How to confront

God sometimes prompts us to restore a friend who is trapped in glaring flagrant sin and he gives us instruction on how to do it. Galatians 5:1Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. 2Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4Each one should test his own actions. Today I read a story writen by Chuck Smith (pastor of Calvary Chapel)that illustrates the passage above. Chuck Smith writes "Years ago a close friend operated a delivery business to grocery stores. During his rounds he met the wife of a man who owned a small market. They began to kid around with one another and, before long, they were meeting regularly to drink coffee and to talk. They soon fancied themselves in love, left their families, and moved in together. That's when this man's wife, also a dear friend, called us and asked if we would pray for him. Meanwhile, the minister of the church where our friends had been attending paid a visit to the man. The pastor told him that he had a vision of a black hearse and if the man didn't leave this woman and go back to his wife, they were going to carry him out of that room feetfirst. This heavy-handed approach only made the man more angry and entrenched him in his immoral decision. His wife then called me and asked if I would talk to him. I agreed to go and found my friend living in a shabby garage apartment on the bad side of town. When I saw his filthy little home, I was struck by how much he had lost. His wife and daughters were beautiful people. His home was in a wonderful area. This man had sold his soul for a crust of bread. As he came to the door, a look of shame covered his face. He was very polite and invited me to come in and sit down. As I looked around at my friend's new life I thought, Oh, God! How could he give up so much for so little? My heart was breaking because I loved this man. The sight of what he had fallen into tore me apart. I found myself unable to conceal my feelings, and much to my embarrassment I began to weep. I was overcome with grief, and when his lover emerged from the kitchen all I could do was sob. I finally got so embarrassed I said, "I'm very sorry. I know I came over to see you, but I just can't talk right now." I got up, left, and went home feeling like a fool. Here my good friend's wife wanted me to visit him and make an appeal for reconciliation, and all I could do was sit there and cry. The next morning I received a phone call with news that left me in shock. My friend had returned to his wife and family just hours after my visit. What did God use to achieve this miraculous healing of a fractured relationship? Not a holier-than-thou attitude, to be certain. His Spirit had created in me a spirit of meekness and brokenness that led to a joyful reconciliation. I thought I had blundered terribly - but I discovered that whenever we choose to walk in the Spirit, God delights to work powerfully In stunning and unexpected ways. Walking in the Spirit is an amazingly practical proposition. It doesn't mean that we float through life with a halo over our head and an angelic smile on our face. We can be spiritually minded and still relate to people about earthly things. Some believers react so strongly against the pervasive worldliness of our culture that they lose the ability to communicate with their friends, relatives, and neighbors. Walking in the Spirit doesn't take us out of reality; it allows us to function in reality with optimum effectiveness."