Warn One Another

Well no doubt you've been seeing around here for several months now warning signs with our construction project. Don't go beyond this door, don't enter this area, caution tape this morning over the new part of the the front of the church and those warning signs are really for your benefit. If you were to open for instance the doorway at the end of this hallway there is no staircase there anymore. That would be a bad thing. And so that's changed clothes when I even put in a warning there that's changed clothes but the warnings are for your benefit. Warnings in life are to guide us, to correct us, to keep us from things that will harm us in 1912 when the Titanic sank. The telegraph operators ignored repeated warnings that they were going quickly into an ice field because the telegraph operators were busy talking to the people on shore at Cape Race about all the chauffeurs that needed to be lined up to cart their people to where they were going to go. The sumptuous meals that were to be served when they got there. And finally one telegraph operator in desperation preoccupied with all that trivia. Shot back a reply to a ship that was nearby trying to warn them and said, shut up I'm talking to Cape Race you're jamming my signals. More recently in 1986 the worst nuclear disaster that we've ever seen in this world occurred in the Soviet Union in a place that is now called Ukraine in Chernobyl. That night there was an unauthorized test that came not later that was being conducted by two engineers. They were trying to see how long the reactors would freewheel after the power was cut down. And that's a very dangerous thing to do as I understand with a nuclear reactor to reduce the power and cut off the power. In fact they had to override six computers to get that far. One by one the computers were coming up and saying stop dangerous go no further and one by one rather than shutting down the experiment they shut off the alarms and kept going. And you know the result. An explosion, fire that released nuclear material that spread in radiation levels that were measurable around the world that ended up causing the relocation of over 300,000 people in Ukraine to get out of heavily radiated areas that caused numerous deaths because warnings were ignored. We're in a series on the one another's of the New Testament and we're finding that God tells us as we relate to one another in the body of Christ we have some responsibilities for each other and most of those that we've talked about include you one Kevin preached about last week love one another our very positive and those are the kind of things we know we should do and want to do but today we're going to deal with a difficult one and that's what the Bible says about warning one another. We've been tracing these as they occur chronologically or sequentially I should say in Paul's epistles and so the one for today we find in Romans chapter 15. You don't have your place there find your place in Romans chapter 15 verse 14 where we find Paul say this Romans 15 verse 14 I myself am convinced my brothers that you yourselves are full of goodness complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another you say where's the word warn well we'll get to that in a moment it's actually the word instruct which is translated several different ways but probably with the idea of warning this is the most difficult or at least one of the most difficult of the one another's difficult to do it's difficult to do properly and it's difficult to receive but it can be one of the most needed and one of the most rewarding of the one another's if it is done properly if done correctly this most difficult one another can actually be a life saver and you may be responsible for protecting someone for saving their lives from disaster if you correctly lovingly humbly patiently warn one another what is the Bible talking about what does Paul mean when he says to warn one another what does it like to do that in the right spirit with the right motives by the appropriate method to be a life saver to be a blessing to someone else what does it mean to warn one another well we've got to begin with the meaning of warning one another what does it mean what is Paul talking about when he says warn one another let's start with the meaning of the word that Paul uses here the word is translated as you can see here in the n.i.v. with the word in strut the King James version in the New America standard version have the word admonish the English standard version and the New English translation both use the word in strut as the n.i.v. does which is it admonish or in strut it's both both ideas are in the meaning of the word certainly however it is rendered in our English versions it is much more than casual conversation it always means a definite exhortation of correction yes of warning what to give you a flavor for how the same word is translated different ways in the New Testament to kind of give you a full or view of its meaning and the ideas that are packed into this word we're gonna see some verses on the screen first of all Acts 20 verse 31 where Paul says so be on your guard remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears Paul is speaking to a group of pastors from Ephesus who've come out to meeting as he's journeying through the area and he says I want to remind you don't forget I warned you for three years and in the context he was warning them about false teachers that might arise to the power of the flock some of them may be even coming from within and so he said I'm warning you clearly the word is used in the idea of warning here first Corinthians 4 14 Paul says to the Corinthian church I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children he has just been talking with them about the divisions in the church and the