depending upon the Lord. Rather than walking by faith, in dependence upon the Lord, they try in their own strength to do those things the Lord has commanded them. For instance: a carnal husband may try to love his wife in his own strength without ever considering asking Jesus to love his wife through him; or a carnal employee may try in his own ability to work hard and honor his boss, but nowhere seeks to depend upon the Lord to live His life through him. That’s a carnal, independent-living Christian.

Here are a few more examples of ones who are not Holy Spirit controlled, and thus should not try to restore or correct another Christian who is struggling in his walk with Christ:

1.) Those who refuse to forgive others, hold grudges and harbor bitterness and resentment toward others. 

2.) Those who are harshly and harmfully critical of other Christians, especially behind their backs.

3.) Those who ignore God's command to be personally involved in reaching others in their community or world for Christ. 

4.) Those who refuse to take on their share of responsibility to serve their local church family.

In short, the carnal Christian may be a nice person who attends church, but there is little that would cause one to distinguish him as being different from the non-Christian. This type of Christian, Paul says, has no business restoring a struggling brother or sister in Christ.

On the other hand, there is the second type of Christian, and he or she is one who is spiritual or a Spirit-controlled Christian. Paul describes the fruit of this Spirit-controlled Christian in Galatians 5:22-24. Spirit-filled Christians are the Christians who moment-by-moment seek to live in dependence upon the Spirit's enablement in their lives. These are the Christians who desire to obey all that they sense that God is directing them to do. Should they fail in their obedience to the Lord, these Christians quickly seek the Lord, confess their wrongdoing, make amends if necessary, and return to being controlled by the Holy Spirit.  And as a result, they manifest the fruit of the spirit in their relationships with others. These spirit-filled Christians are the only Christians who are to be involved in restoring another.  All others are to refrain.

That’s why, in verse 1 Paul warns all of us who may attempt to restore another believer to "look to yourselves" first. This word to “ look” is the word "skopon" in the original language. We get our word “skeptic” from it. It means to survey closely, take a good look, to cautiously note something. In other words, before you try to restore someone, thoughtfully ask yourself some questions like these: Can I see any evidence that I am genuinely and consistently seeking God's guidance and enablement in my life? Am I living in such a way with others that the fruit of the spirit is obvious in my life? Am I participating in any secret sins? Am I harboring resentment toward anyone?  If you are not sure how to answer those questions for yourself, ask those with whom you work or your spouse or your kids.

Only those who are spiritual Christians are to be involved in bearing another's burden in helping him be restored to fellowship with God.

A second ingredient that is necessary to successfully restore another Christian is revealed in verses 1,3. Paul says that we are to restore someone in genuine gentleness and humility. Only those who have come to grips with their sense of unworthiness apart from Christ’s forgiveness should attempt to restore another. Only those who realize that their standing before God, their approval before God, has nothing to do with their own good works, but their approval and acceptance by God solely rests in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross and His resurrection...only these individuals are really qualified to help restore a fellow Christian who finds himself entangled in rebellion against God.

That word for “gentleness,” in verse 1, carries with it the sense that the person knows what it's like to be in a similar situation as the fallen Christian. He can identify with this person because he too has sinned. Verse 3 says, “For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself”. This person’s humility has led to his being gentle with a hurting fellow believer. He knows the shame and pain of personal failure.

On the other hand, if we believe that we are "holier than thou," and that we would never fail like someone else may have, Paul says, You deceive yourself. You don't really understand the capability of your own flesh.

Allow me to summarize the importance of this point another way: The proof that you truly understand your own depravity, your own absolute desperate need for a savior will be demonstrated by how you deal with other people in their failure. If you are harsh and hardhearted, impatient and judgmental, then you don’t really understand how badly you needed a Savior. You are still full of yourself and pride. You may be saved, but you are deceived as it concerns your own battle with evil. But if you are gentle and humble, then more than likely, you have a good grip on how God has mercifully worked in your own life.

The third ingredient to successfully restoring another struggling Christian, is that the one doing the restoring should do so with caution.  Paul warns us about this on three counts.  First, Paul tells us in verse 1, "lest you be tempted."

Here Paul has two kinds of temptation to sin in mind. First, he warns us that in the process of restoring a fallen believer, we do not get caught up in the same sin as the fallen believer. In other words, if this fallen believer is struggling with lust, gossip, greed, slander, an addiction, be careful not to fall into those same sinful practices with the fallen one as you go about the process of restoring the person.

The second temptation one needs to avoid in restoring a fallen believer is one we have already touched on, and this is the sin of becoming arrogantly self-righteous in our approach to helping a fallen believer. We must take a close look at our own hearts as we approach restoring another. Are we truly moving from a position of genuine humility?

