Guidelines for Warning a Fellow Christian
The apostle Paul teaches us about forging true unity and harmony in our shared beliefs about God's Word even when correcting our fellow Christians. We can learn this lesson in Galatians 2:11-21 in Paul's Guidelines for Warning a Fellow Christian. August 31, 2008.
Unity is a catchy theme currently clogging the airwaves as politicians (of both parties) rally the masses at conventions, smile for the camera, and say nice but often meaningless things. Sometimes more hype than harmony. The apostle Paul understood that real unity for Christians is more than a campaign slogan. It is a shared belief based on the only absolute truth in the universe: God’s Word. So if we’re going to be like Paul – who wrote 13 of the 27 books of the Bible in the New Testament, and you can find a warning in each of them – we will not feign pretend unity or “look the other way and let’s just agree to disagree” harmony. Instead, we will forge unity and harmony from real, genuine agreement. That means correcting Christians who are wrong. “I will hold you accountable,” (Ezekiel 33:8) God stated squarely to the prophet Ezekiel. “Go and show him his fault,” (Matthew 18:15) Jesus instructs us to do when someone has sinned against us. “When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong,” Paul writes. Christians who are sincere, or operate their own TV networks and publish bestselling books, or know their Bibles, or grew up in a church, or your Christian boyfriend or uncle or professor … can be wrong. Peter was even wrong. Today we watch Paul respond to an erring Peter and in the process we note Guidelines for Warning a Fellow Christian.
Whom?
The church in Antioch included both Jews and Gentiles, but primarily Gentiles. This congregation understood as much as or more than most of the other Christian congregations in the early church that no human performance was necessary to be accepted by God. Therefore, the Christians in Antioch placed no special emphasis on keeping Old Testament Jewish ceremonies. If the Jewish Christians in Antioch wanted to, they’d enjoy a pork sandwich with their Gentile fellow Christians. So when Peter would stop in Antioch he “used to eat with the Gentiles” with no regard for kosher rules. That was his practice until one day “he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles” because some Jewish Christians from Jerusalem showed up in Antioch and he was worried that they’d tattle on him. They might report him to the “circumcision group,” a group of Jews who professed to believe in Jesus Christ for salvation but also insisted that all Christians – even Gentile converts – must keep all Old Testament Jewish ceremonies, including circumcision to be accepted by God. So Peter, afraid of the backlash he’d create with this influential group, withdrew from his practice of eating non-kosher foods with the Gentiles in Antioch. That, according to Paul, was wrong.
And this was not just Paul’s stubborn opinion. Peter was wrong because he was “not acting in line with the truth.” Paul understood the difference between truth and opinion or truth and preference or truth and style. Truth is the absolute truth from God in the words of Scripture. It is timeless and unchangeable and will never disappear. It is divinely created and not man made so it will never be corrupted. It is as uncompromising as it is promising. When a fellow Christian veers from the truth of God’s Word – either by belief or behavior – it is our right, even responsibility, to issue a warning. When a fellow Christian expresses a different opinion about the presidential race, or prefers Christian music that we’d rather tune out, or wears a style of clothes to church we’d never wear in public, that’s different than being wrong because none of those choices goes against something commanded or forbidden by God’s Word. We can inquire about those choices, and share our opinion, but there’s no correction necessary. So the first of Paul’s Guidelines for Warning a Fellow Christian instructs us that, before warning another Christian, we must determine whether or not he or she is going against God’s Word. That determination may be obvious (as in the case of logging onto a church’s website and browsing their statements of belief), or it may take some time, some patient observation, and some heartfelt discussion. This determination can be difficult so here’s an exercise that can help.
Why?
The next time you honk your horn at another driver, ask yourself why you did it. There are really only two reasons to honk your horn – either for the benefit of others or for your own personal benefit. When you’re at a stop light that turns green and the driver ahead of you hesitates for a second, don’t honk your horn. When you’re accelerating past a slow car that won’t get out of the left lane, don’t honk your horn. When the driver next to you in the parking lot is going to back into a pole, honk your horn! When a fellow Christian’s beliefs or behavior go against God’s Word, honk your horn! Sound a warning for the benefit of others. After all, the danger of going against God’s Word is much more harmful than backing a car into a pole.
Paul believes this, so he mentions that he must stand up for “the gospel,” explaining, “I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing.” Peter’s menu choices in Antioch may seem like a trivial matter. Who really cared which cold cuts Peter pulled off the platter and plopped on his sandwich? But Paul understood that Peter’s decision linked to the gospel promise of God to forgive sins without any obligation on the part of the sinner. Allowing Peter, by his behavior, to demonstrate to Christians, especially new converts, that they had to keep requirements to gain God’s acceptance was setting aside the grace of God. More than that, Paul noted that “other Jews joined [Peter] in his hypocrisy.” We’re concerned when a fellow Christian goes against God’s truth, but when that Christian – knowingly or unknowingly – leads others into the same sin we have more reason to sound a warning! Worse yet, if the Christian going against God’s Word continues to sin, even though he or she has been warned and warned, and even though he or she understands what God’s Word says, then Jesus commands us in today’s gospel to treat that person like a pagan, and to separate from that person whose soul is in danger of the fires of hell!
Paul’s Guidelines for Warning a Fellow Christian teach us why we say something. It’s not about me, it’s not about being right, it’s not about showing people up. It’s about Christian concern for a person’s soul. “Be diligent in these matters,” the Bible urges us. “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Timothy 4:16).
How?
Which do you think is more difficult when correcting someone – knowing what needs to be corrected, or saying it in a loving way? Sometimes our misguided zeal worries so much about being right that we forget to be kind. Who of us has won a religious argument but turned the person off to God or church? Who of us has condemned a person who belongs to a different denomination without asking if they truly believe everything their church teaches? Who of us has found the speck of sinful error in a friend’s eye only to be blinded by the beam of sinful attitude in our own. How can we live up to Jesus’ expectations for us to be both right and kind? Paul provides the answer. “I have been crucified with Christ … who loved me and gave himself for me.” Each of us can say that when God dealt with sin in his own Son on the cross, he dealt with me. When Jesus gave himself up to crucifixion, he died for me. “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” You are not your own, which is fantastic news! Your decisions are not your own, your behavior … your attitude … your correcting of others is not your own. Because Jesus Christ has taken responsibility with you! Jesus Christ died for you and believes that you are somebody who can live just as he lived, who can speak the truth in love.
The final Guidelines for Warning a Fellow Christian show that Paul approached Peter in Christian love. He asked questions for clarification. He kept the focus on Jesus Christ and his gospel promises. He offered objective statements in which they both believed as a bridge to his area of concern. And most of all, he took action and didn’t ignore the issue hoping it would go away.
One columnist for The New York Sun speculates that if Abraham Lincoln lived today, he would be surprised that audiences disrupt political speeches by clapping after every three or four lines. In Lincoln’s day a public address was typically a lecture, whereas today it’s more about the speaker connecting with the audience. The substance of Lincoln’s day with little concern for the style of delivery has been replaced by an expectation of style that seems to trump anything of substance. Today the apostle Paul shows us the importance of both when warning a fellow Christian. The truth is the truth. Don’t be afraid to speak it clearly whether an erring Christian is going to like it or not. But connect with the person you correct, look him or her in the eye with Christian love, and share your concerns with humility and respect. Do this as often as needed, but after each time go home and leave the rest to God. Amen.
Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (http://www.gracedowntown.org/) on August 31, 2008
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