Now don't get me wrong I fully believe we need to love like Jesus but for some reason Christians today forget that Jesus show tough love . Don't believe me? lets look at some scriptures : John 4: 4-18 :
4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.[a])
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
17 “I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.
An Matthew 21:12-13 : 12 Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 “It is written,” he said to them,“‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’[a] but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’[b]”
There are other verses but theses verses clearly show that Jesus showed tough love .
With the woman at the well , she had many husbands and Jesus knew it . He told her sin with tough love and did not sugar coat the truth . He did point her sin to make feel like less but to help her .
In Matthew 21:12-13, Jesus saw the evil that was being in his Father's house and corrected the sin that was being done .
The same things are going on in Church today, Christians are getting divorced and using the Church for there own personal gain.
An there is also a big problem of sex before marriage , pastor's having gay sex , and pastors performing same sex marriage.
For some reason Christian's look the other way on these serious issues , when clearly the God's holy word says to deal and correct theses issues . An the reason for this is that they are afraid that accused of judging harshly or the don't want lose members of there Church. But is it worth avoiding the truth if it means losing souls ?
Let look at some verses that about church discipline : Matthew 18: 15-17: 15 “If your brother or sister[b] sins,[c] go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’[d] 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
1 Corinthians 5:5 : 5 hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh,[a][b] so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.
The bible is very clear on Church Discipline in these verses .
In Matthew 18:15-17 clearly and specifically sets forth the practical steps for confronting and correcting a wayward believer.
- First, one believer (usually the offended person) will meet individually with the other believer to point out the offense. If the brother or sister listens and confesses, the matter is resolved.
- Second, if the one-on-one meeting is unsuccessful, the offended person will attempt to meet with the believer again, taking with him one or two other members of the church. This allows the confrontation of sin and resulting correction to be confirmed by two or three witnesses.
- Third, if the person still refuses to listen and change his behavior, the matter is to be taken before the entire congregation. The whole church body will publicly confront the believer and encourage him to repent.
it is sometimes necessary for God to use the devil to work in a sinner's life to bring him to repentance.
The Bible also tell us how to Discipline in the right way in Galatians 6:1 : 6 Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.
We need to correct a brother or sister in Christ in Gentleness, humility, and love will guide the attitude of those who wish to restore a fallen brother or sister. Spiritual maturity and submission to the Holy Spirit's leading are needed, too.
Church discipline should never be entered into lightly or for minor offenses. It is a very serious matter calling for extreme care, godly character, and a true desire to see a sinner restored and the purity of the church maintained.
In 2 Corinthians 2:5-8 : 5 If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you to some extent—not to put it too severely. 6 The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient. 7 Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him.
If the offender has truly repented of his or her sin , then we need to welcome them with love and forgiveness because we have all messed up and fall short of the Glory of god.
In closing , Please don't take this as me wanted to condemn but know that this issue and other issues in the Church need to be dealt with.
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