Labor for the Erring by F. M. W.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Mar 9, 1916

Labor for the Erring

By F. M. W.

“BRETHREN, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” Gal. 6: 1.

“Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.” Luke 17: 3, 4.

“Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. 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 a heathen man and a publican.” Matt. 18: 15-17.

The Scriptures of truth give plain and definite instruction as to the course to be pursued toward a brother who has fallen into sin. The one who undertakes such labor should determine first of all his own relationship to God. He should make sure that his own experience is clear, that his sins have been confessed and forgiven, that there is nothing in his life that can prove a stumblingblock to the one who has fallen under the power of temptation.

He should undertake the labor for his brother in a spirit of meekness, considering the weakness of human nature, and the natural inclination to sin which exists in his own heart when brought under the power of the tempter. He should go to

the offending brother in the spirit of forgiveness, both for any personal wrong which has been done him, and, as a representative of the church, for any wrong which may have been done the church.

The labor he puts forth should be direct and personal. He should not parade his brother’s faults before the church; he need not report to the church officers. The instruction is, “Go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone.” How many times has this command been violated! It is easier to tell another of our brother’s fault than to go to him alone. It is easier to report it to the church officers and place the burden upon them.

There is a growing tendency in the church to do missionary work by proxy. It is easier to pay the minister and the Bible worker to do missionary work than to do it ourselves. It is easier to send a representative to heathen lands than it is for us to forsake home and friends and undertake such service. This representative missionary work is necessary. Indeed, it exists in the order of God. It has ever been the purpose of the Lord that men should be set apart for his service, and that they should be supported by their brethren in their labors; but Heaven never designed that the spirit of representative missionary work should so dominate the experience of the believers that they would cease direct personal missionary effort.

We cannot commercialize the religion of Jesus Christ. It is right that we should give liberally and unsparingly of the money of which Heaven has made us the stewards. Indeed, if we are wholly consecrated to God, all that we have and possess will be placed upon his altar. But let us never come to feel that this phase of missionary work can take the place of direct, personal missionary effort which the Lord wishes us constantly to put forth for those within our reach. So we say again, that in seeking to help our brother who has fallen into error, our first effort should be not by proxy, but by direct, personal, face-to-face labor.

If this spirit of labor actuated every member of the church, how greatly it would revolutionize our church life! The tattlers and gossipers and scandal-mongers and grumblers and growlers would cease out of Israel. The faults of brethren would no longer be topics of conversation for little cliques and circles. At the family board more ennobling themes would absorb our interest.

Shall we not resolve by God’s grace to put out of our lives the cruel spirit of criticism which some of us have cherished? Shall we not determine that where differences exist between us and our brethren, we will go to them, and according to the instruction of the Word, seek reconciliation? And shall we not also resolve that if we see our brethren and sisters making mistakes, if we see them consciously or unconsciously pursuing a course of evil, even though their course in no wise affects us, in place of talking about it to others we will go to them directly and personally, and seek to reclaim them?

Failing in this personal effort, the Scriptures instruct us to take with us one or two others, and go again to our brother, and seek to reclaim him from the error of his way. We are not necessarily to call to our aid those who may see the question from our bias, but we are to seek the assistance of men who are spiritually minded, and see if as the result of united effort the erring brother may not be reached.

It is only after these united efforts, put forth perhaps not once, but many times, have failed, that the matter should be brought before the church, to see if the church by its united prayers and persuasions may not secure that which weaker effort has failed to accomplish.

When we realize that the soul of an erring brother, even though he has done us a great personal wrong, is as precious in the sight of God as the soul of the heathen, and when we are willing to put forth as earnest effort for the heathen at home as for the heathen abroad, we shall see miracles of divine grace wrought in bringing back to Christ those who have wandered from the path of his commandments.

Failing in its efforts to reclaim the one in error, the duty of the church is clearly indicated. It cannot fellowship evil. It cannot harbor in its membership those who by their lives bring discredit on the cause of Christ. By their own course of action they have virtually separated themselves from the church. It is incumbent upon the church to declare the fact of this separation.

“No church officer should advise, no committee should recommend, nor should any church vote, that the name of a wrong-doer shall be removed from the church books, until the instruction given by Christ has been faithfully followed. When this instruction has been followed, the church has cleared herself before God. The evil must then be made to appear as it is, and must be removed, that it may not become more and more widespread. The health and purity of the church must be preserved, that she may stand before God unsullied, clad in the robes of Christ’s righteousness.”—Testimonies for the Church, Vol. VII, pp. 262, 263.

But even after this action has been taken, the members of the church must still put forth effort to draw the erring one back to his Lord. Even as they labor for the heathen and the publican, so should they labor for this soul.

“If the erring one repents and submits to Christ’s discipline, he is to be given another trial. And even if he does not repent, even if he stands outside the church, God’s servants still have a work to do for him. They are to seek earnestly to win him to repentance. And however aggravated may have been his offense, if he yields to the striving of the Holy Spirit, and by confessing and forsaking his sin gives evidence of repentance, he is to be forgiven and welcomed to the fold again. His brethren are to encourage him in the right way, treating him as they would wish to be treated were they in his place, considering themselves, lest they also be tempted.”—Id., p. 263.

Let us seek to live in all good conscience before God and with our fellows. In this experience we shall find holy, uplifting power and satisfying peace and joy.

“Wouldst thou an erring soul redeem, And lead a lost one back to God? Wouldst thou a guardian angel seem To one who long in guilt has trod? Go kindly to him, take his hand, With gentle words, within thine own, And by his side a brother stand, Till thou the demon sin dethrone. “Scorn not the guilty, then, but plead With him in kindest, gentlest mood, And back the lost one thou mayst lead To God, humanity, and good, Thou art thyself but man, and thou Art weak, perchance to fall as he; Then mercy to the fallen show, That mercy may be shown to thee.”

F. M. W.