folly of lifting up one preacher above another saying I'm I like a Paulist or I like Peter I like Paul no no Paul says I want to warn you about those kind of divisions again the idea is correction or warning here Colossians 128 Paul uses the word again he is the one we proclaim speaking of Christ admonishing that's our word admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ here the idea is more instructing admonishing instructing with a warning context to it and also teaching people how to be mature in Christ in first Thessalonians chapter five Paul tells the church at Thessalonica now we ask you brothers and sisters to acknowledge those who work hard among you who care for you and the Lord and who admonish you those who publicly minister the word and part of that is admonishing it has the idea of warning yes correcting yes instructing yes and then he uses the same word a couple verses down in verse 14 when he says and we urge you brothers and sisters warn those who are idle and disruptive encourage this heart and health the week be patient with everyone warn those who are idle clearly the idea of a warning here correcting someone who's headed down the wrong path and then Paul uses the word again in the second letter to the Thessalonians in chapter three in verse 15 when he says yet do not regard them as an enemy but warn them talking about people who disrupt the fellowship and who do not live according to the teachings that Paul was giving them warn them as you would a fellow believer so you see the word has all these ideas correcting someone instructing someone warning someone so what Paul is talking about when he uses this word in these different contexts is he's talking about instruction teaching yes but teaching done in the form of a warning so that you correct wrong thinking or wrong behavior or that you prevent wrong thinking or wrong behavior so yes it is teaching it is instruction but it is done so in a warning kind of way that corrects wrong thinking and behavior or prevents wrong thinking and behavior that's what Paul's talking about when he says warn one another now because of the context that we find this in in Romans and we've we've recently been through the book of Romans you may remember chapter 14 and 15 dealing with debatable issues or issues of Christian liberty and Paul talks a lot about judging one another not judging one another about those issues so we're to understand what he's saying here when he'd understand the difference between warning and judging there is a difference there's a great difference between warning someone and judging on the surface it may sound like Paul is contradicting what he has just said for chapter and a half don't judge each other over debatable issues now warn each other may sound like a contradiction but there's a great difference in those two judging someone is always negative warning is positive judging is basically to tear someone else down and make yourself look better warning is to help someone else to keep them from something which would damage their lives warning is discerning and caring judging is critical warning has the other person's interest at heart judging doesn't judging just wants to make the other person look bad so that you look better this is a great difference between warning someone and judging someone what Paul is telling us to do is to be careful to instruct each other warning each other of ways of thinking or behaving that will be detrimental to our growth in Christ and to our spiritual maturity and thus warning against that thinking or that behavior that's what Paul's talking about warning one another okay John you say if I'm supposed to do that how am I supposed to do it Paul gives us in this verse to requirements for warning one another notice what they are look back at verse 14 two requirements what made them competent Paul says you are competent to instruct or warn one another what made them that way what he says in verse 14 I myself am convinced my brothers that you yourselves are here's the first one full of goodness full of goodness Paul was confident that these people in Rome were spiritually minded that they were concerned about growing themselves in Christ they lived righteous lives they were concerned about living godly and holy life in other words they were watching themselves they themselves were wanting to be Christ like and it is it is out of that kind of a hard and lifestyle that then they were competent they were qualified to warn somebody else I'm convinced that Paul was confident that these Roman believers would do exactly as Jesus had instructed his followers and the sermon on the mountain when he said these words in Matthew chapter seven look at them on the screen Jesus said why do you look at the spec 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 spec out of your eye when all the time there is a plank if you before in your own eye you hypocrite first take the plank out of your own eye and then you will see clearly to remove the spec from your brother's eye Jesus was saying this to his followers and Paul is assuming confident of the fact that the Roman believers are first of all dealing with the planks in their own life that they're concerned about living godly holy Christ honoring lives and thus are competent qualified ready to then warn about the spec in their brother's eye full of goodness but the second requirement that Paul gives us is to be complete in knowledge you see it there in verse 14 I've convinced my brothers that yourselves are full of goodness complete in knowledge what does it mean to be complete in knowledge well have you ever seen the the warning labels on things that you buy the ever take the time to look at those sometimes when I look at warning labels on things I buy I wonder who writes these things I mean does this