Episode Transcript
[00:00:05] Good morning. 9:30.
[00:00:06] Hey, good morning. Good morning. If I have not met you, my name is Michael Fueling. I'm the lead pastor here at the village church. I want to invite you. Would you open up your Bibles? We're going to be in the book of Galatians. We're going to be in chapter six. And on the front end, I want to ask you, so with all the humility that you can muster, what are one or two skills that you are actually great at?
[00:00:31] It's not arrogant. Like, These are just one or two things that you could say more than 99% of people. I am really skilled at this. If somebody's gonna ask for your help or if they're gonna pay you for something, it's probably gonna be in one or two of these things. You've heard me say this a thousand times. Most of us are great at one or two things and then mediocre or terrible at all the rest of the. And so what are those one or two things? You guys can talk about that at lunch. And so over the years, I've had a handful of people tell me that they are great and skilled at something specific, only to find out they're actually terrible.
[00:01:09] And they gave what my favorite therapist calls unhelpful help. End quote.
[00:01:17] So in seminary, I took a few classes in the psychology department. And this was interesting. I'm not exaggerating when I say this.
[00:01:24] Every single professor in the psychology department had a palpable disdain for pastors.
[00:01:33] And they had this disdain for one reason. Because pastors would wade into complex issues where they made situations worse, not better.
[00:01:44] They gave unhelpful help.
[00:01:47] Over the years, I've had a chance to be married to a therapist and to know many therapists and to work with them. And I've learned the opposite is actually true as well.
[00:01:57] Most therapists are woefully untrained and unprepared to help people overcome spiritual issues.
[00:02:05] Most therapists do not understand the spiritual nature of a person, nor do they have the doctrine or the gospel groundedness to help somebody overcome a set of spiritual issues. And so they get paid, and then they give, when it comes to spiritual issues, unhelpful help.
[00:02:22] But when a pastor knows the limits of their skills, and when a therapist knows the limits of their skills, and when a mom and dad know the limits of their skills, and when a friend knows the limits of their skills, we have the best shot possible of giving people what I think all of us want. And we want for those that we love. We want them to have helpful help. So our text this Morning in Galatians 6 is going to make a very strong point and I'm gonna give you the point in just a moment. But this point is gonna possibly for some of you, feel like it is the opposite of what you learned. And here's the point.
[00:02:59] Helping people repent and overcome weighty sin is spiritually dangerous work and most should not do it.
[00:03:11] I am not talking about people who make simple mistakes. I'm not talking about people who have struggles little bit more easily overcome. I'm not talking about one off bad decisions. I'm talking about weighty and complex sin struggles that have deeply and negatively impacted those in their relational orbit.
[00:03:32] I have had the opportunity to watch or to be a part of literally hundreds of people who have sought restoration after weighty failures. And almost all all of them had one or more relational casualties along the way. Now this next section, I wrote it out because I kind of have my thoughts very succinct on this. So I'm just going to read you this next section from my experience. More times than you would expect, a person will say they want to change but won't do the work.
[00:04:06] And then they will blame the person that they asked to help for being too hard on them. In other words, who holding them accountable to what they said they would do.
[00:04:15] More times than you would expect, a person will fall back into their old sin and then push the person they asked to help away out of shame, even demonizing them because that helper now represents who they know God made them to be.
[00:04:33] More times than you would expect, the helper is the one getting angry at the repenting person they were trying to help when the helper's expectations and timelines weren't met.
[00:04:46] More times than you'd expect, a third party gets involved with unhelpful opinions and makes things worse.
[00:04:52] More times than you would expect. A repenting person expects their helper to fix all of their problems, especially their husband, their wife, and their children.
[00:05:00] Something that the helper is powerless to do. Can I get an amen on that one?
[00:05:05] We've all tried changing people and failed miserably.
[00:05:07] More times than you would expect, secrets come out that complicate the matter. More times than you would expect. But helpers get into the details. Facts emerge that they are not equipped to deal with. And more times than you would expect, helpers are having to clean up the messes of others who provided unhelpful help. I wish you guys could see what I see right now because it was hmms. Yeah. Amens. And then head nods across the church with each one of these.
