Read through the Bible in 2 Years: 1 Corinthians 5-6

1 Corinthians 5 and 6 are each so short, I decided to stay here and read them together again, but this time I’m thinking about a new idea.

How should I handle someone who is regularly assembling with my church, but is living far from Jesus in their life?

1. Mourn for them heartily. Don’t be haughty or arrogant, thinking too highly of yourself. Take heed, lest you fall. (1 Corinthians 1:12) Remember, such were you. Their sin may look different from yours, but you have struggles, too. Grieve over the pain that their sin is bringing on their own heart, and grieve over the pain that their sin is bringing on the heart of Jesus. Mourn and weep and wail for them and for the Lord.

2. Go to them privately. Study Matthew 18, the whole chapter, verse by verse. God wants His lost sheep to be found, and He wants to use you to help do it. Be a good shepherd, like Jesus who came to seek and save what was lost (Luke 19:10). Go to them one-on-one and plead with them to turn away from their sin and follow Christ. If they refuse to listen to you, bring along a brother or sister to help you. Imagine that person were your son or daughter, your mom or dad, your brother or sister, and do your best to pull them out of the quicksand of sin into which they are sinking.

3. Remove them publicly. Consider the impact their sinful lifestyle is having on the other members of your church. Recognize the shame that someone living in unrepentant sin brings upon the Name of our Spotless Savior. A person can’t live like a pig while they claim to be a sheep, and we can’t stand idly by while the name of God is blasphemed because of a fellow member’s ongoing, habitual lifestyle of sin (Romans 2:24). For some people, as long as they are allowed to have both their sin and their fellowship with the body, they will continue on. We have to love them enough to be hurt, in the hopes that their “spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 5:5).

Heavenly Father, how my heart grieves for those who come to church each Sunday morning while living in unrepentant sin day after day. Please, Father, set the captives free. Loose the chains of those in slavery to sin. Rescue those who are sinking, drowning in a pit of their own making. Open the eyes of the blind. Remove the stoppers from the ears of the deaf. Father, empower Your sheep to be good shepherds. Give us a holy hunger to seek and save the lost, even those who sit next to us in the assembly of believers. May we treasure the Name of Christ and refuse to allow it to be blasphemed because of our own laziness and love of comfort. Wake us up, Lord! Wake us up! We need You, Holy Father. Revive us we pray in the Name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and our Lord. Amen.