Intervention

“As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear” (1Tim 5:20).

So what happens when a church leader makes headlines for all the wrong reasons? What? Don’t think it could ever happen at YOUR church? Oh, you can keep skipping down the primrose path if you want. If that’s you, please tell the unicorns and leprechauns I said “hey.” But you know the truth. Church scandals happen WAY too often. And it could happen here.

Well, I have some very good news about some very bad news. The Apostle Paul has some important instructions for crisis management in the local church. His guidance isn’t some “break glass in an emergency” kinda deal. It’s for us to know ahead of time. 

Understand what to do before disaster strikes. “As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear” (v20). When an elder makes sin a conscious and regular part of his lifestyle, it’s time for an intervention. For the good of the leader. For the good of the church.

You know all about interventions, don’t you? That’s when a person participates in self-destructive behavior but doesn’t have a clue the damage they’re doing. To themselves. To the people they love. 

At some point, folks draw a line in the sand. It’s time for a face-to-face meeting. It’s time to get all the cards on the table. It’s time to stop tap dancing around 800-pound gorilla in the room. (That sure paints an interesting picture, don’t you think? Trippin’ a nifty time step around King Kong’s little brother. But I digress.) 

There comes a time when you must lovingly, boldly, and openly intervene. You love someone too much to let them continue. You’ve had a front row seat for their self-destruction. Time has come for an intervention. For the good of the person. For the good of their friends and family.

Don’t forget the original purpose of Paul’s first letter to Timothy. The apostle has hit the trail for ministry in Macedonia and put Tim in the driver’s seat of the Ephesian megachurch (1Tim 1:3). 

Pastor Tim has quite the hot mess to clean up in E City. Spiritual snake oil salesmen have driven the congregation into the ditch with all sorts of bizarro teaching (1Tim 1:4-7; 4:1-3). A big part of this Ephesian comeback is filling the leadership void with godly people of integrity (1Tim 3:1-13).

If and when there is any future trouble at the top, Paul lays out a clear process (1Tim 5:19). What sort of evidence is there? Do you have a minimum of two witnesses? Three would be much better. 

If you prove the charges true and the elder continues to sin, it’s time to get the entire church involved. It’s time for an intervention. For the good of the leader. For the good of the church.

You might wonder where in the world I get the idea that Paul is talking about elders here in verse 20. Context. Just before this, the apostle is talking elders (1Tim 5:17-19). Just after, he’s talking to Tim about leaders (1Tim 5:21-22). I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but it sure seems to me he’s talking about elders and leaders.

That being the case, we’re to keep an eye out for church leaders “who persist in sin” (v20). Paul uses the verb hamartano here. It means to do wrong or miss the mark. To sin is do anything contrary to the will and law of God. 

But avoiding sin is a whole lot more than NOT doing the bad stuff. It’s also NOT doing what you’re supposed to do. Sins of commission and sins of omission are sins. Period. And we also sin when we do the right things for the wrong reasons.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, let me break the bad news to you. You’re a sinner. I’m a sinner. We’re all sinners (Rom 3:10-12, 23). That’s the reason we need a Savior. We need Someone perfectly obeys God’s law when we fail miserably. 

That’s where Jesus comes in. He doesn’t just die to take the punishment for our crimes, He lives the life of perfect obedience we fail to live. That’s the very Good News about the incredibly bad news.

But Paul describes a leader “who persist in sin” (v20). The form of the verb here is the present tense. In other words, someone who was sinning, is sinning, and probably will be sinning tomorrow unless somebody takes some radical action. 

Here’s the deal. Sin continues to be part of our lives on this side of eternity. Even Paul, the author of most of the New Testament, was honest with his cage match with sin while trying follow Jesus perfectly and obediently (Rom 7:13-20).

The apostle is talking here about pastors and elders who take a never-ending ride on the sin cycle. They repeatedly return to some behavior that not only damages them personally but the congregation they shepherd. 

Their transgression happens over and over and over and over. Lather, rinse, repeat. They live in a virtual Groundhog Day of sin. The sheer repetition of their destructive behavior takes it’s toll not only on the individual, but friends and family, and in this case, the church family.

The next step is unpleasant but unavoidable. “Rebuke them in the presence of all” (v20). I don’t know about you, but “rebuke” is one of those “Bible words” that you don’t hear very often outside of a church. 

A closer look at the original Greek word elegcho tells us that it means to expose something, bring it to light, or convince people by revealing the proof. It’s like the investigative reporting on “Dateline” when Keith Morrison exposes the undeniable evidence of the crime and now somebody must do the time.

New Testament authors use elegcho when talking about those moments when the light bulb comes on and the truth is glaringly apparent. John the Dunker exposed King Herod Antipas and “reproved (Gr. elegcho) him” for shacking up with his sister-in-law (Lk 3:19). 

Jesus told Nicodemus how a dude up to no good does everything he can to keep it quiet “lest his works should be exposed (Gr. elegcho)” (Jn 3:20). Paul told his friends in Ephesus to not only avoid private sins “but instead expose (Gr. elegcho) them” (Eph 5:11). 

In his second note to Tim, the apostle hopes the young preacher will be on his toes to “reprove, rebuke (Gr. elegcho), and exhort, with complete patience and teaching” (2Tim 4:2).

Some of you may be scratching you head right now. Hmm, this all sounds REALLY familiar. Have I read this somewhere before? Probably so. Paul ties this process to Jesus’ instructions for church discipline in Matthew 18:15-17. 

Here's a quick review. Step one, meet one-on-one with the person who has done you dirty. If he blows you off, move to step two. Take two or three other folks with you and confront him again. If he blows off you and the others, it’s time for step three. 

That’s when you present the matter to the entire church. If that doesn’t turn on the light bulb, it’s time for a status change. The dude in question goes from an insider to an outsider. But the point isn’t just to punish. The big idea is interact with him as if he doesn’t have a relationship with Jesus. You don’t shun him. You share the Gospel with him.

The apparent difference between Christ’s instructions in Matthew and Paul’s process here is that this step happens “in the presence of all” (v20). We’re to bring the elder stuck in the sin cycle before the entire church. As heartbreaking as it is, it’s time for an intervention. 

God is up to a couple of different purposes when we do this. First of all, we demonstrate to this fallen leader that we’re united in our love for him. Whatever rat hole of destructive behavior he’s fallen into, we know this isn’t the crazy good abundant life Jesus has promised for him (Jn 10:10). We desperately want him to know the hurt and pain he’s brought to God’s family.

Paul lets us know the second purpose of this process is “so that the rest may stand in fear” (v20). This isn’t so much the fear of being found out and called on the carpet. He’s talking about the awareness of the clear and present danger of sin’s insidious impact on anyone and everyone. 

Our leaders are NOT super saints who are faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings with a single bound, with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. 

Our elders and pastors need a Savior just like you and me. We ALL need Christ every single moment of every single day. We ALL need to be in a continual state of repentance and dependance on Jesus. Elders. Pastors. You. Me.

Let’s go over it one more time. First we see that we had better have our ducks in a row when it comes to confronting one of our church leaders (1Tim 5:19). But if there’s evidence and more than witness, it’s time to move on with the process. At some point, it may come to an awkward but necessary intervention with an elder. 

We have to face the fact that life in the church is often messy. Everything is not neatly stored in one little bag with a twist tie. Why would we ever expect it to be? For heaven’s sake, Jesus invited jacked up people like you and me to be a part of it! 

So if an elder gets caught up in self-destructive, it’s time for an intervention. For the good of the leader. For the good of the church.