I removed my post after realizing that I had written about the very thing a fellow classmate had written on earlier. There is no excuse for my mistake and I take full responsibility for it. In its place I will seek to share my heart concerning another topic that I had given thought to but was unsure I was ready to write. This error on my part though has opened the door, unplanned as it was, for me to address it.
Over the last fifteen plus years of being a pastor I have made many mistakes. While many were never earth shattering others left scars for myself and others that we as a congregation had to work through. Many of these mistakes were what we could call rookie because they came from a lack of experience that if learned from brings wisdom. Some mistakes were because of personal short comings that I had to take to the Lord and with the help of others seek to overcome in my life. The point I want to make here is that mistakes that involve sin are our own. No one including myself can pass the responsibility off on someone else for their own sin. Neither are we allowed, according to scripture, to declare our sin as not hurting or involving anyone else.
This is why it is so important that we address sin for what it is. When I did something that would be considered sin I confessed it to the board or the church so that forgiveness could be given and received. This is what I have tried to share with those in the congregation who have fallen in sin. There is no sin that only effects me. When we are saved we are brought into a family Christ says, a living body, according to Paul and because of this we are interconnected. If one member does something good we are all blessed and this is easy to celebrate. However when one of us does wrong the desire is to run or demand our rights to be individuals without any responsibility to the whole. What we don't realize is that it is in owning our sin and confessing it that we find peace and forgiveness.
Not long ago two friends of mine left their wives and families. My heart was broken not only over the sin but over the fact that there was no desire on their part to own their sin. We have not yet come to see the distance the ripples in the pond will go. While on one hand love demands me to carry out the slow but purposeful process of discipline, love also moves me to reach out to them as friends. While one has allowed me to do this with honesty the other cannot see this as love. Redeemed individuals are not free from temptation or the giving into this temptation. This is why we receive from God the words of 1 John 1:9. If we, children of God, confess our sin He is faithful to forgive it. The key here is confession which is the process of first owning our sin and then acknowledging that God declares it sin. David humbly confessed that He had sinned against God and begged for forgiveness. While God's grace forgave him, this same grace allowed the cost of that sin to be realized in David's family.
If judgment is to begin with the church then we must deal with our sin before we go out to deal with the log in someone else's eye. If we truly believe God's word then we must be willing to hold it up as truth even when it exposes us. When we are willing to confess our falling short then the world may be more open to hearing where they fall short. Sin cost, which is why God gave His Son to pay the cost. This truth must be established first so that grace which is freely given to all who confess can be seen as truly amazing.
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