person have any knowledge at all in this warning there is a group actually in Michigan that every year holds a contest called the wacky warning labels contest and they get all kinds of entries of warning labels here are a few of them a warning sticker on a small tractor that said danger avoid death well that's a good one here was one found on an iron on t-shirt transfer do not iron while wearing shirt listen to this one on a baby stroller that featured a small storage pouch do not put child in bag this one on a duraflame fireplace log okay have a picture of duraflame fireplace log caution risk of fire this one on a Batman costume a Batman costume says warning cape does not enable user to fly this one they found on a bottle of hair coloring do not use as an ice cream topping who writes these things ice cream topic this one cardboard sun shield for a car do not drive with some shield in place here's another one on a stroller on a portable stroller this this morning a spent caution remove infant before folding for storage wow and here was one that came up on a computer screen keyboard not detected hit any key to continue who writes those things somebody without any knowledge without any brain evidently now here's what Paul is talking about when he says you've got to be complete in knowledge before you give a warning he's not saying that you need to have all knowledge that you need to know everything before you warn someone he is saying that you need a well-rounded adequate knowledge of the word of God before you take it upon yourself to start instructing and warning others and here's the reason why if you don't warn scripturally if your warnings are not biblical they will tend to come out of your own personal preferences and out of your own background and really are not the kind of biblical warnings with teeth in them that mature people in Christ and so make sure that you have at least a well-rounded adequate knowledge of the Bible you're growing in your knowledge of the word of God for instance the Bible never says that you should not have a TV the Bible never says that you should not listen to secular music the Bible does talk about not letting any impurity in your mind and so if you're going to have a television which I do if you're going to listen to some secular music which I do let it snow let it snow let it snow you know the things like that if you're going to listen to some then make sure that you're not putting in your mind things that will cause you to become molded in the image of the world that's what Paul says in Romans 12 too don't let yourself be poured into the mold of the world speaking but to be transformed change from the inside out by the renewing of your mind and then Paul gives this whole list of things that we ought to be thinking about in Philippians 4.8 things that are just that are righteous that are that are a good report that are morally pure think on these things he says any collotions 2.8 he says don't let your mind don't let your mind be deceived by hollow empty philosophies of this world so there are some warnings like that about what I allow into my mind so make sure when you want you have enough knowledge of the Bible to know what's a personal preference what's just maybe your own personal conviction even and what really is biblical but I think there's more here than just that being complete in knowledge does mean you need to have discernment as to what really is biblical and what is not before you warn someone but it also means that you need discernment as to whether or not the warning is needed or whether or not you ought to just let it go when to warn when to instruct when to correct and when to just let it go because there are some people who are professional correctors they like to correct everybody about everything and there are some times when the Bible says we ought to let it go this is so beautifully phrase in a couple of verses in Proverbs 26 look at these verses Proverbs 26 verses 4 and 5 they're on the screen for you do not answer a fool according to his folly or you yourself will be just like him answer a fool according to his folly or he will be wise and he's own eyes now my first impression when I read those two verses is what what is that all about that sounds like a contradiction don't answer a fool do answer a fool don't answer him or you'll be disliking do answer him or he'll be wise in his own eyes what am I supposed to do well what the writer of Proverbs is so concisely saying is there are times to warn and instruct and correct and there are times just not say anything and it takes a biblical discernment being complete or mature in knowledge to know the difference and actually he gives a clue in those two verses as to when you should warn and when you shouldn't notice he was saying don't warn or answer a fool according to his folly in other words don't get involved in a think on match with someone who's just giving foolish arguments and you're just going back and forth or you lower yourself to the level of the fool and you know what he's talking about there sometimes you're drawn into an argument where the issue is not really a serious issue it's a real no consequence it's not really of any importance the other person is just making a point to hear himself talk she's not really open to correction you're just being drawn into an endless string of answer answer back argument answer back counter argument argument okay nobody's going to listen to anybody nobody's making any progress is foolish to be drawn into that you lower yourself to the level of a fool to be drawn into that however if this person who is speaking foolishly or using foolish arguments if they are open to correction if you sense that they have a genuine heart that is open to correction if it is an area of real importance and either the fool