Let me ask you a question, how do you deal with a situation where you feel like someone is doing wrong, or acting in a way that poorly reflects their communicated intentions? Most of us perceive this situation to be fraught with conflict, and most of us would be right… My guess is, most of us tend to try avoid actually dealing with the source of the conflict and work around it. Think about being at a restaurant and having your food order messed up, it is easier to express the mess up to a manager than it is to actually talk to you wait staff before escalating the issue. It is easier in at work to discuss another coworkers misgivings than to approach the coworker. I believe that the way Christians deal with conflict, especially those involving sin, tells a lot about what kind of Christianity they ascribe too. It is easy to do an end around another follower of Christ and tell others about their problem and to gain a following on your side, it is a much harder thing to actually confront in love in order to try and see a healthy resolution to the issue. But, if we truly love other, our first response as a Christ follower should be to talk to the individuals rather than to others. It is not loving to withhold the opportunity for this individual or even organization to make things right. It is not loving to place their “sin” out in the world for all to see without sharing with them and affording them the chance to repent and fix the issue… Unfortunately, many Christians take the easy road.

Epic Church is not anywhere near perfect, and we will always have our faults, but this is one area that, as the Pastor, I will not stand! Too many have turned from Christ because the church turns on its own. Jesus spoke very clearly in Matthew 7:1-6 about the type of Judgement a Christian should stand with, his is a warning to all – removing planks and what not… Additionally, in Matthew 18:15-20, Jesus gives very clear instructions on how we are to deal with those who are caught in a sin. This is such an important issue because it deals directly with Christ’s commandment in John 13:34-35 to love one another. If the church is known as a place of gossip and backbiting, then we have already lost… Love does not mean sitting idly by and allowing malicious activity within the body, but it does mean holding people accountable because we love them too much to continue to live in a way that hurts them and destroys their relationship with God. We have a responsibility to love one another in this manner, and this means destroying the tendency in church to judge and criticize, to gossip and tear down when the party themselves has never once heard a lick of what we are saying…

Epic Church of Wichita, wants to be a church that is biblically responsible – because we believe when we honor what scripture says, we will honor people and care for them in the best possible mannor!