"Go after" or "Abandon"?

[corinthpastorbob]

As I read this chapter the first time, I began to sift through mentally a list of church members whose needs I have kept on a prayer list – often the most difficult of situations. Some of these requests have been on my list for years, with the situation not only not getting better – but often getting worse: a rebellious teenager who has become an adult victim of domestic abuse because of poor choices in men, an older couple (70-something) openly living in adultery, married couples who have followed through with separation and divorce – often with devastating consequences to their children, addictions, church members who have removed themselves from active life in the body. This chapter causes me to renew my prayers for them as I wonder, “Are these instances of Satanic assault? Does that fact put them in a different category? How do I know when it is active demonic threat – or do I need to know?�

And how, exactly, do I “go after� them? What is my role? Part of the problem is when the pastoral analogy breaks down. Human beings, unlike sheep, often choose Satan’s grip – or at least choose not to be released from it. In virtually all these cases, at some point I “went after� the sheep in the devil’s grip – confrontation, communication, counseling, warning, sometimes at cost to my own family or at risk of leaving the other sheep vulnerable as more of my time is invested in these cases. Am I “going after� the sheep by sending an occasional e-mail or making a phone call to say, “How’s it going? How can I help? Do you want to talk?�

One Scripture that comes to mind in this connection is 2 Timothy 2:25-26. Paul speaks of those who oppose Timothy as those who need to “escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.� One might think that Paul’s strategy for dealing with this kind of opposition would be aggressive and confrontational. Instead, Paul instructs Timothy to “gently instruct� them, “in the hope that God will grant them repentance…and they will come to their senses.� Even with Satanic activity, sometimes the proper way to “go after� them is through patience and reason.

On the other hand, there is Paul’s harsh condemnation of Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom he “handed over to Satan� (1 Timothy 1:20) – is that only by apostolic authority or should I at times abandon a sheep to the Lion?