himself or people listening to him or her will be confirmed in their foolish thinking if the folly is not answered the answer it doesn't mean you have to get drawn into the ping pong argument back and forth and back and forth but answer it and then go on it it takes biblical discernment it takes well-rounded complete mature knowledge of the word discernment to know when you do one when you do the other I think an old golf pro by the name of Mari had it right he kind of understood this so God been around the blocks a few times he was a golf pro at a local golf club not here but in another part of the country and he was on the tee one day was supposed to have a meeting at a time with a well-known businessman in the area well to do influential man in the community who was coming for golf lessons Mari watched him swing a few times and then started making some suggestions about how to correct his swing and every time he would start to make a suggestion the businessman would interrupt him with his own idea of what he was doing wrong and how it should be corrected after about four or five of those Mari just got kind of quiet started nodding that everything the man said after the half hour lesson was over the businessman thanked him for his wonderful knowledge how much he had helped him gave him his fee and walked off obviously a very satisfied man there was another guy on the practice range that day a couple of teas over who was kind of watching that whole thing and he walked over to the golf pro Mari and he said why did you go along with that and Mari said son I learned a long time ago that it's a waste of time to sell answers to a man who wants to buy echoes it's a waste of time to try to sell answers to a man who wants to buy echoes see you need discernment as to when a person is wanting to learn open to correction willing to be warned and when a person is just wanting to hear their own ideas bounced back in one case you warn in the other case you don't lower yourself to the level of the fool that's what being complete in knowledge involves discernment even to know when to warn when to correct and when not to okay John the Bible says I'm supposed to warn my brother my sister in Christ I realize that I need to first of all be concerned about the plank in my own eye and be concerned that I'm growing in Christ and the touring in him before I start correcting everybody else and I also realize that it takes discernment sometimes especially discernment of the word but also discernment as to what's the appropriate time and weight okay got that now what do I do how do I go about how do I start warning correcting others in Christ Paul gives us in his epistles five guidelines for warning one another number one here it is warning one another should be motivated by love it should be motivated by love the verse we saw earlier in Acts 20 verse 31 look at it again we're we're camped in Roman sport the 15 so we're going to show these other verses on the screen so we don't take time to turn so much so beyond your guard Paul says in Acts chapter 20 remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you listen to this night and day with tears with tears okay Paul's warnings showed his heart it showed deep concern there's no question no possibility of mistaking this for judgment Paul was warning them with tears out of a deep concern out of a pastor's heart himself for these fellow shepherds and their responsibility of leading the flock in epithels and his heart is in this there is no effort here to put anybody down there's no effort for Paul to show how smart he is or better than anybody else that's not any part at all he has a concern for these people it's truly motivated by love and notice what he told the Corinthians we looked at this verse earlier but look at it again first Corinthians 414 he says when I'm instructing you and warning you about church divisions I'm writing this not to shame you but to warn you as dear children the purpose of warning is not to embarrass someone it's not to shame someone even if they're guilty the Corinthians were guilty but Paul said I'm not trying to shame you I'm not trying to embarrass you I'm warning you as a father would his dear children that's a loving warning a compassionate warning with your interest at heart to not embarrass someone do not shame someone means you pick the right time the right place the object is not put down the object is not shaming someone the object is not insulting someone it's not the object the object is to love them into a path that will mature them in Christ. Ken Sandi is the director of peacemakers ministries peacemaker ministries is a a ministry that goes all over the world working with churches and other Christian organizations that are in crisis often because there's been some kind of division or disruption in that organization or that church. Ken Sandi wrote a book a few years ago entitled resolving everyday conflict and in that book he tells this story I'm going to read it because he tells it so well he says one day during my morning run I noticed a blind woman walking on the other side of the street with her seeing eye dog a beautiful golden retriever as I was about to pass them I noticed a car blocking the driveway a few paces ahead of them at that moment the dog paused and gently pressed his shoulder against the woman's leg signaling her to turn side so they could get around the car I'm sure she normally followed his lead but that day she didn't seem to trusting she had probably walked this route many times before and knew that this was not the normal place to make a turn whatever the calls she wouldn't move to the side and instead gave him the signal to move ahead he again pressed his shoulder against her leg trying to guide her on a safe path she angrily ordered the dog to go forward when he