July 24

“One of the Christian’s greatest deterrents from sin is the life of another Christian.  Some Christians maintain that it is none of their business....They are convinced that they are being judgmental....but the inaction prevents them from being an effective intercessor.”  H. Blackaby, Experiencing God Day-by-Day, 7/24

If all Christians believed this, the Church would be a lot healthier!  But not for the reason you may think.  There are plenty of churches that do “police” their congregants.   They set up all sorts of rules and regulations.  They may even have as a regular part of their service a time of confession or a time of confronting for those who will not confess!  This is not what God had in mind when He told us to hold other believers accountable.  I believe the emphasis is on the rest of the verse.....we are to confront others with love.  God knows that we will quite naturally tell others their faults sooner or later.  We may let the sins of others go for a time, but just wait until their sin begins to affect us!  No one needs to tell us to confront the sinner then!  However, those who do not want to get involved are just as unloving because they prevent God from bringing grace into the sinner’s life.  So we must confront, but we must be careful to confront others with love lest we, too, fall into sins such as resentment and impatience or covetousness and self-centeredness.  The health of our churches depends on each of us examining our own lives.  

“My brethren, if any one among you wanders from the truth and some one brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”  James 5:19, 20