Admonish him as a brother

And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother. – 2 Thessalonians 3.14-15

One of the toughest things about dealing with other Christians is what to do when they fall into sin. It is easy to get scared off by Jesus' words when He tells us not to judge another about the speck in their eye until will deal with the weaver's beam in our own eye. And yet here we are told if a brother is ignoring the word of God we are to 'mark him and not keep company with him. Paul told the church in Corinth how to do that when one of their members was is sin.

I think we are seeing the importance of an attitude here. We have to deal with sin, but we don’t have to be ugly in the way we do it. We don’t treat our own like enemies even when they are in the wrong. We always remember that this is our brother and our goal is to restore him to fellowship. The word ‘admonish’ means that we lovingly warn and instruct him. We don’t kick him to the kerb.

We have no right to be proud or arrogant or ‘holier than thou’ when a brother stumbles. When we think we stand tall we need to take heed lest we fall.

True brothers stick together – even when one of them struggles.