[00:05:35] It is rare that a helper enters into a weighty situation and things are smooth and easy relationally. And one of the challenges, like, if you've got this, like, helping disposition, like, maybe you get called upon to enter into, like, hard issues, like, hey, we need some insight, some wisdom, some help. You have this, like, desire to be somebody who truly does help people move from point A to point B. If you're kind of a natural helper to this position, when somebody asks you for help. Most of us believe this kind of in our bones, whether we want to admit it or not.
[00:06:10] I can help anyone.
[00:06:13] And the Apostle Paul is going to speak right to this issue and say, no, you can't. In fact, there are some people you should not enter into their repentance and restoration process because it is far too difficult, dangerous spiritually. All right, Galatians, chapter six. I want you to look at this. We're gonna start in verse one.
[00:06:33] It says, brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Okay, so this might be the single most loaded verse that I've taught on, probably in a couple.
[00:06:57] This is so loaded and kind of unexpected that when our pastoral team got together and we started studying this text, we spent almost all of our time in verse one because it was the key that unlocked the next few verses. In fact, every single one of us went into verse one thinking we knew what it was being talked about. And we all were surprised at not just the context, but also the application and the warnings that came out of this. So if we were surprised, I. I'm guessing there may be some of you also who are surprised as well. So what we have to do to unlock verse one is there are five questions we need to answer. So we're gonna answer these, and then the entire verse and the next verses are going to kind of come alive, and there's gold at the end of this rainbow. So you guys ready? Five questions. Can we do it?
[00:07:41] First question. Who is this verse addressed to specifically? What's that first word, brothers? This, by the way, it's a masculine term that can apply to sisters as well, but brothers.
[00:07:54] So this is not addressed to those who are, quote, caught in sin.
[00:08:00] It's about them, but it's not written to them. And this is not addressed to just any of the brothers specifically. There's a category of people in the Galatian churches that he's writing to he calls them brothers who are spiritual. Which brings us to our second question. Like, who is spiritual? Like, what does this mean?
[00:08:20] And the answer is, actually, if you have a Bible, it's literally right in front of your face. Do you guys remember what we studied in chapter five? Like, literally last week? The fruit of the spirit, right? Walking in step with the Spirit. Spiritual fruit. That happens when we're connected to Jesus. And so in the English language, spiritual has this, like, almost a New Age sense to it. But here, the word spiritual are those Christians in Galatia who have a reputation of walking in step with the Spirit. These are the mature brothers and sisters in Christ who have a reputation of being faithful to Jesus and have a reputation of being filled with the Holy Spirit and reputation of walking in step with the Holy Spirit. And so these brothers in Galatia, these spiritual brothers, they're given a warning when they are going to help someone caught in any transgression. So here's the third question. Who is getting caught in transgression?
[00:09:21] So the word caught here does not mean somebody who is caught in the act. Like somebody like a kid who has, like, his hand in the candy jar. That's not what this means. That's actually a different Greek word.
[00:09:33] This refers to caught is when someone is caught in a trap, not in the actual.
[00:09:38] And even more specifically, this is applying to those people who are caught. They're trapped in the consequences of their sin.
[00:09:48] They want to get out, they want to be restored, but they don't know how to do it. They're in too deep.
[00:09:58] And so let me give you an illustration. It's sort of like that of a bear trap. I've never met anybody in a bear trap, but I imagine if I did, I wouldn't meet anybody who said, I want to stay in this bear trap.
[00:10:07] And so they get caught in a bear trap and they're injured. They cannot get themselves out, and they need help. They need someone to come alongside and unlock, gently, the bear trap and to take them out and get them to a hospital so they can get helpful help.
[00:10:24] There are so many ways this could apply. I'll just give you a couple. This could apply to someone who's addicted to pornography and they just can not seem to get themselves out of this. This could apply to a couple who. They are literally just in, like, their own metaphorical. Let's see that. Literally metaphorical. They're metaphorical World War iii and they just cannot figure out how to reverse course. This could be somebody who's stuck in addiction and they want to be free. But they just cannot find the tools within themselves to figure out, how do I get free from this addiction?
[00:10:57] The fourth. The fourth question we need to answer in verse one is very simple. But what is a transgression?
[00:11:02] He didn't use the word sin. To sin means to miss the mark.
