"Am I my Brother's Keeper?"

I just finished listening to a sermon by Dr John MacArthur about believers confronting each other and holding each other to holiness. He started with the question that he says many Christians use when responding to a fellow believer's sin: "Am I my brother's keeper?" MacArthur in his sermon states an emphatic "YES" to this question. He walks through the story of Ananias and Saphira (Acts 5) to show how serious God takes sin (in this case, lying to the Holy Spirit) and then begins breaking down Matthew 18 showing how God uses other believers to help a brother repent. What struck me the most was as he was talking about the context of believers confronting each other in Matt 18 he mentions that this does not always take place in a large church setting and gave the example of missionaries on the mission field who may not have an established church yet. I thought of our little group preparing to go overseas and serve the Lord. I realized that all the preparations I have been thinking through and working on have all included things that I will do or need to learn, etc. They have not been about who I need to BE and how that needs to happen. Of course I know that God calls us as believers to holiness, but to realize that if we truly believe the Word of God we will be really pushing each other to pursue holiness (and confronting each other's sins) even more!

This is my prayer for us as a team and for future team and ministry partners: that we would pursue holiness and not be afraid to obey by confronting each other's sins, and that we would receive each other's corrections with humility and joy as well. Please, fellow believers, help be my keeper!

SEF