Here’s the last installment from our most recent corporate meeting…
Main point: Out of a heart of love for the Savior, we seek to help others to grow in their love for the Savior.
We reach out, we encourage – and there is one more way we can be an influence on others for godliness.
3. CORRECT
Galatians 6:1-2 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. If we’re going to be thermostats – influencers for godliness – then sometimes we will need to bring a loving question or thought that is corrective in nature. That includes doing so for peers.
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression… When someone is caught or ensnared in their sin, these verses don’t let us say, “It’s none of my business,” or “Serves them right.” These are “launch the rescue helicopter” verses. Launch a loving rescue to help them. I say a “loving” rescue because in verse 2 it says that in bearing this kind of burden we will fulfill what? We will fulfill the “law of Christ.” Anyone want to guess what that is? It’s the law of love, as Jesus said in places like John 13.34, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another.” That’s the law of Christ. Love seeks to bear the burden of being caught or ensnared in our sin. But how? What does love do to help bear the burden of being ensnared in our sin?
It seeks to restore. The idea is of “putting in order,” “repairing,” or “making complete.” It’s used when Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee and he saw two brothers, James and John, in a fishing boat with their father, “mending their nets.” They were fixing their nets – putting them back in their former, usable condition. That’s what loves seeks to do when someone is caught, ensnared, in their sin. Love seeks to restore – to put that person back in their former, usable condition. And we do that when we go to someone who is sinning in someway, and we ask them about it, maybe even appeal to them to repent.
Let’s take a common situation. Maybe someone is sinning by not doing what we say Ephesians 4.29 commands – they are letting corrupting talk come out of their mouths. Maybe it’s gossip or slander – “Hey, can you believe what so and so did?” or “Can I tell you what Mr. Smith did?” They’re passing on a bad report. That’s not speaking to give grace; that’s corrupting talk. What should you do? Option #1 – ignore it; option #2 – withdraw; or option #3 – rescue out of love.
Galatians 6 calls us to rescue out of love, to go to that person, in private, and just ask a question. “Hey, Frank, can I ask you about what you said about Mr. Smith? Do you think that that was building up Mr. Smith? Seemed like it was passing on a bad report about Mr. Smith – would you agree?” And if Frank sees that, then you’ve rescued Frank. His eyes are opened to how he was sinning, and you’ve helped him to turn from that. Hopefully, Frank would then ask for forgiveness from those he spoke to, and he would be restored. You would, in love, have been influencing him lovingly, graciously, for godliness.
Consider: Is there anyone here that you might need to lovingly correct as an influence for godliness? If you’re withholding things from someone that you know is ensnared in their sin, then you’re not loving them; you’re not fulfilling the law of Christ towards them. We need to have conversations like that, to rescue each other – to be thermostats, setting a temperature for godliness, even increasing that temperature. We want to build a culture like that, that restrains foolishness and cultivates godly behavior.
That should involve your parents as well. They are part of the solution for you, so speaking to your parents about situations like the one with Frank, that’s not gossip – that’s getting help. But having done that, let’s restore each other. And let’s do all of this out of a heart of love for the Savior – out of a heart that has a zeal, a passion for Jesus Christ and wants to help others share that zeal, that passion, that love for Him. Let’s be influencers for godliness as we reach out, as we encourage, and, yes, as we lovingly correct as well.