[00:11:06] But here, transgression is different.
[00:11:09] Transgression is when you know and were told the right thing to do and you still chose the wrong thing to do. That's a transgression. There's culpability, There is responsibility in a unique way. Here it's sort of like you walk into someone's land and there's a warning. It says, bear traps everywhere. Be careful. And you say, I'm smarter than them. And then you get caught in a bear trap. You knew it was there. You were warned it was there. You were told not to do it, but you decided to do it anyways. So prior to this letter, the letter of Galatians, when Paul was with them in person, Paul warned them. And Paul's warning them again in this letter. Here's the things he's told them. I want you to stay away. Step away from these things.
[00:11:56] Step away from false gospels.
[00:11:59] Step away from anybody who teaches anything other than justification or salvation by faith alone.
[00:12:05] Step away from people who are causing you to not be free in Christ. Step away from people who are not walking in the Spirit. Step away from fleshly conflict. Walk into love. Step away from the people who are trying to pull you away from the apostles or even Paul himself.
[00:12:23] So they were warned. And there's a whole bunch of people in the church of Galatia. They knew what not to do. They knew who not to follow. They knew false gospels and they decided that they were going to go astray or transgress anyways.
[00:12:35] Finally, the fifth question we need to clarify in verse one.
[00:12:38] So who specifically in the Galatian churches, is caught in a transgression that they feel like they can't get out of? Let me give you the answer and then explain it.
[00:12:50] The Galatian Christians who followed the Judaizers and rejected Paul.
[00:12:58] Let me explain how this was a trap that they got caught. In this letter, it is delivered one day, you're in one of the churches in the region of Galatia, and somebody brings Sunday morning service, a letter from the Apostle Paul.
[00:13:14] And you gotta remember there weren't chapters and verses. It's a letter. Like, you don't write chapters and verses in your letters, do you? No. So it's read from beginning to end, but we have chapters and Verses helps us teach through it. Slow down and think about it.
[00:13:25] So this letter is taken out, it is read.
[00:13:30] And if you've been here with us, Paul's blunt. Can we agree on that one?
[00:13:35] It's a blunt letter. It's a direct letter. At times it's even a harsh letter. And so Paul is writing. And as he's writing, people are hearing this, that the Judaizers gospel, it came from demons. He calls them elemental spirits, but those are demons. And anybody who believes in it is going to hell. In fact, anybody who preaches their false gospel is going to hell. And he actually even goes as far to say, I wish that they would not just castrate themselves, but 100% emasculate themselves. That's actually there. This is what he says. And so he's not mincing words. So in chapter in. In five chapters, Paul has dismantled the Judaizers, lies, exposed their weaknesses, and shown the Galatians what is real and true. So this letter's being read, and some in the Galatian Church, as it's being read, are realizing, oh no, I've been duped.
[00:14:26] I was wrong.
[00:14:28] The Judaizers aren't from God and their Gospel isn't from God, and oh no, I chose the wrong team with the wrong gospel.
[00:14:41] And by the time you get to the end of chapter five, this room is divided. I think it's kind of hilarious because as this letter is written, do you know who's in the room also? The Judaizers.
[00:14:51] And so by the end of chapter five, like, if you were there, I bet my bottom dollar that you'd see some fidgeting people.
[00:14:59] You'd see some shifting and some uncomfortableness and some. Maybe some rage and anger in people's eyes.
[00:15:07] And at this point in the letter, there are those whose hearts are hardened and angry, and there are those whose hearts are tender and soft.
[00:15:17] There was a group of people in the Galatian churches who were in, I mean, very deep with the Judaizers. The word we use for this enmeshed. They've lost friends, they've participated in division, they've championed a false gospel.
[00:15:31] And as these people listen to Paul, their hearts are pierced by conviction and regret.
[00:15:39] And as they're listening, by the time they get to the end of chapter five, they realize they have made a spiritually fatal error.
[00:15:50] This is actually Paul recognizes by writing, by shifting gears in chapter six, he is recognizing that the five chapters he just wrote are going to leave some in this church in a very tender position of regret, realizing they were wrong. And then having no idea how to make right the things that they have made so wrong.
