“[T]he purpose of discipline is to bring about the reconciliation of man to God and man to man and to engage the people of God in the ministry of reconciliation, and to promote the peace, purity, and edification of the church.”

Several years ago, a friend and I were asked to cover four Wednesday evenings of preaching at the Key Biscayne Presbyterian Church in Miami, FL. I wasn’t exactly sure what to prepare until I had heard the first message, so I waited. His title was “What Do I Do When the Lights Go Out?” It was a poignant message regarding the Christian who had fallen into sin and was suffering its consequences

I followed with a series of three messages that asked the question, “Where Was the Church When the Lights Went Out?” It is a question that has long haunted me.

It seems that the church is always there, offering fellowship to those who appear to be walking in traditional fashion with no recognizable blemish. But suddenly, when most needed, in the loneliness of sin, the church turns away. Simply, the church is not there for the backslidden Christian.

So what happens to the brother or sister in Christ who falls prey to the wiles of the enemy? Do we cast him or her away as if they have some dread disease that we fear may pollute us? Do we thank God that “we are not as other men are?” Or do we remember it was the Lord Jesus who said, “He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone” (John 8:7).

Restore Gently

In Galatians 6:1-2, Paul writes:

“Brethren, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself or you also may be tempted. Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

Our Book of Discipline reminds us that “the purpose of discipline is to bring about the reconciliation of man to God and man to man and to engage the people of God in the ministry of reconciliation, and to promote the peace, purity, and edification of the church.”

None of this denies the need for discipline of the ecclesiastical kind, but it does deny a punitive action that adds to the distress of the one who has gone astray. Shunning a sinner, in this context, is itself sin.

What then must we do as the Body of Christ when a brother or sister is found in a serious fault? Can we turn away and leave them to suffer their consequences alone? Or may we take a leaf from the book of nature and gather around the one who is wounded, to succor, sustain and encourage him or her?

Pray, Love, Communicate

First, we must pray, even yearn, before God for the needy ones. Perhaps having lost their way, they feel they have no right to pray for themselves. We must also bear their loved ones high on our heart, knowing that in their inner circle the distress may be almost more than they can bear.

Next, we must show our love for them; more now than ever. They are hurting, feeling their shame and the horror of what they have done. That’s a lonely place to be. Yet they are family, brothers or sisters in Christ, and we must reach out to them in kindness. We do not minimize sin by caring, but we cherish the sinner when we do.
Communication, reaching out, affirming, reminding, while never endorsing the sin or the details of the occasion of sin, fills the void that occurs when a brother or sister falls. It closes the gap between the need of the individual and the available comfort of the church in its broader dimension.

Next comes the courageous handling of the situation in the Session of the church. The lines of disciplinary process are clearly defined – not by pragmatism, nor by the way of the world, but as the court of the church, the court of primary jurisdiction. The Session is accountable for the manner in which it moves to bring about the reconciliation and restoration of a backslider.

So may it be said when the question is asked, “Where was the church when the lights went out?” We, the family of Christ, were there front and center, seeking to “restore him (her) gently.”?

Dr. Wilfred A. Bellamy is a retired ARP minister currently living and serving in Brooksville, Florida where he is a Teaching Fellow at Faith Evangelical Presbyterian Church. In the ARP he served as the Coordinator of the General Synod as well as serving pastorates in Michigan, Georgia, and the Carolinas. This article appeared in the March/April issue of the ARP Magazine and is used with permission. Readers are encouraged to visit the magazine website for more stories in and about the ARP Church.

[Editor’s note: One or more original URLs (links) referenced in this article are no longer valid; those links have been removed.]