forgiveness

Reconciliation or a Bumpy Rug?

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The other day, I was speaking with someone who mentioned a “bumpy rug.” She was referring to the practice of ignoring problems and “sweeping them under the rug.” Another similar comment I heard recently was, “Let’s just get this behind us as soon as possible.” In both cases, people were dealing with sin in families and organizations. Both cases reflected a desire to move past the sin and the hurt it caused others as quickly as possible without a desire to actually address the sin and correct it.

Very few people enjoy conflict. The average person will go out of their way to avoid it. It is not fun when others are mad at you, even if you are doing the right thing. Our desire to get along and please people means that we will try to move past problems without confronting the issue and dealing with it.

We need to learn to work through the personal pain of a conflict to pursue correction, forgiveness, and reconciliation. We need to see the value of restored relationships both with God and with each other. We need to see the importance of repentance and forgiveness to help people truly get past a problem brought on by sin. We need to see the importance of pointing out sin that is affecting others in the family and in the church.

We forget that Jesus gave clear direction on how to handle sin with a Christian brother or sister in Matthew 18: 15-17.

“If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 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.’ 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.

Jesus does not advise getting past sin quickly, and definitely does not suggest sweeping it under the rug. Jesus suggest confrontation. He gives some steps. First, go by yourself to the person you know has sinned and point out their sin. Do not tell others about it. Do not take a party with you. Go by yourself.

The second and third steps are only taken if the first did not resolve the situation. So, second, if the sinner does not respond with repentance then take one or two others with you to confirm you are not just making a personal judgement. With two or three others, you can determine if the person really has sin they need to deal with.

Third, if the first two steps do not resolve the issue, then tell it to the church. The hope is that the church will push for what is right and stand for truth and righteousness rather than sweep it under the rug. Too many churches prefer the bumpy rug to the pain of confronting and dealing with a sinning brother or sister.

There is one last step. If the person does not listen and does not correct their ways, treat them as someone who is no longer part of the church. This is a very difficult step for any church to take, yet Jesus teaches this so we know there must be times when his teaching should be applied.

We need to remove the persistent sinner from any leadership in the church yet continue to love them and pray for them and look for opportunities to draw them back to Jesus.

Jesus did not write off tax collectors and pagans but invited them to follow him. He even called Matthew, the tax collector, to be one of his disciples. Jesus treated pagans and tax collectors as potential disciples, if only they would leave their sin behind. Even as we can’t allow the persistent sinner a place of leadership in the church, we continue to point them to Jesus, with the hope that they will repent and surrender their hearts to Jesus again.

Let’s choose to pursue reconciliation, not allow more bumps under the rug!

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Fruitful Leadership #3: Peace

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Peace is not a common commodity in our world today. There are conflicts between countries, in business, in families, and in our workplaces.

When I think of a picture of peace, I remember the lake at the camp I spent a number of summers at. It was a fairly large lake, so it was a rare morning where the lake was completely calm. Yet once in awhile, the winds died down completely and turned the surface of the lake into a sheet of glace. Not a ripple to ruin the effect.

It’s a rare day when the wind isn’t blowing in our lives. It’s not easy to experience complete peace.

As a Christian leader who wants to allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through us, we do want to bear the fruit of the Spirit as described in Galatians 5: 22 . We want peace.

Yes, we want peace in our workplace. I’m primarily thinking of peace as the absence of conflict in the workplace. We want peace on our teams as they work together. We recognize the need to not let conflict simmer but to address it and work through it before it boils over.

Peace takes constant monitoring of the situations we are in. It takes discernment to know when something is eating away at peace and needs to be resolved. But if you are a leader who desires a peaceful workplace you will need to ensure you are at peace inside first.

Peace begins inside you – if you don’t have peace, you will have a hard time being peaceful in your relationships. Peace begins with a relationship with the Prince of Peace. We want Jesus to continue to help shape us to become like Himself. And we invite the Holy Spirit to work in our lives to make us more Christ-like. We need to pray that God will help us forgive others and not continue to carry personal hurts. We need God to fill us with His peace. Knowing that we are right with our creator, the God of the Universe, is a great place to start with peace.

