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Established in September of 2001, we are a growing Christian family in the area south of Lake Travis. Come, be a part of the Lord's work!

..a thought from Dan Hardin

Go to Your Brother

It has been said that gossip is the vice of Christians. The church is our family and its members our associates. When we have something to tell we tell our associates. Sharing with brothers and sisters in Christ is a wonderful thing unless the thing we want to share is about a third party -- then sharing becomes gossip.

If we see a brother doing something that is wrong, we should go to him, privately, and reprove him. Even at this point we must be very careful. (Matthew 7:3-5) "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."

Only when we are sure that we have all of the logs out of our own eyes should we approach our brother. We should do this in private, explaining our perception and doing our best to help him. Even then we should be gentle and loving. (Galatians 6:1) "Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted."

This plan for humble reproof is very important for Christians. Such behavior demands self-discipline. Our natural inclination (Satan in us) is to gossip about our brother's sin. Gossiping fulfills our need to tell and also our need for notice and confirmation. Telling of another's sin places us "in the know," and raises us up a little since we seem to be good in the light of the other's sin.

Also, telling a third party of a brother's sin seems safe -- we do not have to face the sinner directly. The problem is that gossip itself is a sin. When we tell the third party we become the sinner and our brother is not helped. If we follow God's plan we do not sin, our brother may be helped, or we may discover that we were wrong about his sin.

The last possibility is important. When I tell a third party I may be passing on an untruth. Passing on, so called, reliable information may make us liable.