[00:16:14] Have you ever done something so dumb that you feel like you can't get out of it and don't like, kick your spouse next to you?
[00:16:25] Something so dumb that it is easier to run away from it than it is to face it?
[00:16:32] Something so dumb that you don't even have a category of how people are going to forgive you, let alone welcome you back into their circle. Look again at verse one Brothers, if anyone is caught, trapped, unable to get out in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Back to the bear trap analogy.
[00:16:59] The goal is not to stand over the person who is caught in their sin and say, you idiot, did you not see the sign? How many times do you have to warn you? You always do this as you're hastily taking the trap out. It hurts, right? No, the goal in those moments is to get low.
[00:17:21] They already are experiencing the shame of their stupidity.
[00:17:26] And the goal is to get low. It is to open the jaws of the trap. It is to stop the bleeding and get them to a hospital, all gently.
[00:17:37] Because this is how Jesus responded to you when you were caught in your transgression.
[00:17:46] When you came to him and said, I'm the idiot, I'm the one who knew what was right and I chose the wrong. And by the way, for those of you who are Christians, do you remember after you trusted in Christ, this is how Jesus responded to you as a Christian when you came to him and said, I doubly knew better, and this is how you treated me. And then the third time, and then the fourth time.
[00:18:12] And so the Apostle Paul says, hey, you who are spiritual, you are to restore them the way Jesus has restored you over and over again.
[00:18:24] Let me bring all this together.
[00:18:26] If you were caught in the Judaizers snare and you want to get out, here's what Paul's saying to all of these now convicted, regretful believers sitting in the churches in Galatia.
[00:18:37] There will be no condemnation toward you.
[00:18:42] Those who are filled with the Spirit, they will be the ones to restore you, and they will do it gently.
[00:18:51] What do you do when someone is genuinely broken over their transgressions and they want to be restored?
[00:19:00] And for Paul, there's a warning here, and we'll watch this in just a moment. But the warning is this.
[00:19:06] This kind of ministry of restoration with deep and complex issues is not for new or immature believers to lead. This kind of ministry of restoration is for those who have proven to be consistently walking in step with the Holy Spirit. So let's come back to verse one. Paul has a warning. He says, brothers, you who are spiritual, keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. And like, we really had to sit on this and think about this, like, how am I going to be tempted by helping somebody be restored? Well, he then explains it. I want to share with you the two temptations for helpers.
[00:19:46] Temptation number one is the temptation to do the hard work for them rather than bear their burdens with them. In verse 2, he says this. Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. And this is contrasted with verse five, which says, for each will have to bear his own load. So which one is it? Do I help them bear their burdens, or do I help them carry their own or bear their own load? Which is it? Well, there's an actually interesting nuance here because the word burden and the word load have two very different meanings. Here's what the word burden means. A burden is something that is too heavy to carry alone. It is a weight.
[00:20:22] There are things and experiences in this life that God has never intended you to carry alone.
[00:20:28] A load is a different word with a whole different meaning. A load is something that you were made to carry alone. A load is your assignment. It is the thing only you can do, and no one else can do it for you. And so when I am trying to help someone who has been caught in transgression be restored, what I want to do is carry their burdens.
[00:20:54] But there are some things. There are some loads and responsibilities that I cannot do for them. I can encourage you.
[00:21:03] I can pray for you. I can give you counsel. Here's what I can't do for you.
[00:21:09] I can't repent for you.
[00:21:11] I can't have the hard conversation from moms and dads. You're not gonna like this. I can't even set up the meeting for you.
[00:21:21] You have to take responsibility for your own repentance. Let me give you a simpler illustration. Your teenager gets caught stealing, and they write an apology letter. And you read it, and it stinks like it is gaslighting 101. Right? And you're like, this is not good.
[00:21:39] And so you give them, quote, the right words. Of course it's not their words because in their heart they're not responsible, but you give them the right, and then you coordinate the meeting with the person they stole from. And then you sit with them and you speak for them. You have moved from carrying the burden to carrying their God assigned load. So in the case of the Galatians, who are seeing the Judaizers for who they really are, when the letter started, you were team Judaizers. By the time you get to the end of chapter five, you, you're in a spirit of repentance.
