Friday, March 20, 2009
Oh my Achan-nevermind!
What a difference there is between the stories of what happened to Achan (and his poor family) in Joshua 7 and the directions Paul gives about the man who is living in sin with his step-mother in 1 Corinthians 5. Achan and his family are stoned to death to get the community back into faithfulness with God. Paul tells the Corinthians to put the offender out of the church (don't know why there is no word about what to do with the step-mother-maybe she wasn't in the church) and let Satan take him. Even though he is to be put out the hope seems to be that once out he will repent and come back into the fold. The difference between those two approaches to maintaining the faithfulness of the community of faith is vast. The difference, of course, is Jesus. What the Israelites did was not what the fully formed community of faith would do. Jesus came to show us the way of love-at all costs, in all situations with every single one. Paul's directions are in that vein (no pun intended). What it causes my mind to go to after making that gospel connection is the current state of the church ( ours or any). Are there efforts made to keep the faithfulness of the flock by confronting behavior that is not Jesus centered? If we would have that courage0if we would love each other that much- I believe both out witness and our growth would be profound. I invite conversation about that. Should we? If so, how? Is the faithfulness of the flock as a whole something that even crosses (pun intended) our minds? Should it?
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I think love should be the basis for talking about behaviors that are worrisome or sinful in any situation: church , home, school, work, etc.
ReplyDeleteI try to imagine, and this seems so cliche now, WWJD? in situations where something needs to be said to help someone who is living a life that is hurtful to themselves or others. Love the sinner-hate the sin. Be a FRIEND and LOVE them!
In a perfect world( hahaha), the church is supposed to be the arms of Christ...if you can't go there with all your cr** and not get helped
( whether you expect to or not), where else on Earth do you think the most helpful and loving people are going to be?( I'm not saying this to you Steve, or anyone else---just thinking out loud!:)
I think the Church has a responsibility to do everything they can to help that person,in any matter available to them, no matter how wretched they may be...as long as that person isn't hurting anyone, but you can still help someone from a arm's length distance as well. Sometimes going out into the wildreness is the best medicine for someone's soul....Okay, enough rambling:)
We'll said, Sister.
ReplyDelete"Restore", not DESTROY.
ReplyDeleteAnd the adjective, "In Love"... many don't really know the meaning of restoring in love, or "speaking the truth in Love". They are stuck in the old condemning fire and brimstone. It keeps seekers away.
I'm glad there is a place like Heartsong where EVERYONE is HONESTLY accepted for WHO they are, WHERE they are.