Christian Confrontation: A Prescription For Healing

Intro: Christian Confrontation is prescribed by God for the purity of the church.

(JOKE) The little boy was afraid of the dentist, so his dad decided to set the example and have his teeth examined, too. The dentist looked inside the father’s mouth & said, "There’s a tooth there that has to be pulled."

The father asked, "How much will it cost?" The dentist answered, "We charge $50 a tooth." Then the father asked, "How long will it take to actually pull the tooth?" The dentist answered, "About a minute."

The father protested, "I get paid by the hour, and when I think of paying $50 for a minute’s work, that is a terribly high hourly wage."

"Well," the dentist said, "I can pull the tooth more slowly if you like."

A Dentist favorite Hymn "Crown Him With Many Crowns"

Fighting Truth Decay

- The process of confrontation

o Responding to a brother’s sin

o The difference between faults and sins

 Fault: Human frailty that results in

 Sin

o The approach

 First examine yourself:

• “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? "Or how can you say to your brother, ’Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.” Luke 6:41-42

• The first way in which Christian Confrontation heals the church is through the individual reflection it inspires.

• (ILL) One of the first things a surgeon does before he begins surgery, in fact it is the most important preparation, he washes his hands.

• Incentive to constantly clean up our own act and a preventative to people running around confronting everybody over everything.

 The benefits of cultural stoplights

• (ILL) We pay Dentists and Doctors to tell us when something is wrong with our body. (We need to get comfortable with the idea that part of our responsibility is telling people when they are wrong.)

• (ILL) My doctor poked me in the tummy. He wanted to emphasis my need to loose weight. I didn’t like it, it was embarrassing. In fact I got upset with him. But after considering his chastisement I have begun to follow his instruction and have lost 20 pounds. I feel better. He was right.

 Private confrontation

• Go (Vs. 15)

o We have a tendency to not to want to get involved; but we need to see this as a command (Hear the word of the Lord)

o Responsibility to follow this command

o There should be only two people involved at this point.

• Show (Vs. 15)

o Explain what you have seen;

• In private

• This is often all that is needed. Stops here 9 times out of 10

• (ILL) TXDOT “Friends don’t let friends drive drunk.”

• (ILL) Personal experiences with being confronted

o Mentor who encouraged me to surrender to God’s call to the ministry

o Mentor who encouraged me to attend seminary. She acted as my spiritual mom

 Group confrontation (Vs. 16)

• Modern vernacular: Intervention

• (ILL) Student who was an alcoholic whom I confronted with several of his friends.

 Congregational confrontation (Vs. 17)

• “Refuses to listen to the church”

o Imagine a whole church praying for you and pleading with you to stop your sin.

o The attitude (Gal. 6:1)

 Gentleness

• Expect them to respond

• Don’t come in with a sledgehammer or trying to be the Holy Spirit.

 Clear and firm

o The dynamic of the Gospel presentation requires us to call people sinners. We should be just as willing to point out the sin in our brother.

 Watch out

• Careful not to fall into what they are doing.

• Particularly for pride: remember you are a sinner saved by grace.

- The purpose of confrontation

o Healing

 Halting of sin

 “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The intense prayer of the righteous is very powerful. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours; yet he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the land. Then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the land produced its fruit. My brothers, if any among you strays from the truth, and someone turns him back, he should know that whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his life from death and cover a multitude of sins.” James 5:16-20