[00:22:14] I can imagine the lies that many of these now trying to figure out. Regretful, repentant Galatians. I can imagine some of the lies that they are saying to themselves.
[00:22:26] They'll never forgive me.
[00:22:28] I can't go back in there.
[00:22:30] This will be the only thing they ever think of me. If someone did this to me, I would never forgive them, let alone restore them.
[00:22:39] And so I want to talk to the helpers for a moment.
[00:22:42] You cannot make people believe truth you ever tried.
[00:22:47] That's their load. You can help carry that burden of giving it to them, but they have to take it.
[00:22:53] You cannot repent for people.
[00:22:55] You cannot soften the consequences of their sin.
[00:23:00] You can't have the hard conversations for them.
[00:23:03] You can't force them to face the people that they hurt and apologize.
[00:23:08] You can't make them want to overcome sin as much as you want them to overcome their sin. And by the way, when you repent for someone, they are still left in their sin.
[00:23:23] And so as a helper, what I want to do is I want to carry the burden, but I cannot carry the load that only you can carry. Temptation number two, the temptation to make yourself the hero instead of Jesus.
[00:23:36] Look at verses three and four. He says, for if anyone thinks he's something when he's nothing, he deceives himself.
[00:23:44] By the way, who gets ultimate glory for the repentance of a person?
[00:23:49] Jesus, not you. Keep it straight. You don't have the power. I don't have the power to make someone repent. And if they do, I'm not going to take credit for the thing that I didn't have power to create in that person.
[00:24:02] He says, each one tests his own work.
[00:24:05] Then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. And here the boast isn't like a bad thing. There are things we're supposed to boast in. And essentially here's what he's saying. You don't get to boast in the thing they did between them and the Lord. The only thing you get to boast about are the times you took responsibility for your sin. But when they repent and they go towards a process of restoration like we all want to say, guys, I want to tell you a story of What God did I, I, I, I, I, I.
[00:24:35] You're not the hero of their story.
[00:24:38] And, and if you want to help someone and you position yourself as the hero of their story, by the way, you're putting yourself in the position of Jesus. He doesn't like to share glory or credit. He opposes the proud, those who think more highly of themselves. But he gives grace to the humble.
[00:24:56] And so here's where we step back and we just say, listen, I'll confess, Jesus. I really want to be the hero. I really, really want people to tell stories of my greatness and my wisdom. I want my great, great, great, great, great grandchildren to know my name and to tell regaling stories about my godliness and all the great things I did for the Lord. Anybody else want that for yourselves?
[00:25:16] Can any of you name your great, great, great great grandfather?
[00:25:20] Maybe one of you?
[00:25:22] Now watch. Two of you.
[00:25:25] And here's the deal.
[00:25:27] My job is to make much of Jesus.
[00:25:30] And so when I want to enter into someone's story, I need to make sure that he keeps his rightful place and I keep mine.
[00:25:38] The single most effective thing that a helper can do is to connect someone to Jesus, the true source of transformation and change. The repentant person who's connected to Jesus as their hero, they have the greatest chance of actually overcoming and experiencing lasting restoration. Don't plug into my power, because if you try to experience heart transformation by me, it's gonna fail miserably. I can help you with behavior modification. I can't help you with heart transformation. That's gonna come by plugging into.
[00:26:16] So I got two. So what's first? The law of Jesus is to bear one another's burdens when called upon. Verse two, he says, this bear one another's burdens. And this is. This is a little funny line here.
[00:26:28] So fulfill the law of Christ.
[00:26:32] So, interestingly enough, this verse, it's not written for everybody in the church. I mean, it can apply in different ways, but this is written to the brothers who are spiritual. They're being called out now.
[00:26:42] And here's an insight I want you to see.
[00:26:44] We often look at this verse and we use it in the positive way, but what Paul is doing is a little bit different.
[00:26:51] The brothers in the church who are spiritual don't seem to want to come alongside of these people and help them repent.
[00:27:01] Like, here's what he's saying. Hey, guys, you're like Jonah and Nineveh. God's calling you to bring a message of restoration and repentance, and you don't wanna do it. So he's pulling the ultimate trump card. He's saying, by the law of Jesus, if you are called upon as a spiritual brother or sister to bring someone who is repentant to a place of restoration, you need to grow up and you need to gently come alongside of them, despite what they may have done to you or to people you love.