again declined her temper flared. Sandi writes I was about to speak up when the dog once more put his shoulder gently against her leg sure enough she kicked him and then she infallibly stepped forward and bumped square into the car reaching out to feel the shape in front of her she immediately realized what had happened dropping to her knees she threw her arms around the dog and spoke sobbing words into his ear the dog was loving his master enough to warn her this path is dangerous this path will harm you and she wouldn't listen warning's correction must always be motivated by love and when warnings are given in love they should be received in that same spirit warning should always be motivated by love the second guideline Paul gives us about warning one another is that warnings should be personal warning one another should be personal look at this verse in first that's one is two eleven we haven't looked at it yet but it's another verse that uses the same word Paul says for you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children he's talked about working with the the Thessalonian believers he's talked about warning them and he says we did this with each of you individually with each of you as a father deals with his own children now there is a place for general warnings there's a place for public warning there's a place for that when there is a public awareness or a public sin or a public direction that is wrong there's a place for public warnings remember that in the book of Galatians Paul warned Peter publicly about doing the wrong thing because he was influencing a lot of other people it was a public wrong and so it was warned against publicly but when there is an individual that you're concerned about do that individually it can be a cop out to use a public setting for what should be a personal warning it's a cop out to use the pulpit to do that by the way when someone needs to be confronted personally to do it in a public way it's cop out it's cop out to use a prayer meeting to share a prayer request that is really intended to straighten someone else out or show where they're wrong that's cop out that's not appropriate it is not appropriate to deal with a personal issue through public hints about someone else well he well she that's inappropriate correction warning should be personal third guideline Paul gives is it should be persistent it should be persistent notice again verse we've looked at a couple of times act 20 verse 31 Paul says so be on your guard against speaking to those Ephesian pastors remember now notice these next words that for three years three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day you get the idea of Paul was persistent about this this was something that was heavy on his heart he did it for three years he did it not stopping and he did it night and day and this was a persistent kind of thing it's clear that this was not just a brief encounter where Paul unloaded these frustrations and he was done or where Paul got it off his chest and that's it now you know how I feel no no this was an ongoing concern where he persistently day and night over a period of three years did not stop warning them now I realize I need to be careful with that and you need to be careful with that too especially those who may feel like that warning and correcting everybody is my spiritual gift and so I'm going to be the professional warner I'm going to be the one that corrects everybody don't go over the top with this you can go over the top with warnings be persistent but remember in the context of the other guidelines I am really intrigued and amused by television ads for medications have you ever noticed I watch the weather channel a lot it's exciting to me the older I get the weather channel just thrills my heart you know it's just exciting stuff I mean every 10 minutes to come on with a local forecast and I'm thinking wow again wow this is cool you know so I'll watch the weather channel quite a bit and another weather channel they do all kind I guess they're targeting seniors you know people who can't remember that they just had a local forecast 10 minutes ago you know so they're throwing out all these kinds of medications and the ads for them are absolutely hilarious I'm going to give you kind of an example so you get a feel for what kind of a you you know what I'm talking about this is not a real medication but you know that you know the tone that comes on take acme sleep aid to help you rest better at night and then while pictures of people who are sleeping peacefully with happy smiles on their faces and waking up with great joy and vigor in the morning flash across your screen in a lower more mellow and quicker voice you get all the warnings 75% of patients on this medication develop liver cancer this medication is not recommended for people with a healthy heart as it will cause a heart attack most individuals will experience a major stroke if used more than one night please seek medical attention if you experience blindness after taking this medication do not take this medication if your kidneys are healthy as it will lead to kidney failure please be aware that 97 percent of patients have experienced total paralysis within 15 minutes of taking this medication acme sleep aid sure to help you experience a long long sleep I listen to those kind of ads and I just the hilarious I'm thinking who would ever want to take this medicine after hearing all of that wail with the top with the warnings and I understand the need for all the warnings all the lawsuits and that kind of thing today so you got to paint worst case scenarios but way over the top sometimes the warning makes the cure sound worse than the disease and there are some people who take it upon themselves to warn other believers that way you know you can do that in