To live out peace as a leader, we need to be at peace with our relationships at home. If we are in conflict in one area of our life, it is bound to create cracks in our peace with others. We cannot separate our private life from our public life. Keep short accounts at home before you even step into your leadership role. Peace is evident in harmonious relationships.

It is in the heat of the moment that what is inside comes out. When that mistake is made, or someone falls short of your expectations – what is your first response? If it is anger and shouting and judgement – you may need to work on peace in yourself first. Peace begins in us.

Peace has to be worked for. There are times when our Canadian troops have been sent into countries where there has been conflict, and they are called Peacekeepers. Jesus asks us to be peacemakers and says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” (Matthew 5:9) As Christian leaders, we need to be people of peace. This spiritual fruit should be produced continually in our lives in our relationships and in our leadership.

Peace may cost us something. There may be times where we need to apologize and make things right. There may be times where we will need to address issues with those on our team that won’t make us popular. Peace means addressing the issues that are causing conflict. Those in conflict may not always want to resolve that conflict. As leaders, we can ask God to give us great wisdom in how we lead through conflict and bring peace.

But let’s remember, peace, as a spiritual fruit, can only be produced in our lives as we continually are at peace with our God. If this is fruit of the Spirit, then we need to surrender to the Spirit’s work in our lives. And then we will bear the fruit of peace.

May you experience peace and excel at peacemaking!

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Don’t Let Satan Give You a Time-Out!

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Many children are familiar with a “time out” This is used as a punishment to remove the person from something they would like to do and, help them see the behavior results in negative consequences such as missing out.

As a follower of Jesus, I want to do what is right and good. I read the Bible and talk with God. I make decisions to do right and work at being self-disciplined. I work at training myself to be whom God wants me to be. But like you, and everyone else around us, I sin. There are times when I allow the sinful nature in me to take over, where I do something that is clearly against God’s best for us.

Spring brings us to the holiday of Easter. This is much more than bunnies and eggs. This is the annual celebration of Jesus’ death and resurrection for all people. Because of our sin, we deserved to die. That was how God created things. And then He arranged for a way out. God sent His own son to die in our place – to take our penalty for us. Good Friday is the reminder that Jesus, the only perfect human, died in our place. Easter is the celebration that when His friends went to the tomb, Jesus wasn’t there. He was alive! This resurrection gave Him the right to offer forgiveness and new life to all who believe in Him.

When we put our faith in Jesus, when we acknowledge our sin and repent of it, confessing it to God, Jesus forgives us. And we enter into a relationship with God! God now sees Jesus’ righteousness in us!

So, yes, we sin from time to time. Now what?

Often, we have this feeling that we need to put ourselves in a time-out. We feel need to wallow in our guilt for awhile before we can be in right relationship with God again. I don’t think I’m the only one who has felt this way. We think that to be sorry for our sin means we have to show it by spending time in our sorrowful guilt-ridden state.

But that is straight from the devil!

God does not want us to live in a state of guilt. Jesus has paid for our sin. God arranged this plan because He did not want us to live in guilt but to live in the joy of freedom. If Jesus already died on the cross, He already paid for that sin. The sin you are wallowing in is already paid for, already forgiven!

When we sin, we can immediately come to Jesus with it. As soon as the Holy Spirit reminds you that what you did was wrong, you can use that conviction to repent. The Holy Spirit is not pointing out your sin in order for you to feel bad, but in order for you to repent. So confess your sin, stop doing it, and get back on your feet.

Some of you might remember that old commercial that had this one iconic line: “Help I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.” Well we may have fallen, but the Holy Spirit is already showing us we can get back up. Jesus is already reaching out a hand to lift us to our feet.

1 John 1: 9 tells us, “But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins an to cleanse us from all wickedness”.

This does not tell us we have to take a time-out. It says, confess and receive forgiveness. Receive the cleansing from Jesus, and get back on your feet. Serve Jesus again!

Yes, we sin, but we can confess and receive forgiveness immediately. We are then cleansed and ready to be of use to God again. This is the only way that I, and any other pastor, can stand up every Sunday and preach a sermon. It is because Jesus forgives all my sin of that week and that morning. He cleanses immediately so I can preach with confidence.

Do not allow Satan to put you in a time-out. Receive Christ Jesus’ cleansing forgiveness and get on your feet immediately, serving God again.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe