Tried and Found Faithful

One of the more well-known quotes from G.K. Chesterton about Christianity is, "The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting.  It has been found difficult; and left untried."  (Chesterton, G. K. What’s Wrong with the World. Ignatius Press, 1994. page 37)  Following Jesus Christ is no guarantee of an easy life, but all who are in Jesus know He is the Life!  Those who trust and love Jesus shall not want, for He is our Good Shepherd.  Just because we follow Jesus, however, does not mean we are always willing to follow His word when the world and our experience leads us differently.

It can be difficult to submit to God's word and obey Him because it is not our natural inclination.  It requires faith for us to trust and obey God when it comes to the administration of discipline, whether it be in the church or with our own children.  Recently I was in a conversation when we discussed the few times we had ever observed church discipline administered as Jesus taught in Matthew 18.  Paul's 1st and 2nd letters to the Corinthian church illustrate how Christians can swing like a pendulum to extremes:  first Paul rebuked the church for allowing blatant sin to be accepted among them, and then Paul had to exhort the church to receive the man who repented of sin and to affirm their love for him.  Every Christian is a sinner and we can be easily offended, yet we are not always willing to put Christ's commands into practice.

Jesus taught His disciples in Matthew 18:15-17:  "Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. ¹⁶ But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that 'by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.' ¹⁷ And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector."  For every time church leadership has failed to discipline an openly sinning member, there are likely many more times believers have told others or the church how others are at fault--rather than going to the offender personally alone because it was difficult.  This is how the Pharisees operated:  when Jesus did something that offended them they spoke to His disciples about it, and when the disciples offended them they complained to Jesus.  Brothers and sisters, let us not follow their example but Christ's commands.

The individual member who obeys Christ to go to their brother who sins against him with the aim of restoration and edification is the first step to implement church discipline.  Going to a brother and humbly confessing he has sinned against me is a difficult thing that requires faith in Jesus marked by obedience.  I exhort you, fellow Christian, lay aside any protests and doubts it will not produce your desired effect!  Could it be the LORD is testing you to see if you will obey Him or not?  When we want other people to admit wrong or change their ways, it could be the LORD is using them as His instrument to further refine your faith and obedience.  There have been a handful of times people have been obedient to God to confess I had sinned against them, and their obedience to Christ resulted in great blessing by His grace.  We trust Jesus to provide forgiveness and eternal life:  how about trusting Jesus to obey Him when it is difficult?  Try Him, for those who trust and obey Jesus shall not want.  He is faithful.