Confronting Others...

Scripture:
1 Timothy 1:18-20 (NIV)

Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well, holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith. Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.

Devotional:

Several times over the years I have seen Christians dealing with fellow Christians in a manner that is unbiblical.  If you look around I am sure you can see examples of this all over the place.  I have seen parishioners do anything they could to discredit a pastor or church committee member.  People have been let go from positions for unjustified reasons.  Some have been fully justified in being let go but in the manor it was done was unbiblical.  Some were not even given a means to make amends.  We all have disputes with fellow Christians.  We come in contact with those who are teaching incorrectly.  Some people are false teachers doing Satan’s work, and some do so unintentionally out of ignorance.

Jesus gives us explicit procedures to follow in dealing with conflicts or wrong doings with fellow Christians.  Matthew 18:15-17 (NIV) states:

“If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over.  But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’  If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

If someone you know is doing wrong the first step is to confront them in private.  Explain what is wrong and why.  It is important to proceed with the Holy Spirit.  Pray before, during, and after the confrontation.  If that fails then you bring along a fellow Christian.  Again bring along the Holy Spirit.  After failing a second time then it should go before the church.  In 1 Timothy Peter had gone through these steps to finally give them over to Satan.  How sad it is to lose one person no matter the reasons why.  Allow God to work through you while confronting someone else.  Remember you cannot change a person.  You can make them see the truth.  You can only shine your light for the truth to be revealed.  The Holy Spirit needs to be at work in their life.  If you are on the receiving end of unbiblical circumstances I have two thoughts.  One, allow God to handle the situation.  You may not know why or how things will turn out.  If you leave it in God’s hands it will work out for the best.  Second, forgiveness is absolutely a must; not only for their sake but for your own as well.  Every one of us will see conflict and wrong doings in ourselves and in others.  Make sure you do your best to go about it Biblically.  I know I have failed to do so in the past.  I can only put forth the effort to not repeat past mistakes…