The Self-Destructing Church

Good morning,

This morning, I don't want to leave the previous passage in 1 Peter 4 without more closely examining verses 8 and 9.  Here they are:

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

(NIV)

The theme of Christians loving each other deeply resounds throughout the New Testament.  It is second only to loving God with all our hearts, souls and minds, which is "the first and greatest commandment" (Matthew 22:37-38).

Here, in verse 8, Peter is reminding the Body to love each other fervently because doing so will "cover many sins".  Now, whatever does that mean?  Does it mean that we should excuse each other's sins, ignore them, allow them?  That doesn't sound right, and it isn't.  Instead, we should hold each other accountable for our attitudes and actions.  Look at what Jesus said along this line in Luke 17:3 - - -

So watch yourselves!  If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them.

(NIV)

This parallel verse makes it plain that "loving each other deeply" does not mean that we are to overlook each other's sins.  The loving must at times be what Dr. James Dobson called, "tough love". Tough love begins by praying diligently for those we love, confessing our own sins and then following the Spirit's leading in our interactions with our fellow believers.

Sometimes, rebuking is necessary so that repentance and the other steps leading to restored fellowship can occur.  At other times, the most loving thing we can do it to confess our own sins to fellow believers we have wronged.  That's what I meant about confessing our own sins, first to God and then to those we have wronged, whether intentionally or not. Sometimes we are the problem, not our brothers and sisters!  In those cases, the most loving thing we can do is to make things right by getting our hearts and relationships right.  Oh, how we want to skip this step (and sadly, often do.)

Don't be fooled into believing "Well, it's just a little thing that I did wrong."  That is a devilish deception.  Churches have been destroyed over "the little things" remaining unconfessed, unforgiven.

To follow as the Spirit leads, does not mean going off "half-cocked".  Do you know the origin of that expression?  It refers to a rifle or shotgun that had to be "cocked" in order to fire properly.  If the gun was only "half-cocked", it would backfire and severely injure or kill the one firing it.  Dangerous! Prayer, confession, repentance, rebuke, forgiveness, restoration - - - all of these steps are interdependent and are necessary on the pathway to peace.

As this world continues to slide further and further into depravity, as persecutions increase, we Christians must resist the temptation to "turn" on one another, which is the carnal, fleshly, "natural" response.  Paul, in Galatians 5:15 cautions this behavior will lead to "devouring one another".  The early Church had already discovered that one of Satan's most powerful tools is to stir up problems within the Body of Christ. He is still very successful with this tool today.  (Just ask any minister or minister's wife!) Unresolved, these types of "issues" will fracture local churches, drive ministers from the ministry, drive the lost from salvation.  It's a BIG problem.

What is the answer?  Love, manifested as confession, rebuke, repentance and most importantly, forgiveness.
A lack of forgiveness leads to bitterness, a stubborn root in one's spirit that, as Ike Reighard used to say, is "a poison you drink yourself".

In the final stages of this process, it is forgiveness that covers a multitude of sins. When we in the Body forgive one another and restore one another to fellowship, demonstrating the same kind of love God showed to us, we can then go on to fulfill the commission given in verse 9 and in those verses following.  True forgiveness will "put the quietus on" (suppress, eliminate) the highly divisive elements of gossiping and grumbling.

Lord Jesus, the forgiveness You purchased for me is 100% complete.  In a similar manner, I am called upon as Your representative to love, without keeping score.  It is only through the miraculous power of Your Holy Spirit that this is possible.  Empower Your people, Lord, in these troubling days, to show we are Christians by the love we have for one another.  In Jesus' name, amen.