Galatians 6:1
We are
living in days when Christians may disappoint us.
Before Cardinal Ratzinger had served his first day as the newly
elected Pope Benedict XVI, there were critics who voiced fears the man knows as
“the Enforcer,” “the German Shepherd,” and “Cardinal Rottweiler” would be too
soft on those priests guilty of molesting children.
That concern reflected the profound feelings evoked around the
world as the stories of innocent children abused by trusted churchmen made
headlines worldwide.
No newspaper carried the story of my predecessor at the church I
served before coming to Ohio. Yet, his
affair with a church member rocked the tiny community. His behavior impacted the congregation for
years to come; one young couple admitted
they sometimes questioned the legitimacy of their own marriage since he had
performed the ceremony.
When leaders fail, there is a negative impact on the church—no
one can deny that. But leaders aren’t
the only saints who sometimes disappoint us.
When a Christian fails, whether that Christian is a
nationally-known leader or just a fellow-believer who shares a pew with us, we
may respond in several ways.
We may respond with anger.
Certainly that’s been the result of the reports on priest’s molesting children
or the stories of church leaders bilking gullible members. It’s natural to feel that way but we have to
be on guard so the anger does not lead to more destructive attitudes and
behaviors.
We may become cynical. I
know a man who was approached with a proposal by a nationally known
evangelist. The evangelist asked my
friend to write a book and allow it to be published under the evangelist’s
name. He then promised to help my friend
publish a book of his own later on. I
can’t go into a bookstore and see books bearing the evangelist’s name without
wondering who really wrote them. I have
to be careful that I don’t think the same about other prominent authors.
We may reject the church.
Sometimes those hurt by the failure of other believers may walk away
from the church and any association with Christianity. This is why I urge young people to never
judge Christianity by Christians or to judge the Church by a church.
You’ve probably known someone who responded to the spectacular
failure of a trusted Christian in one of these ways.
But God, whose power to transform the bleakest situation, can
bring benefits to those wounded by disappointing saints.
What positive results might follow their failure?
1. Christians who must deal with the aftermath of a disappointing saint’s
failure might develop a new maturity rooted in realism.
On the eve of the great depression the chief financial of the
Southern Baptist Home Mission Board disappeared along with the millions of
dollars hard-working Baptists had given to spread the gospel. Church leaders were barely able to forestall
bankruptcy and, due to the impact of the Depression, it was nearly a decade
before the financial crisis was overcome.
After nearly ninety years of having honest treasurers, Baptists
were forced to swallow a bitter dose of reality. Convention leaders saw they had foolishly
forgotten that every man and woman is subject to temptation, that anyone might
succumb to such temptation.
Consequently, never again were the convention funds put under the
control of a single man or woman. Checks
and balances were introduced which were designed to make embezzlement
improbable, if not impossible.
As Paul brings his fiery letter to the Galatians to a close, he
directs them on a very practical issue, how Christians were to treat those who
failed in someway. He describes what
they were to do “if another Christian is overcome by some sin.” His words don’t so much suggest that such sin
is inevitable as they suggest such failure is commonplace and hardly surprising.
The intrusion of child molesters into the sanctity of the church
nursery has caused churches to institute policies in which they carefully
screen those who volunteer to work with our children. Some people object to this practice, claiming
we are too suspicious; we’re not being
suspicious, we’re being realists.
This new maturity results not only in a new way of viewing others
but in a new way of seeing ourselves.
When Paul calls on the Galatians “to be careful not to fall into the
same temptation” themselves it was an implicit reminder they could be the next
to fall.
When I worked for the department store in Houston, I never minded
the security people examining my attaché case or lunch box when I left for
home: I believe in original sin. Paul says that reality ought to keep us on
our toes.
2. Christians who must deal with the aftermath of a disappointing saint’s
failure might develop a more finely-tuned faith.
When we become so angry, bitter, cynical, and frustrated about
the failure of a Christian leader that we feel like giving up on the church, it
may be a warning that something is not quite right about our faith.
When Paul wrote the Corinthians he says a danger in the attitude
some of them had developed toward favorite leaders. The apostle saw a potential for disaster.
Here’s some of what he wrote to them. It’s found in I Corinthians 3.
