A Christian should always be encouraging, right? Be encouraging when your brother in Christ is headed off a cliff and doest see the edge. What do you say? Your on the right track buddy! After all we wouldn't want to make him feel bad. Of course this sounds ridiculous, but unfortunately it is often how we look at Christians and sin.
One of the most difficult conversations in my own life was very similar. Someone confronted me about my wrong theology and also my sin. This person was honest and direct. He called me wrong and called me to repent. I was angry! But he was right. He didn't encourage me to keep on going the direction I was going. Instead he stood in front of me and blocked my path. In my hardened heart, I fought back, but found fighting the truth is difficult. So instead I changed.
I look at Paul. His words to the Corinthians were difficult. He tells them they are wrong often. He calls them out for following earthly leaders rather than Christ. He calls them out for being snobby. He calls them out for gossip, division, etc. He calls the Galatians out for accepting false doctrine. In Jude the author calls out false teachers calling them blemishes in their gatherings. In Matthew 12 Jesus calls his listeners a “brood of Vipers”. In Luke 11 he calls those who keep asking him questions an adulterous generation. All these words, as harsh as they seem are meant to cause people to stop and turn back from their sins. They are shocking, because they are meant to shock.
We read in Romans 12 that we are to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Jesus tells us that we are to be born again. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5 that this means we become a new creation. Change is difficult, but we are called to be changed. All our habits and traditions get challenged, and it's not an easy process. This is a far cry from “God's OK with you just the way you are”, no God loves you so much so that he knows your potential, he calls you out from worldliness to holiness.
I've struggled. I've seen Churches and Christians stop speaking the truth of Jesus Christ and the eternal promises of salvation for speaking about worldly power and prosperity. I've seen Christian leaders give up promoting Christ for self promotion. I've seen the Church cease talking about salvation from sin and hell only through Jesus Christ, I've seen them cease calling people to repent, I've seen them stop calling people to go out, all in an effort to get people to come in. Too many Christians are trying to be relevant and acceptable to the world while what we should be doing is challenging it.
I've seen in my own life when I've been hard hearted. I look back on those times and think how much suffering and heartache would I have avoided if someone close to me had had the audacity and love to tell me I was wrong and I'm so grateful to those who have done that. Its a conversation we need to be having.
So how do we have these conversations:
Do everything to build up not tear down: (1 Corinthians 10:23). Allowing someone to go unchallenged into sin and death is not means for building them up, even if you use positive and encouraging. However, on the flipside, often when we are attempting to correct and challenge we think it's our responsibility to punish. We kick people out of our group, we cut off ties with them and isolate them. Or worse, we may call them names and gossip about them. This is not up-building. To challenge someone means to bring them closer to slavation, to have the same desire as Christ has for them, that all men may be saved. To challenge means we often have to “bear with” one another, which means walking through difficult times with them, and loving them through the change.
Do everything in accordance with Scripture: (2 Timothy 3:16). We read in Timothy that when we correct, rebuke, or admonish, we do so according to Scripture. We have to be careful that our challenges are not from our own opinion but from the Word of God. If we challenge someone based on our opinions we are not trying to build them up instead we are trying to make them more like us. Often we find that when we bring a challenge from Scripture we are also being challenged. We find that we are the ones who need the change. Challenge from the word is not challenge just for one person but for the entire Church.
Forgive as you have been forgiven (Matthew 6:14). As Paul says we need to remember that we were once enemies of God through sin. We have to remember this, that we too were once sinners and still are in a battle with sin ourselves. We were given grace and forgiveness. So we don't deny others grace. We were once called to repent, and it was probably a difficult experience. When we correct or challenge someone we go with that in mind. Remembering, that we too need to be challenged at times. We go, offering forgiveness and a new way.
Be honest: (James 5:19). If someone wanders from the truth why wouldn't we try to bring them back. Unfortunately, stubborn hearts prevail. We know this because of our own reactions to being corrected. So in an effort to keep the peace, and often in an effort to keep rear ends in pews from Sunday to Sunday we neglect this. But to sugar coat a path that leads to destruction is one of the most unloving things we can do to someone. When we know the truth and we see someone wandering from it, if we know that truth leads to eternal life and salvation, it would be incredibly unloving for us not to say something.
In Luke 14 Jesus says we should be honest about following him. It's not easy, in fact, its going to be a struggle. Jesus we have to allow people to count the cost, we have to be honest about the struggle with sin and about repentance. We have to speak the truth in love. While we often emphasise the love part we cannot neglect the speaking truth part.
Do it for the glory of God and not for yourself. (1 Corinthians 10:31). Even this, correcting a brother, calling out sin, do for the glory of God. There are a lot of thins that might annoy us about someone, but that doesn't mean we need to call them out on it. There are differences of opinions that happen between brothers, that doesn't mean we have to challenge every one of them (Romans 14:1).Instead if we challenge someone it is for the glory of God, to bring someone back from straying. To do as he taught us to do in Matthew 28 and make disciples...teaching everything he commanded.
It is not enough to stand back as brother and sisters die without the knowledge of Jesus Christ. We cannot do nothing as our fellow believers walk after worldly teachings taught by false teachers. We would be a most unloving friend to let our friends walks into sin and away from Jesus.