Third, Paul cautions us in verse 1, to make sure that the one you are helping actually was "caught" in sin. This word has two meanings both of which can happen simultaneously. On the one hand, the word caught means "to be taken unaware,” as in being caught red-handed. In other words, Paul is challenging us to make sure that we have all the facts before we proceed to correct someone. Only when the facts are evident to all, and the individual is unquestionably guilty do we come to help the person.

The second thought behind this word "caught" is that of the picture of someone who is running from a sinful habit, but sin, being faster and stronger, overtakes the person and controls him. It's a picture of someone who is caught up in a destructive habit, hang-up or hurt that one can't break away from. In other words, in these verses, Paul is not referring to the need of correcting someone who has made a one-time mistake. If it was a one-time mistake, that they knew was wrong, then it probably is best to keep your mouth shut and long suffer with them as they learn through their own humiliation and failure. No need for us to add insult to injury by barging in to point out their failure. This whole passage is dealing with someone who needs the help of restoration because he is stuck in a habitual destructive lifestyle that needs to cease.

The Apostle Paul gives us one more piece of wisdom as it concerns helping restore someone caught up in an action or lifestyle that is destructive. Look again at verse 1 where Paul states, “You who are spiritual shall restore him”. The pronoun “you” in the original language is in the plural form. In other words, Paul is telling us that it is much better for more than one person to come alongside to help a struggling believer than it is for just one person to try to correct or help the individual. Restoration of a fallen believer is better done by more than one person. This kind of task calls for corporate wisdom, compassion and strength.

One last instruction concerning the restoration of a fallen believer is given to us by the Apostle James in his letter, in 5:14-16. The context of the passage is that someone is physically ill. Sometimes, physical illness is caused by a spiritual problem in the individual. When that is suspected, James tell us, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed [and that means spiritually and physically.] The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much”. We must keep in mind, that life, first and foremost is spiritually based, and requires a supernatural God to do a supernatural work to change us and to work through us to change others. True inner healing and restoration requires the supernatural work of God. Hence, we pray for His involvement and His wisdom as we commit to helping each other and restoring fallen believers. After I had written this message and sent it to the rest of the elders to preview, Joe Burgess shared a chapter from a book on how to counsel others. After reading it we were both amazed that his chapter, point by point, followed my sermon. In fact, it even closed with this point about the importance of prayer. The author wrote: “It is now required of every worker at Pure Life Ministries to spend at least two hours each morning with the Lord. This is a very real picture of what it means to lead people to God.”

Keep the big picture in mind. We are about building a family here at Crossroads where we are safe with one another. Where seldom is heard, a discouraging word, but should one need to be spoken, it will come from a heart filled with love.As a family, God desires that we come alongside and assist others in their growth, especially during times of failure. But to do so, we have to make sure we are spiritually healthy enough or qualified to do so. Presuming that you are good- willed and desire to help others grow in their spiritual maturity, I have suggested a passage of Scripture on the back of your outlines, for you to read and meditate on. Keeping this passage in mind, honestly work through the questions that follow. It’s my hope that as we do, we will be better prepared to bear one another’s burdens, as we seek to grow together, in Christ. Before answering these questions, read and meditate on Luke 6:39-45.

A. If you expect to be of any practical spiritual help to anyone else, then you need to be serious about the present condition of your own spiritual life. Hence,consider these questions:

1. Are you genuinely and consistently seeking God’s guidance and enablement in your life, through prayer and the study of God’s Word?

2. Would those closest to you say that you are in the practice of taking specific spiritual principles and applying them to specific personal issues or situations in your own life?

3. Would those closest to you say that you are dealing with sin in your own life according to the principles of Scripture? What specific examples or evidence is there that you are doing this in your own life? 

B. If you expect to be of any practical spiritual assistance to anyone else then you need to really desire to see them succeed in their spiritual walk. Hence, consider these questions:

1. Would those closest to you say that you are more often critical of others’ faults and shortcomings than first seeing that which is beneficial or the good fruit in their lives?

2. Would those closest to you say that when you do observe others’ shortcomings, you are compassionate and understanding of the struggles of others?

3. Would those closest to you say that you base the direction you offer to others on personal opinion or upon the truths of God’s Word? Even then, would others say that you present God’s truth with gentleness and humility?

C. If you expect to be of any practical spiritual assistance to anyone else then you need to be about carrying them before God. Hence, consider these questions:

1. Do you honestly and regularly pray for those God has put in your life?

2. Are you available to others in their time of need?  Do you take the initiative to meet with them?

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