such a way that you're creating more problems than you're helping the cures worse than the disease so please be careful with this point of being persistent in warning because I know that there's a tendency because of personality for some of us to think oh here's the green light for me to be Johnston chapel's spiritual gifted warner be careful do this persistently but in the context of being motivated by love personally and the other guidelines as well here's guideline number four that Paul gives us warning one another should be for the proper reason it should be for the proper reason look again at the verses and collagens one twenty eight twenty nine where Paul gives us the reason why warnings are necessary he says he Christ is the one we proclaim at monitoring there's our word and teaching everyone with all wisdom so that here's the reason there's the purpose so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ and he goes on to say that's my goal verse 29 to this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me in other words this is what the reason is for warning people and that is this one objective to help others become more mature in Christ to help them grow spiritually a warning is not to prove my point a warning is not to show up the other person a warning is not to angrily blast someone else a warning is to lovingly humbly graciously help them grow in Christ and if it's not done for that reason it's for the wrong reason for the wrong reason so that that behooves us all to check our hearts and to guard our hearts to make sure that our motives the reason why we would go to someone and correct or warn or instruct is for their spiritual growth that means I'm going to be examining my heart all the time and that's exactly what Paul says when he's talking about warning other Christians or correcting other Christians when they fall into sin look at this verse in the lation 6-1 Paul talks about that he says brothers and sisters if someone is caught in a sin you who live by the spirit okay there again is the desire to make sure you're full of goodness walking with the Lord you who live by the spirit should restore that person here's the idea of warning correction instruction restore that person gently now notice the next words but watch yourselves or you also may be tempted any warning that is done for pure personal benefit of the just the satisfaction of having put someone in their place is inappropriate out of line vitically the Bible says it should be for the proper reason with a sincere desire in your heart to help that other person grow in Christ and then here's the fifth guideline warning one or another should be both preventive and corrective now what we've talked about thus far what we typically think about most of the time is the corrective side I see someone going down a wrong path maybe thinking a wrong direction and I move into warned them to correct them to bring them back but there is such a thing as building a fence at the top of the cliff rather than a hospital at the bottom there's such a thing as keeping people from going over the cliff rather than just fixing them up when they hit bottom so so correction instruction warning should also be proactive it should be preventive notice this verse in Colossians 3 16 because in other use of the word that we haven't looked at yet let the message of Christ the word of Christ the message about Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and here it is admonish one another now notice how he says we warn and struck correct one another we do it with all wisdom and we can do it through Psalms hymns and songs from the spirit singing to God with gratitude in your hearts have you ever recognized that even singing with gratitude in your heart can be a way of correcting and instructing one another and maybe preventing preventing some course of action how many times have you been singing something and you realize that it serves by the spirit of God to put a check on the way you've been thinking or the way you've been headed that's a preventive type thing and letting the word of Christ dwell in you richly is a prevention against wrong behavior wrong thinking and so warnings should not only be corrective but also preventive you see we do have a responsibility for our brothers and sisters in Christ we do have a responsibility for one another and sometimes that responsibility for one another includes correction warning instruction have you ever had a friend or a family member that began to show signs of illness and you said nothing and later regretted it here had a friend or a family member who showed signs of deep emotional pain and you said nothing and later regretted it you ever had a friend or a family member who showed signs of financial mismanagement just a little clue here and there and you said nothing and later regretted it you ever had a friend or a family member that started straining a bit spiritually should some signs of spiritual wandering commitment level not where it used to be just a lack of interest seemingly in the things of God and you said nothing and later regretted it did you think of someone as I ask those questions did someone come to mind maybe you need to think in terms of approaching that person to warn please please be careful are you competent to do that or you can start in first of all about your own life and walk with God and growing in Christ full of goodness are you discerning to know how to approach them biblically and whether or not there is a need or whether it's something that should be let go are you discerning full of knowledge complete in knowledge and will you commit to doing it in a biblical way the right way as Paul has instructed us if so then do it don't hold back warn correct and struck you may be a lifesaver for that individual let's pray together