11 But when Peter came to Antioch, I had to oppose him to his face, for what he did was very wrong. 12 When he first arrived, he ate with the Gentile believers, who were not circumcised. But afterward, when some friends of James came, Peter wouldn’t eat with the Gentiles anymore. He was afraid of criticism from these people who insisted on the necessity of circumcision. 13 As a result, other Jewish believers followed Peter’s hypocrisy, and even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 When I saw that they were not following the truth of the gospel message, I said to Peter in front of all the others, “Since you, a Jew by birth, have discarded the Jewish laws and are living like a Gentile, why are you now trying to make these Gentiles follow the Jewish traditions?” ~ Galatians 2:11-14NLT
Peter wasn’t perfect. He made mistakes and had to be corrected. Why? Because Peter was human, just like all of our leaders today. If you see a leader in sin, don’t curse them. Don’t get angry at them. Remember that all of us make mistakes, and everyone needs correction when we do, but make sure you correct with the Scripture as Paul did. Make sure you correct with love and not hatred. Make sure you are speaking from the Word of God and not from your own ideologies, traditions, or opinions. Yes, correction is good, but only if it is in line with the Word of God.
If you see one of our leaders in sin and you have no way to show them the error of their ways, that doesn’t mean they’re a lost cause, and you have to just destroy them online or any chance you get. You still have to lift them up in prayer. We’re to pray for our fellow believers when they make mistakes. We’re to pray for them to see the Truth. I heard this story of a pastor who would get up at night to pray so much that his wife rowed with him. You know what his response was? I have 8,000 people I must give an account for, and I know not the condition of their souls. If this is on the mind of our Church leaders, as it should be, on whose mind are the condition of the souls of our Church leaders?
We’re very quick to condemn, but very few of us put our money where our mouth is. We do a lot of talking and condemning but not a lot of action. How can we expect our leaders to be held to a standard that we don’t even hold ourselves to, especially if we don’t pray for them? No, no one is above correction, but no one is above needing prayer either.
Peace. Love. Go Forth and Lift Up Their Names.
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