The Amish Voice 5
stoned: but what sayest thou? —John
8:3-5
Dear friend, this woman was caught in the
very act
of adultery. And, oh did the power
hungry church leaders come alive. In fact,
they shouted for all to hear:
Moses com-
manded us to stone people like this!
By the way, I should point out that this
woman was most likely a member of the
Jewish synagogue. One thing is for sure, she
was considered by the leaders as one who
should be living under the law of Moses.
Let us now turn and see how the Lord Jesus
handled the mater.
…Jesus stooped down, and with his fn-
ger wrote on the ground, as though he
heard them not.
So when they contnued asking him, he
lifed up himself, and said unto them, he
that is without sin among you, let him
frst cast a stone at her. And again He
stooped down, and wrote on the
ground. And they which heard it, being
convicted by their own conscience, went
out one by one, beginning at the eldest,
even unto the last: and Jesus was lef
alone, and the woman standing in the
midst.
When Jesus had lifed up himself, and
saw none but the woman, he said unto
her, Woman, where are those thine ac-
cusers? hath no man condemned thee?
She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said
unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go,
and sin no more. —John 8:6-11
There are two things I would like to point
out about the actons that Jesus took in the
passage of Scripture we just read.
One
Jesus did not say, “woman, because of your
sinful behavior, I am going to ask the syna-
gogue to excommunicate and shun you for
six weeks. During that tme, we as members
are going to watch you very closely to see if
you are really serious about your sorrow
and repentant heart.
Two
Jesus did not condemn, or for that mater,
even queston her. What He did do is give
the sinning woman a
second chance
.
Aren’t you glad that we serve a God of se-
cond chances? But wait, our heavenly Fa-
ther, according to the next Scripture pas-
sage, is about giving the sinner who repents
many chances.
And if he trespass
against thee seven
tmes in a day, and
seven tmes in a day
turn again to thee,
saying, I repent; thou
shalt forgive him. —
Luke 17:4
Let’s say that you caught
a church member in the
very act of sinning a
great sin, similar to the one that we just
read about in John chapter 8. And let’s pre-
tend also that, at this point, no one else in
the church is aware of anything that hap-
pened. Just you and the sinning church
member are the only ones that know. What
should you do?
Should you run and tell it to the lead-
ers of the church?
Should you start gossiping all over the
neighborhood, letng everybody
know what so and so is into?
Should you forgive and tell no one
about what you just witnessed?
Let’s again consider the words of our Lord
Jesus, as He sets some clear guidelines con-
cerning these very questons.
Notce, there are three steps, that according
to Jesus, you should take in dealing with the
sinning church member.
*STEP 1+ Moreover if thy brother shall tres-
pass against thee, go and tell him his
fault between thee and him alone: if
he shall hear thee, thou hast gained
thy brother.
*STEP 2+ But if he will not hear thee, then
take with thee one or two more, that
in the mouth of two or three witness-
es every word may be established.
*STEP 3+ And if he shall neglect to hear
them, tell it unto the church:
but if he
neglect to hear the church, let him
be unto thee as an heathen man and
a publican.
—Mat 18:15-17
Wow! Could Jesus have made it any plainer
then that? Three very clear steps in dealing
with a sinning church member. Notce too,
it is not untl the last step in Jesus’ outline
that you take the sinful situaton to the
whole church. And if I understand Jesus
correctly, it is only then that the church ex-
communicates and shuns the unrepentant
sinner.
Let’s please ask ourselves another queston:
according to Jesus in Mathew 18, would
excommunicaton and shunning have been
necessary if the sinning member had repent-
ed on step 1? Step 2? How the about step 3?
The answer should be obvious, but just in
case it isn't, according to Jesus’ own words,
the sinner should not be excommunicated
and treated as an unbeliever untl all three
steps have been completed and the sinner
has stll not shown any sign of sorrow or
repentance. And, might I remind us all, it
never works to do *STEP TWO AND THREE+
before *STEP ONE+, such as happens in many
of the plain churches. Not only does it not
work, it is not how God intended it to be.
In ending, I would like to challenge us both
with two simple questons:
Is there a diference between man-
made rules and God-made rules? Or do
they, if broken, carry the same level of
punishment?
Is it ever, under any circumstance Bibli-
cal to excommunicate and shun mem-
bers for breaking a man-made rule?
————End of Artcle————
Writen by Joe Keim for the Amish Voice