“If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it
off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled
than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.” Matthew
18:8
In this passage Jesus is talking about things and people who cause others to
stumble. It seems odd for someone to say that you should cut off your hand if
it causes you to stumble but let's look at this passage a little more in depth.
Speaking from a teacher's perspective this passage is very scary. In verse 6 it
talks about if anyone should cause children to stumble it is better for a
millstone to be hung around their neck and be drowned. That seems like a pretty
severe punishment to us, but is it really?
Last week we talked about good leaders and how we need to keep our leaders accountable. The people that you follow: are they free from sin? No, no one is free from sin but we can repent. In order to repent one must ask for forgiveness and stop committing the sin. However, there are those who know they are sinning and yet continue to stay in their sin. Worse still, some of those people lead others into the same sin!
Last week we talked about good leaders and how we need to keep our leaders accountable. The people that you follow: are they free from sin? No, no one is free from sin but we can repent. In order to repent one must ask for forgiveness and stop committing the sin. However, there are those who know they are sinning and yet continue to stay in their sin. Worse still, some of those people lead others into the same sin!
Isaiah 59:2 says: "But your iniquities have made a separation between you
and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not
hear." God cannot look upon sin because he is holy. That's why when Adam
and Eve sinned they had to leave the Garden and God's presence. That's why God
could not look at Jesus when he died on the cross because Jesus took our sins
upon him.
This verse isn't literally talking about cutting off our hand. It's talking about distancing ourselves from people who don't repent. People who do not repent are going to harm the body of Christ by causing others in the body to stumble (1 Cor.12.12-31).
Now, this is where it gets tricky. Kicking a sinner out of the church doesn't work because then everyone will be kicked out since we are all sinners. Keeping the person in the church in certain roles doesn't work because he/she could influence others to sin. There needs to be some grace and there needs to be some truth and Jesus gives us the answer to this problem in the same chapter.
In Matthew 18:15-19 Jesus talks about dealing with sin in the church. First we are to talk with the person who sinned about their sin. If they don't listen then we take one or two others along to talk to the person again. Finally, we are to take it to the church. If he/she still doesn't listen then we are to treat them like a pagan.
What does this mean for us? It means we need to be careful that sin doesn't enter our lives. I want to be in the body of Christ and I hope you do too. I don't want any sin holding me back from being more like Christ and helping him spread his kingdom. It also means we need to hold one another accountable. If we see someone sinning we need to talk to that person about it in a kind way, not in a I'm better than you way. We are to care for each other that way we all will grow in Christ and help the body grow as well.
So, will you check to make sure there is no sin in your life? Will you help keep others accountable? What can you do to grow in God today?
This verse isn't literally talking about cutting off our hand. It's talking about distancing ourselves from people who don't repent. People who do not repent are going to harm the body of Christ by causing others in the body to stumble (1 Cor.12.12-31).
Now, this is where it gets tricky. Kicking a sinner out of the church doesn't work because then everyone will be kicked out since we are all sinners. Keeping the person in the church in certain roles doesn't work because he/she could influence others to sin. There needs to be some grace and there needs to be some truth and Jesus gives us the answer to this problem in the same chapter.
In Matthew 18:15-19 Jesus talks about dealing with sin in the church. First we are to talk with the person who sinned about their sin. If they don't listen then we take one or two others along to talk to the person again. Finally, we are to take it to the church. If he/she still doesn't listen then we are to treat them like a pagan.
What does this mean for us? It means we need to be careful that sin doesn't enter our lives. I want to be in the body of Christ and I hope you do too. I don't want any sin holding me back from being more like Christ and helping him spread his kingdom. It also means we need to hold one another accountable. If we see someone sinning we need to talk to that person about it in a kind way, not in a I'm better than you way. We are to care for each other that way we all will grow in Christ and help the body grow as well.
So, will you check to make sure there is no sin in your life? Will you help keep others accountable? What can you do to grow in God today?
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