Christian Responsibility and Accountability: the “How” of “Love One Another”

There often seems to be a large divide between popular ideology circulating among American Christians in Church culture and the actual instruction coming from the apostles and Jesus in the Bible. One example of this is the often quoted “Do not judge, lest you be judged” in response to any Christian’s questioning or criticism of the behaviors of fellow Christians -Christian leaders especially. However, it is important that each of us study Scripture thoroughly to avoid the pitfalls of “hearsay theology”. 

Unfortunately, human hearsay has been the source of many heresies in the history of Christianity, as can be seen in Paul’s expression of aggravation with theological rumors and the group spreading them in Galatians 5. As Paul says in Hebrews 2, “We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.”

Both Jesus and the apostles teach that believers are to use their “judgment” to prevent the corruption of Christian community. Jesus tells Christians to confront other Christians who have done them wrong until they repent to ensure genuine change of behavior and relationship reconciliation. Jesus instructs that if they are repeatedly unwilling to repent and change we should, as Christians, follow through with the negative consequence of expelling them from communion with us:

““If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.” Matt 18:15-17

Jesus' teaching here has application to personal relationships, including marriages, as well as relationships on a community level.

Paul reiterates this instruction in 1 Corinthians 2, just before reprimanding the Corinthian Christians for not using their knowledge of God’s scriptural standards to judge Christians in their own church:

“The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.”
-1 Corinthians 2:15

Paul is explaining here how to use one’s judgment- that there is a difference between judging by one’s own personal opinions vs. judging believers by God’s standards (the Commandments, the Law), which Paul refers to here as “the mind of Christ”.

Then, in 1 Corinthians 5, Paul talks about how he “passed judgment” on Christians in their church for their exploitative behaviors and encourages the Corinthian Christians to do the same. Paul instructs the believers in Corinth to expel from their fellowship any Christian who is practicing abusive behaviors towards other people- from sexual exploitation to other types of exploitation, which constitutes breaking the Law and the Commandments as Jesus summed them up, (Matthew 22:37-40). Many pastors present this passage as being solely about sexual immorality, however Paul is talking about all forms of greed, including financial exploitation of others, character assassination or slander of others, and those committing idolatry. 

Paul cites the command from Deuteronomy “expel the wicked person from among you”, indicating that the use of negative consequences to discourage unrepentant un-Godly behavior among believers is not a directive limited to the “Old Testament” but continues to be operative in the “New Testament” church.

Paul explains that holding these Christians accountable for their actions is vital for preventing the corruption of behavior and attitudes in the Christian community so that “sincerity and truth” may be maintained in all the community’s relationships.

Notice how Paul clarifies that Christians are not the judge those outside of the Church, but that they are to judge those within the Church. The implication is that it is only by holding our fellow Christians accountable for un-Godly behavior that we can prevent the corruption and deterioration of true Christian values in the community:

“As one who is present with you in this way, I have already passed judgment in the name of our Lord Jesus on the one who has been doing this…

“Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.  Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. “I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people. “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.””  -1 Corinthians 5:3-13

The Consistency of Scripture

Paul’s teaching, as well as Jesus’ teaching, is consistent with what the books of the “Old Testament” teach about how to love other believers:

Leviticus 19:17 “Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt.”

Leviticus 19:15 “Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.”

Exodus 23:2 “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd, “

Proverbs 27:5 “An open rebuke is better than hidden love!

Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy.”

Proverbs 28:23 “Whoever rebukes a person will in the end gain favor rather than one who has a flattering tongue.”

Proverbs 26:28 “A lying tongue hates its victims, and a flattering mouth works ruin.”

Jeremiah 21:12 “This is what the Lord says to you, house of David: “‘Administer justice every morning; rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed, or my wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done— burn with no one to quench it.”

Ezekiel 33:7-9 “ Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. ⁸ When I say to the wicked, ‘You wicked person, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade them from their ways, that wicked person will die for^[a] their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. ⁹ But if you do warn the wicked person to turn from their ways and they do not do so, they will die for their sin, though you yourself will be saved.”

Protection and Preserving the Good 

Scripture seems to repeatedly demonstrate that the proper way to use judgment and correction of others is for the purposes of rescuing the innocent, preventing further destruction, and helping others to redeem what is being lost. Confronting other believers in response to overt abuse and neglect of God’s commands is a vital part of loving the Christian community. Though it may feel uncomfortable to question and challenge those who lead our communities of faith, our ultimate allegiance should be towards God, not people or groups of people, as the First Commandment states.

If we want communities with leadership that reflects the beautiful and just standards of God as demonstrated in Scripture, we must hold each other and our leadership accountable- in love and in honesty- not compromising on either of those goals.