and leads them out

Spoke up a few days ago and discussed the need for heart change. Spoke to a brother and discussed Josh7 and the sin of Achan. For those who don't want to spend the time recalling the story, Achan hid some loot from the rest of the tribe, but could not hide it from the Lord. The result of the hidden sin was the defeat of Israel in battle. The sin and sinner were rooted out. Israel atoned for its sin by stoning Achan and his family.

You might call this excessive punishment. What did the family have to do with the sin? Obviously, you can't hide the amount of loot that Achan had taken without the entire family also knowing of the sin and abetting him with their silence. At the same time, I'll proffer an additional reason: because leaders of tribes lead with their whole families and not themselves.

Churches these days survive and function on the energy and spirit of a committed 10%. That 10% often spreads across the branches of several families. It is rare that a single member of a family participates completely without the whole serving together. That is the Biblical ideal: families that model the familial aspects of the Trinity and our role as children of the Father. It highlights all the more the importance of the shepherding father. The poor shepherd can not only adversely affect a tribe/congregation, but also the consequences for said infraction will also be paid family-wide.

This didn't head where I was expecting it to head. Expected to discuss the sins of leaders affecting a flock. Turned out to be geared toward fathers and families. I'll take that as divine lesson and discuss leadership failings another time. My guess is that topic will, unfortunately, not go away.