24 The sins of some are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them. 25 In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not obvious cannot remain hidden forever.
Not really sure why this verse caught my attention. I think it speaks to something different than the world view. What it says to me is that some sin is very obvious, some people's issues really don't show up for a while....and by the way, we ALL have issues/sins. But, the same goes for those who are doing the right things. Some are obvious, and others will be evident in the long term.
2 messages.
1. Don't judge others, their goodness/badness may not be as evident as you think.
2. Whatever you are doing, or how you are living....it will eventually catch you.
tp
This chapter had an Old Testament feel to it. It sounded like prescriptive rules in a few places.
ReplyDelete20 But those elders who are sinning you are to reprove before everyone, so that the others may take warning.
If I go letter to the law this verse seems odd too. So every elder should be run in front of the congregation and reprimanded for their life. I say this since we are all sinners. Of course we could only reprove them for the sins we know about not the ones that follow.
But I guess that is not the point. There is a point of maintaining a higher standard for those who are leaders in the church and when they trip up an example is made so others will be deterred from the same mistake I guess. There is also a good model tucked in here about needing multiple people to validate an accusation before taking it too serious. In today's world of unsubstantiated accusations flying everywhere that is probably a good model to follow.
not much really for me today.
knut