1Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.
We don’t do this very well! We usually shoot our spiritually wounded. We often think they have some kind of deadly disease that we will catch. Often our fellowships don’t have a good mechanism for restoration. This is true for many reasons. Often our congregations are so transient, with people constantly hopping from one body to another, that accountability is nearly impossible. We purposely stay disconnected with others, or at least sitting on the edges, so that we can slip away without really being noticed or missed. We in the West think that independence is God’s will. We look at it as the eleventh commandment: Thou shalt not be dependent on anyone! We fear connection, genuine connection with other people. We think it takes away our ability to be ourselves. But true freedom is being securely connected to others so that we have a secure base from which we can branch out. Think of the flying trapeze performers. Unless each is secure in their connection to the ropes and bars, they would not dare to let go and fly through the air with the greatest of ease. They have to know that the other person will be there for them before they let go of their bar.