Church Should Lovingly Bring Everyone into the Light

Second, the church meetings need to be as interactive and communal as possible (more on that in the next chapters) so that sins or blessings are not as easily hidden as they are in much of current church structure, which fosters superficial relationships.  Deep relationships take work and time.  Invest in them.

Third, however, is the need (especially for the leadership) to ask God for supernatural knowledge into the hearts of the people.  Jesus’ ministry was full of this as he discerned the level of faith or the specific objections of the different people who were surrounding Him.  Peter did this with Simon the (former) Magician in Acts.  Paul said he was with the Corinthians in his spirit, judging the sinning person from afar just as if he had been there (I Cor. 5).  Talk about not judging by appearances! 

Of course, the leaders shouldn’t “fake it” or go on fleshly witchhunts, but some sins will only come out in the open through the revelation of God—the sinning person is too downcast, too beaten, or too hardened to confess.  God has given several gifts to the church (words of knowledge, prophecy, maybe mercy) specifically for this task.  Try this thought experiment:  are there sins of your own that you would never tell anyone?  If so, God will be glad to share them with someone who loves you. 

Coming soon...Chapter 2:19:  How Sin Is Confronted is Essential to Church Health