Katie W

I think people who are approached by a caring church member will generally respond in one of two ways: with gratitude or resentment, or perhaps a combination.* Some will even end up leaving the church either because of the problem, the church’s attempt to be involved in the problem or – again – perhaps a combination of the two. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try, though. After all, Paul wrote 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 for a reason –

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

The word translated “comfort” is literally “come alongside”, so that we are to come alongside others as God comes alongside us in all our troubles. It’s a high calling, but one the Holy Spirit carries out through us.

Thanks for the challenging and encouraging thought-provoker here today, Sharon.

Tim

*I see this in the courtroom too, particularly in family law cases. Only at the courthouse the people involved in a child custody dispute rarely feel gratitude toward the judge. It’s usually just a matter of one parent resenting me less than the other.

Another couple started struggling, the marriage unraveled quickly, infidelity was involved, and the group came together in the same way as the previous couple. In this case, the husband soon wouldn’t meet with us and cut off all contact. We pursued, we counseled and comforted the wife, and when the husband filed for divorce the church guided us through the process of church discipline and pulled the husband’s membership.

It was HARD, but it’s just what the church body is supposed to do. It was then hard to read this post on Matthew Paul Turner’s blog: http://matthewpaulturner.net/jesus-needs-new-pr/mark-driscolls-church-discipline-contract-looking-for-true-repentance-at-mars-hill-church-sign-on-the-dotted-line/

Did the husband perceive our involvement and church discipline as being like this? Would he tell others he was the subject of an abusive church atmosphere like MPT describes?

It’s rough for the church to “get involved” today, when it might involve calling someone out. Calling someone out is risky. I still wrestle with it. How do we balance grace and truth well, and still enter into the lives of people with the touch of the Spirit? The world will most certainly not understand our actions.