What If It Was You How Are We To Minister To Those Overtaken By A Trespass
What if it was you and not the other guy? You who really made a mess of things.
You who made the mistake of mistakes. Imagine that you did something so stupid that it made all the poor choices you've ever made look smart in comparison. Then to make matters even worse, imagine that it wasn't a mistake that you stumbled or fell into. No way.
Not this time. In this instance, like a fool, you saw it coming and knowingly hurled yourself into it at full speed.
In that place, as you reflect over your life you remember hearing about other people who had done the same thing. You also remember thinking "What kind of person would ever do that? They would have to be an idiot!" Now here you are. The idiot.
Continue to imagine yourself in those shoes. Your life has begun to fall apart as a result of that bad decision or series of decisions. You are now in a world of hurt. Not only are you burdened with the feelings of guilt and shame over taking out that fourth mortgage (or whatever your dumb move may have been), but now you are seeing the effects on the people and things around you.
Your family, friends, and your bank account. At that point imagine depression setting in.
Let me ask you a question. As your life has reached the place of imploding due to your own bad choices, how would you want people to respond to you? Your friends? Your family? Fellow believers? Would you want them to approach you like a puppy that had one too many potty accidents on the floor?
In other words, would you want them to grab you by the nape of the neck and rub your nose in it repeatedly to make sure you learned your lesson? Or would you hope for something different?
In Galatians chapter 6, we find Paul dealing with this type of issue. Since we live in a world populated from one end to the other with human beings full of blemishes, flaws, and weakness, all who are believers would do well to let these words sink in and take them to heart.
"Brethren, if a man also may be overtaken in any trespass, ye who [are] spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of meekness, considering thyself -- lest thou also may be tempted." (Galatians 6:1 Young's Literal Translation)
It might be a good idea to read through the above verse once more and let it sink in.
Our friend Paul is addressing the brethren. Are you a believer? A Christian? Well then, these words were written for you.
His subject is the man or woman who has been overtaken in any trespass. A very important word in this verse is ANY.
He then zeroes in on those who would consider themselves to be spiritual or mature and gives specific instructions.
Are you mature? Do you see yourself as spiritual? Do you see yourself as mature?
I want you to notice that Paul doesn't tell us to condemn our fallen brother or sister. After all, our Lord and Savior Himself did not come to condemn anyone. His mission was one of saving!
Paul, the Apostle for the nations tells us that the aim is to restore the person. Lift them up in a spirit of meekness or gentleness, making sure that as you do so, you consider yourself.
What does it mean to consider yourself? It means to realize that whatever came upon that person could just as easily have come upon you or me. So in other words, as we lift up and restore that person we need to approach them not with a pointing finger, but with a humble hand reaching out.
We will look more at this verse in future articles because what Paul has to say is so vitally important yet so often ignored.
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