Issues And Love
As preachers, we have all heard the story of the minister who said something wrong in the sermon on Sunday, and on Monday was fired. Not sure I met someone in which this happened, but the story is told over and over again. This is an example of the Issue and Love chart. On the vertical line you have issues, and on the horizontal line you have love. Some churches are high on the issues, if there is a issue, the only dynamic involved in processing the problem is over being right or wrong. A church that would kick out a member, or fire the preacher, or split over some issue within the eldership are high on the issue line. It is all about the issue, with love not having much of a say. On the other hand, a church that is like Corinth will put up with anything like having a brother sleeping with his step mother. The church is just going to love them through it. But never takes a stand on the issue. Both of these lines can be out of balance. In all areas there is this balance between love and holiness. You can be holy, and totally removed from the issue, or you can be loving and too soft on the issue. This is where tension comes into the dynamic. You can be right, but how do you handle the issue. Yes, the preacher was wrong, but is it loving to totally upset his family, destroy his money situation, and scar his children. Or the man who preachers false doctrine, or is living in sin, and the church never does anything about it because of loving him. The church is destroyed and hurt. This is where godly leaders come in. Sometimes people just see one side of the chart. It is all issues or all love.
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About The Author
Matthew,
I know of a situation in which a church faced this tension when two members who were both married began an affair with each other. The leadership clearly told these members that their behavior was immoral and unbecoming of a disciple of Christ but tried showing some loving patience with the members in hopes that it would lead to repentance and reconciliation in their own marriages. How much patience do you show someone in the church saying/doing wrong in hopes that the individual(s) repents before you treat the problem like a cancer to the body of Christ? I don’t know. Tough call. I have another story in which I begged the church to be patient with a member who was involved in some blatant sin. In that case, the church listened to me and that person eventually came to repentance.
There is no crystal ball for issues like these.
Grace and Peace,
Rex
Just clear up this a little. There is a not a separation between love and truth. These are not opposed to each other. You can be all truth, and completely loving, at the same time.