Correction Must Happen: Galatians 3:1
Starting in the 3rd chapter of Galatians we can see Paul at a very frustrating point. He is upset because the believers have been manipulated into believing something that is not true. So Paul spends a few sentences correcting them with some of the harshest language in the New Testament.
When we see our brothers and sisters in Christ not acting as Christ teaches, we must correct such actions. Here is how this works in biblical community. First, you correct the person in a one on one setting. If that doesn’t work then you and another member of your community need to go and try to correct that person. I know what you are thinking. Phil, I have never seen this in my church. If that is the case I am so sorry. Correction must happen. Church leaders need to speak to members of congregations they lead in order to correct false actions. It is the responsibility of the church to correct members of the church and when that does not happen accountability cannot exist and pretty much anyone can do anything he or she wants and still call themselves Christians. I am not saying this is the main reason the church is in such bad shape today, but I am saying it is a contributing factor to poor church health all across America.
I want to go one step further. What if members in the church are corrected for their actions. But lets say that people not connected to your church or any church for that matter do not correct their actions and still discriminate people based on skin color. Will we make a difference? Oh course we will. We will treat others with respect. We will treat those that might be hostile against us with love. Why will we do this, because Jesus commands us to, and it is how we want to be treated.
I want to add one little piece to this even though it doesn’t feel like it from Paul’s tone in this passage. We must correct one another in love. This is one of the most difficult things to do in the body of Christ.
When we see our brothers and sisters in Christ not acting as Christ teaches, we must correct such actions. Here is how this works in biblical community. First, you correct the person in a one on one setting. If that doesn’t work then you and another member of your community need to go and try to correct that person. I know what you are thinking. Phil, I have never seen this in my church. If that is the case I am so sorry. Correction must happen. Church leaders need to speak to members of congregations they lead in order to correct false actions. It is the responsibility of the church to correct members of the church and when that does not happen accountability cannot exist and pretty much anyone can do anything he or she wants and still call themselves Christians. I am not saying this is the main reason the church is in such bad shape today, but I am saying it is a contributing factor to poor church health all across America.
I want to go one step further. What if members in the church are corrected for their actions. But lets say that people not connected to your church or any church for that matter do not correct their actions and still discriminate people based on skin color. Will we make a difference? Oh course we will. We will treat others with respect. We will treat those that might be hostile against us with love. Why will we do this, because Jesus commands us to, and it is how we want to be treated.
I want to add one little piece to this even though it doesn’t feel like it from Paul’s tone in this passage. We must correct one another in love. This is one of the most difficult things to do in the body of Christ.
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New Series
04/August/2016 Filed in: Church Health | Church Observations
Many of you know that my wife and I lived abroad for almost ten years. Yes, we would come home for six months at a time and would attend a local church but we only did this a couple of times and it was in a different location every time. Over the past year of being back in the states I have noticed a few things about the church. So I have turned these observations into three quick blog posts that all churches need to take a look at if they want to be around in the next ten years. Over the next three weeks we will look at Church Health, Church Budgets, and Missional Living.