[00:27:39] So Paul knows this. He knows the challenge that they're going to have. And this is what I just appreciate it. You know, even sometimes the godliest people in a church, they need to say, jesus told you to do this. So stop complaining, whining, and finding excuses and go do it. Like, last time I checked, Jesus is the final authority on what you do and what you say. So if he says it, go, I don't want to stop it.
[00:28:00] You've been called upon as a spiritual, mature brother in Christ, and I want you to walk into this situation and I want you to be so profoundly gentle. We are going to pursue unity, but be very careful, because not everybody who wants to repent will follow through on that repentance. So at number two, have you pushed away or relationally harmed someone who is doing their best to help you?
[00:28:34] So the two most common casualties of failed repentance are, number two, those with good intentions who tried to help you.
[00:28:43] And honestly, most of the time, they didn't insert themselves into your story. You invited them.
[00:28:50] And what I have watched happen too many times to too many people is out of sin and shame or regret or something else that you have harmed or hurt someone who tried to help you.
[00:29:02] And if maybe the Holy Spirit is saying, man, it was 20 years ago, but, like, I honestly, like, made that process really difficult for them. And I think if you're in that position to understand, like, yeah, like, it's a vulnerable time for you as somebody trying to repent and experience restoration, but it's also a vulnerable time for the person helping you. It's vulnerable for everyone.
[00:29:23] But the first casualty of failed repentance is always God, who you sinned against and you pushed away.
[00:29:31] There is no greater casualty in your rebellion than Jesus, and yet he stands ready and willing to gently restore and forgive anyone who asks forgiveness.
[00:29:50] And so here's a question, and maybe you're here and you're like, I have pushed God away.
[00:29:55] I have gaslit him, blamed other people, found a million excuses why I don't need to repent before Jesus and other people.
[00:30:04] Are you willing to apologize to God?
[00:30:08] Because if you're willing to apologize, he is committed to Forgiving you.
[00:30:15] Are you willing to make Jesus your God?
[00:30:20] Because if you're willing to make him your God, he is absolutely pumped about being your God, blessing you, supporting you, giving you his Holy Spirit so that you have everything you need to experience the transformation and restoration that you need.
[00:30:40] Are you willing to put your trust, your confidence in the death and resurrection of Jesus? Are you willing to look at him and say, I accept what you did on the cross. That was proven by you being raised from the dead. I believe this. I am sorry. You are my God. Forgive me and save me. And do you know what the answer from Jesus is to every broken person who has transgressed?
[00:31:03] Yes.
[00:31:05] The challenge is so many people won't ask or don't think they need to ask. And I'm telling you this, you need to ask for forgiveness. You need to ask him to save you. You need to believe in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. And if you will, it would be God's honor and pleasure to forgive you, to save you, to give you the Holy Spirit, and to begin the long, slow, but incredible process of healing and restoration.
[00:31:33] And if that is a decision that you want to make, I just have great news for you. He's ready whenever you are. Amen. Village church, Amen. Let's pray together.
[00:31:41] Father, we have this really amazing opportunity to eavesdrop on a very real conflict in a very real set of churches.
[00:31:55] Lord, this whole situation of the Church of Galatia had the unbelievable power to divide and destroy.
[00:32:02] And I want to just thank you that you don't just tell the good stories. You tell the hard stories. You tell the truth about people in scripture, about churches, the challenges they went through. It's the same challenges over and over again, God.
[00:32:16] So, Lord, we just want to say thank you for training us and for teaching us and for giving us this level of insight. Lord, for those of us who are more inclined to be helpers, would you protect us?
[00:32:26] Would you give us a right view of ourselves and our abilities and such an unbelievably high view of Jesus and his power?
[00:32:35] And, Lord, for all of those who maybe are in a place where they know they just need restoration? God, would you make Jesus the hero of their story? Would you do far more abundantly than we could ask or imagine in their lives? And, God, I pray at every step that both the helper and the one being restored would point to Jesus and say, all glory and honor to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, may we never steal your glory, but give you the worship and the glory that you deserve. We love you, we thank you and we pray all of this in Jesus name, Amen. Amen.
