Morning Moments

CONFRONTATION

Confrontation is never easy but it is sometimes necessary. One difficulty in personal confrontation is the attitude of the recipient. Scripture says, “Rebuke a wise man and he will love you; rebuke a fool and he will hate you.” But equally as important is the attitude of the one confronting. It is relatively easy to point out another persons faults and fail to see your own. Scripture points out the danger of seeking to remove the speck in another persons eye when you have a beam in your own. The difference between the speck and the beam is distance, not size.

There are three steps in the process of confrontation I wish to suggest but there is another Biblical we should consider first. One who sins before all is to be rebuked before all. Otherwise the confrontation should:

1)Personal. This privacy allows the individual to be less defensive and shuts down gossip among others before it can get started. Usually, if this step is taken in love and humility, with Scripture and aimed at reconciliation by one who is spiritual considering himself also lest he be tempted, it will go no further. Most problems occur because step one is either done out of order or not at all.
2)The second step involves two or three witnesses (Deut 19:15; Matt 18:15+). This is not a “ganging up” on the one who has trespassed or fallen short, but a legal and judicious witness to the confrontation. It serves a couple of purposes:
a. It would verify the stories of both parties should the matter come before the Church, and
b. it would “civilize” the confrontation and assure a fair hearing for both parties. Furthermore, according to Jewish law, one of the witnesses might even represent the side of the transgressor. There is no indication that these witnesses are church leaders (pastors or deacons), but it would be necessary for them to be mature, spiritual, and impartial.

The third step involves what came to be called “excommunication”. What Jesus said it Matthew 18, was not nearly as “ecclesiastical” as is practiced by some, it is a Biblical mandate (2 Thes 3:14, 15; 1 Cor 5), which is often ignored by churches today. Most don't even practice this and others are harsh, mean, and unreconciled. Today, one can do what he pleases and if anybody doesn't like it, he can just go to another church and become a leader. It is really ashamed that churches do not work together in these matters. We are told to “mark” those who cause division among us and to separate ourselves from them after having corrected them unsuccessfully. They are and remain “out of fellowship” until they repent and return to the Lord and the church where they transgressed.

There are two other difficulties in this matter:
1.Churches without careful guidelines and documentation may be liable to lawsuits if they carry out this Scriptural mandate. This is proof of the rebellious sinner. We cannot afford to be careless about this, but neither should we ignore the procedure of correction and reconciliation. We must be wise (shrewd) as serpents and harmless as doves.
2.With a church on every corner, and with “numbers” as a barometer of successful ministry, it gain cooperation between churches in this issue, and particularly when crossing denominational lines.

May God help us to always seek to be Biblical and spiritual.

BLESSINGS!