The aroma of my Door County Christmas Coffee scenting my sleep woke me up in fine fashion today. Now to begin
Way too often many people feel that their need to confide in others about family issues leads them to think that it is OK to tell everyone about everything another person does. The recipient of this information can't help but form an opinion on the person in question. Sometimes the information is embellished in order to receive attention. This is not fair to the recipient of the information as well as the person of interest. I find that this is most often violated by spouses. Yes people do need to confide in others and ask for prayer. But is every little detail necessary? No it is not. We all have our weird little quirks. But is it the business of others? No. I once watched a guy be humiliated in front of his coworkers because of something his wife blurted out at a dinner. He has never recovered from that one.
Christians are careful not to gossip, but not when it comes to their families or other Christians. We need to watch our mouths and only confide as needed to assist in bringing a brother or sister back from a path of sin. In Matthew 18 it is clearly stated to keep things between yourselves first, than one or two, before going to a broader group. And only to help a brother or sister repent! It is also our goal to let God judge and for us to forgive. People forget that part of Matthew 18
Dealing With Sin Matthew 18:15-35
15 “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.18 “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be[e] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
19 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.[i] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
I recently was asked to pray for a spouse of a friend. The story was being told in front of twelve others. I had to stop the request for prayer and ask that it be rephrased so as not to offer up too much private information. We prayed for this person and asked God to intervene on their behalf without needing to know all the details. Our hearts were right, God knew the situation and we prayed knowing that God would do what was right and within His will. The rest of the information was not needed.
Be careful to keep things private as needed. When prayer becomes gossip it is no prayer at all. And remember, some things are just not worth mentioning. Make sure you are right in God's eyes before correcting others.
Marty
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