DEADLY POISON
(Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Galatians 6:1)
A young boy stood next to his dad at the side of his sister's hospital bed. Fearful, he cried, "I wasn't in the shed! We're not allowed in there! I don't know which bottle she drank out of!" His dad said in a quiet, serious voice, "Time is running out, son. I know you were there with her. You won't be in any trouble if you tell the truth, and it's very important. Just tell me the truth. It's the only way to save her life!"
In tears, the boy whispered, "The weed poison."
That boy's honest confession saved not only his sister, but also himself. If he hadn't told the truth, his unconfessed transgression of being in the shed would have killed her. He saved her life, and himself from the guilt and shame of allowing his sister to die.
Unconfessed sin is, itself, a deadly poison. It can kill individuals, churches, communities, organizations and families.
Consider these two examples:
I used to go to a church were one woman was openly sinning in a way that would make a sailor blush. She lured her husband into it, and then a young girl who attended the services. This woman claimed to be born-again, and certainly, even born-again people make poor choices and fall to temptation. She infected three people with her sin, but she didn't stop there. Soon she drew another woman and even an elder of the church into her circle of sin.
When this became known, the elder lost her position, but she refused to repent. It was the first time the church body became aware of the sin. But after it became known, the church fell apart very quickly. Because the pastor was fearful to offend the woman and her husband (they were generous contributors), sin proliferated in the form of imitation and gossip and people started leaving the church in droves.
Many individuals felt reluctant to confront the sinners. Gossip broke out. Gossip bred contempt. Contempt bred divisions. Eventually, the pastor was so occupied in defending his lack of integrity that he lost the ability to pastor. One day he came into Sunday services and announced that God was going to raise up a prophet to lead us into a new direction. The "prophet," he told us, was one of the women caught up in sin. The church floundered and failed. Few people came to services and little money came in the offering. The church could not meet payroll or make its mortgage payments. The home office had to step in to make things right.
The congregation recovered, but at a very high price. The elders and pastor were dismissed. The church council disbanded. The membership dropped to less than half. The husband eventually repented and was restored, but his wife became entrenched in the sin and still lives that way today. She is proud of the "enlightened" choice she has made. Two of the other women fell away from the faith; one was restored but moved away in shame.
But one young pastor in Peru took a stronger approach to sin and saved his entire denomination by calling for confession and repentance.
Jacob Huaman was president of the Peruvian Evangelical Church in the early 1990's when persecution caused the number of PEC congregations to dwindle from 50 to 20. But Jacob knew that the persecutors were not the reason that his church was shrinking (persecutions usually cause churches to grow). He knew that the basic problem was sin within the church. He discovered that two church leaders were covertly sinning and he called on them to confess and submit to church authority. One submitted and was restored, but the other did not. He was shunned and ordered to leave. The people were "gripped by the fear of God," becoming aware of the consequences of unrepented sin. Revival broke out. Now there are 400 congregations.
The Bible says that we should confront the sinner and try to restore them. If that woman had been confronted in time, and had confessed and been restored, the church would have been spared self-destruction. It would have known instead the sweet joys of revival and strength.
(Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. Luke 17:3)
(Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Galatians 6:1)
A young boy stood next to his dad at the side of his sister's hospital bed. Fearful, he cried, "I wasn't in the shed! We're not allowed in there! I don't know which bottle she drank out of!" His dad said in a quiet, serious voice, "Time is running out, son. I know you were there with her. You won't be in any trouble if you tell the truth, and it's very important. Just tell me the truth. It's the only way to save her life!"
In tears, the boy whispered, "The weed poison."
That boy's honest confession saved not only his sister, but also himself. If he hadn't told the truth, his unconfessed transgression of being in the shed would have killed her. He saved her life, and himself from the guilt and shame of allowing his sister to die.
Unconfessed sin is, itself, a deadly poison. It can kill individuals, churches, communities, organizations and families.
Consider these two examples:
I used to go to a church were one woman was openly sinning in a way that would make a sailor blush. She lured her husband into it, and then a young girl who attended the services. This woman claimed to be born-again, and certainly, even born-again people make poor choices and fall to temptation. She infected three people with her sin, but she didn't stop there. Soon she drew another woman and even an elder of the church into her circle of sin.
When this became known, the elder lost her position, but she refused to repent. It was the first time the church body became aware of the sin. But after it became known, the church fell apart very quickly. Because the pastor was fearful to offend the woman and her husband (they were generous contributors), sin proliferated in the form of imitation and gossip and people started leaving the church in droves.
Many individuals felt reluctant to confront the sinners. Gossip broke out. Gossip bred contempt. Contempt bred divisions. Eventually, the pastor was so occupied in defending his lack of integrity that he lost the ability to pastor. One day he came into Sunday services and announced that God was going to raise up a prophet to lead us into a new direction. The "prophet," he told us, was one of the women caught up in sin. The church floundered and failed. Few people came to services and little money came in the offering. The church could not meet payroll or make its mortgage payments. The home office had to step in to make things right.
The congregation recovered, but at a very high price. The elders and pastor were dismissed. The church council disbanded. The membership dropped to less than half. The husband eventually repented and was restored, but his wife became entrenched in the sin and still lives that way today. She is proud of the "enlightened" choice she has made. Two of the other women fell away from the faith; one was restored but moved away in shame.
But one young pastor in Peru took a stronger approach to sin and saved his entire denomination by calling for confession and repentance.
Jacob Huaman was president of the Peruvian Evangelical Church in the early 1990's when persecution caused the number of PEC congregations to dwindle from 50 to 20. But Jacob knew that the persecutors were not the reason that his church was shrinking (persecutions usually cause churches to grow). He knew that the basic problem was sin within the church. He discovered that two church leaders were covertly sinning and he called on them to confess and submit to church authority. One submitted and was restored, but the other did not. He was shunned and ordered to leave. The people were "gripped by the fear of God," becoming aware of the consequences of unrepented sin. Revival broke out. Now there are 400 congregations.
The Bible says that we should confront the sinner and try to restore them. If that woman had been confronted in time, and had confessed and been restored, the church would have been spared self-destruction. It would have known instead the sweet joys of revival and strength.
(Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. Luke 17:3)
