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.
Our attitude during the restoration of someone who has crossed the line into sin is key to both the restoration process and our own spiritual health. We must remember we are only one step away from sin ourselves. Our sin might be thinking that we would not succumb to sin, that we are somehow better or stronger than the other person, that we are immune. It is a subtle and powerful delusion that can easily creep into our lives. Many a Jesus-follower has started down this road and fallen off the cliff. There is one part of this process that we shy away from these days. We do a very poor job of even confronting someone who is caught in a sin. Too often we ignore their sin as if it did not exist. Or perhaps we ignore it hoping it will magically go away and we won’t have to deal with it at all. But people do get caught in sin and need restoration. There needs to be intervention. Perhaps we need a ceremony or some special event that marks the restoration process. That would provide a specific date and time that the restored individual could point to within themselves and say, “Satan, I have been restored. Get away from me.” The community would also have a reminder that not only does sin exist, but that there is the possibility of healthy restoration after the sin. But when we act as if sin and restoration do not exist we proclaim a distorted gospel. We are not recognizing the connectedness of us as community, a body of individuals vitally connected together. We act as if a gangrenous foot should be ignored, or a broken arm should not have the bone reset and placed in a cast. We cannot afford to function as the Body of Christ without recognizing the need for restoration.
The Arnold Journey 