4. When one of you says, "I am a follower
of Paul," and another says, "I prefer Apollos," aren't you
acting like those who are not Christians?
5. Who is Apollos, and who is Paul, that we
should be the cause of such quarrels? Why, we're only servants. Through us God
caused you to believe. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. 6. My
job was to plant the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was
God, not we, who made it grow. 7. The ones who do the planting or watering
aren't important, but God is important because he is the one who makes the seed
grow. 8. The one who plants and the one who waters
work as a team with the same purpose. Yet they will be rewarded individually,
according to their own hard work.
9.
We work together as partners who belong to God. You are God's field,
God's building-not ours.
10.
Because of God's special favor to me, I have laid the foundation like an
expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this
foundation must be very careful.
11. For no one can lay any other
foundation than the one we already have-Jesus Christ.
The problem was they had taken their focus off Christ and focused
on a human leader of the church.
Sometimes, as it did in Corinth, that may lead to deep divisions in the
church. Other times it might lead to
disappointment and disillusionment when that leader fails.
A more fine-tuned faith recognizes the accomplishment of various
church leaders but keeps its attention on Christ. Whether we’re talking about a church leader
or just Christian friend, if the painful experience of seeing that saint fall
helps us learn to keep our focus on Christ, than something good has come out of
something bad.
3. Christians who must deal with
the aftermath of a disappointing saint’s failure may have an opportunity to
observe the grace of God in action.
What Paul doesn’t say here is quite remarkable. He doesn’t say “if a fellow-believer is
overcome by sin you who are spiritual should
o Write
them off as utter failures.
o Send
them packing.
o Give
their family twenty-four hours to get out of town.
o Heap
so much shame and reproof on the fallen believer that he or she is unable to
even imagine the possibility of restoration.
Yet, restoration is what Paul is talking about. The word he uses carries the notion of a
repair. What was broken is fixed.
William Barclay helps us understand what Paul had in mind.
Paul knew the problems that
arise in any Christian society. The best of men slip up. The word Paul uses
(paraptoma) does not mean a deliberate sin; but a slip as might come to a man
on an icy road or a dangerous path. Now, the danger of those who are really
trying to live the Christian life is that they are apt to judge the sins of
others hardly. There is an element of hardness in many a good man. There are
many good people to whom you could not go and sob out a story of failure and
defeat; they would be bleakly unsympathetic. But Paul says that, if a man does
make a slip, the real Christian duty is to get him on his feet again. The word
he uses for to correct is used for executing a repair and also for the work of
a surgeon in removing some growth from a man's body or in setting a broken
limb. The whole atmosphere of the word lays the stress not on punishment but on
cure; the correction is thought of not as a penalty but as an amendment.
Paul’s instructions assume the fallen believer has gone through
the phases of recognition and repentance.
Now, that believer is ready for the process of restoration.
Those believers charged with the special ministry of restoration
are to approach the fallen one with gentleness and humility, demonstrated in an
atmosphere of great patience. That
Christian man or woman is gentle when they speak the necessary words of
correction and challenge without belittling those who hear them. That Christian man or woman who is gentle is
not prone to remind the fallen believer,
“see, I told you so” as they help them review the cause of their failure. That Christian man or woman who is gentle has
the one goal of setting the fallen one back on the path.
Being gentle makes them effective; being humble keeps them gentle, and keeps
them ever aware they are only the channels of God’s grace to the fallen brother
or sister, the same grace they so often need.
That restoration may be a beautiful thing. Sometimes, by the grace of God, that leader
may return to a place of leadership.
Sometimes, in the wisdom of God, that restored leader’s place of
usefulness may be different. But,
always, God’s grace reminds us failure need not be forever.
We may never forget the failure of a trusted leader or beloved
friend; but that memory will last only
for this life, the memory of seeing God’s grace restore the fallen will last
for eternity.
It will never be easy when a fellow Christian disappoints
us. Still, our response to their failure
will determine whether or not the tragedy is compounded.
Above all…
When a follower of Christ fails, don’t give up on Christ.
If a fellow believer fails, hold on to the hope that believer
might be restored.
If you fail, look to God for his grace and restoration.
