restoring

How to Restore a Brother

A Truly Spiritual Person Will Seek to Restore, not Pull-Down, a Brother

The Bible is quite clear about the correct procedure for restoring a brother who sins or who has wrong doctrine:

Firstly, we need to know personally that the rumour is true (that doesn't include merely reading what someone else has published on the internet). If you don't know personally that it's true, then leave it - don't even look for sin.

Secondly, if the offender is not a member of our own congregation, we should consider leaving it to the elders of his own church to do the confronting & restoring (it's unlikely the brother will respond better to someone he doesn't even know)

Thirdly, if the offender is not a member of our own congregation, we can pray for him

Fourthly, if the offender is a fellow-member of our own local congregation, or if the offender is ministering to our local congregation, we must not accept the accusation against him if he is an elder unless there are two or three personal witnesses to his sin or heresy (a personal witness does NOT include a criticism we read on the internet)

Fifthly, even if we personally know the accusation to be true, we should firstly consider leaving it to the person who has been more directly affected by the sin to do the confronting & restoring, rather than becoming personally involved ourselves in someone else's matter (the more private the matter is kept, the more we are walking in love toward our brother, and the chances of restoring him will be better)

Sixthly, if we feel it is definitely our individual responsibility in this particular case to do the confronting & restoring, then this MUST at fist be attempted personally and privately ('personally' and 'privately' does NOT include forwarding details of the matter onto others my email nor discussing it with others on the internet)

Seventhly, if the offender doesn't repent, only then may we approach him with a second witness (one other person - not the worldwide web!)

Eighthly, if he or she still doesn't repent, only then may it be made a matter for our local congregation. (Jesus said that in such cases it could then become a matter for the 'church' i.e. for one's local church - not the worldwide web)

Ninthly, only then is the offender to be rebuked before his local congregation, that others may fear - unless he is an elder, in which case he must not be rebuked but entreated as a father

Tenthly, in serious cases we may need to disassociate with the brother so that he may be ashamed and brought to repentance

Eleventhly, even in such cases we are still to admonish him as a brother and not as someone who is part of the world

Twelfth, if he repents, we are to immediately receive him back into the local church and remember his sins no more

Thirteenth, a mark of true spirituality is not outspokenness against sin or false doctrine alone, but the ability to RESTORE a brother

Fourteenth, we should meanwhile 'consider thyself lest you also be tempted'

Fifteenth, before doing any of the above, we should first remove the log from our own eye. In other words, we cannot hope to adequately restore a brother whose healing ministry may not be perfect, unless we ourselves are exemplifying in our own life Christ's command to go and preach the Gospel and to heal the sick and to raise the dead and to cast out demons.

Before we criticize any healing minister, we should ask ourselves, Do I have a better healing ministry, as Christ commanded?

Jesus sent us to preach FOR something, not to preach AGAINST something. We will always accomplish more good in the community if we spend our time primarily preaching what He preached, instead of primarily discussing what others shouldn't be preaching!

And if we spend our time healing the sick - instead of criticizing others who are seeking to obey Christ's commission to do so.

Sixteenth, we should always seek to cover sin, for love covers a multitude of sin. We should strive to keep people's shame as private a matter as possible. That's walking in love - because that's what we would want them to do if it was us.