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Dealing with unbelievers in the church – part 2

Continued from part 1.

Bringing them back

It is worth pointing out the process which one is to go through in bringing someone wandering astray to salvation in Christ.  The process is laid out in Matt 18:15-17. 

The first step is to talk to them one on one – tell them their fault.  This is to be done with gentleness (2 Tim 2:24-25), as a brother, rather than as an enemy (2 Thess 3:15). 

If that fails – that is if they blow you off or simply fail to respond, in spite of your clear pleading to repent, then take along one or two other brothers or sisters who can aid you in your reasoning with the individual.  This builds the pressure on the person to respond.  A lack of response is rejection of the message that is being brought and this takes a hard heart for this to be the response.

Thus, the only course of action to take is to expose the state of this person (Eph 5:11) to the wider congregation.  This is done to make it clear where this person stands with this particular sin so that the congregation can as a group work to move that individual to repentance. If the individual fails to respond to the whole church going after them exhorting them and encouraging them to turn to the Lord, then – and only when every attempt to convict them of their sin before the Lord has been done – they are to be regarded as an unbeliever (Matt 18:17).

Some personal prerequisites

Its easy to take this sort of process and apply a militant attitude to its exercise, however, it is worth considering the sort of attitude and ultimately person that should be doing this.

Firstly, considering the culture we are to have as a church, we should cannot take this sort of thing lightly.  Firstly, we are dealing with their souls.  There are plenty of warning about what happens to soul that sins – it shall die (Ezek 18:4).  The wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23).   Thus when James says that the one who brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death – it means the eternal death that comes as a result of dying in sin without believing in Christ (John 8:24).

The fact that this person is facing a future in the wrath of the holy God is a good reason to be concerned.  But when you consider the culture that we should have in the church – this person should be someone who is closer to us than many people who are in our workplaces.  In short this person should be a much loved member of the congregation who has come into the mutual concern and charge of the assembly of believers.

If we have this sort of culture, then this person will not just be an attendee but a friend.  Thus this first step of confronting them is to be done not as a person being managed but as a beloved brother in Christ.  It should pain us to have to do this – much less to a beloved friend.  However, we are driven not by the flesh but by the Spirit (Gal 5:17,24) and our love for Christ should be greater than our love even for our own family (Matt 10:37).  As a friend we should be concerned for their soul.  A real friend cares about the real issues a person faces – not just the superficial ones.  This gives our case credibility as we are not doing it to be a problem, rather we are doing it out of a heart of genuine concern.  Faithful are the wounds of a friend (Prov 27:5-6)…

Before we do this, not only should we have a depth of relationship with them that we have a heartfelt desire to see them saved, but we also need to have our own lives in order.

Luke 6:42 says that before we go and sort out our brothers (small) problem, we should have the (large) problems out of our own lives.  Gal 6:1 says "you who are spiritual restore such a one".  We must be people who demonstrate a real love the Lord ourselves – or our reasons for confronting the person will be based on a concern for the glory of Christ and a love for the soul of the person – not a self righteous judgement.

Conclusion

The church today is literally filled with goats.  They are mixed with the sheep and have no idea that the real issue is how they relate to Christ no how moral they are or how they relate to others in the church. There is a real requirement today for discernment and a willingness to deal with conflict for the sake of purity and the salvation of unbelievers.

This should be taken seriously.  Jesus said of the church in Sardis that "You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.  Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember, then, what you have received and heard.  keep it, and repent.  If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you."

Our churches today are not in a good state, and many churches are dying out.  I'm convinced that a large part of the problem is unsaved people taking positions of authority in the church, but having no passion for the truth they don't reach out to the lost and they don't care for much beyond their own family, friends and businesses.  Christ is an afterthought for many, and it is killing churches everywhere. 

May the Lord use us to make the difference in the church we are in, so that His name is lifted up in the lives of those who are saved by His grace.

Dealing with unbelievers in the church – part 1

On Tuesday we finished our series on James with James 5:19-20.  James has been a great series, and one which I've learned a lot from. 

The topic of the last two verses is dealing with unbelievers in the church.  I thought I'd write up some of the key points here in the hopes that they might be of use to others or to those who came along.

The passage is talking about saving those who wander from the truth, the affects of it and the need to do it.

We need to start by establishing that these people are unregenerate.  Verse 19 uses the term "wanders from the truth".  The term wander (sometimes translated as led astray) comes from a root that is also found in Titus 3:3, 1 Peter 2:25 and Matthew 24:24 to talk of the unregenerate (unsaved). 

Verse 20 also calls these people "sinners".  The term sinners is never applied to believers.  The New Testament sees people as either sinners or saints – that is it regards people based on their position before God, not necessarily the way they live.  Thus these two verses are about the unregenerate among those who James was writing to.

Where to start?  Lets start with the background assumption that makes this possible.

Biblical church  culture

We see the early church devoting themselves to the apostles teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread and to prayer.  We understand most of this, but fellowship is something worth considering further – it is not something that we often dwell on.  The word fellowship is also translated "sharing" (1 Cor 10:16, Phil 3:10, Philem 6) and participation (Phil 2:1).  Websters dictionary explains "fellowship" as a "community of interest, activity, feeling or experience". 

What is the interest, activity, feeling or experience among believers?  It is the glory of God being manifested in people saved by the righteousness of Jesus Christ (activity) – the common faith to which we all are bound (experience) (2 Pet 1:1, Titus 1:4, Jude 3).  This means that the community of believers is founded on righteousness (of Christ), peace (in Christ) and Joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom 14:17).  The culture that should be in the church as a result of this bond should be one where each of the individuals in the church have a desire to see the Lord glorified in other members of the church.

The end result of this desire to see the Lord glorified in each other is that we will talk about the things of the Lord. We should be asking how our walks are, what is it that we've been reading/studying this week, what can I pray for you about, and I should be willing to expose this level of detail about myself to other believers for both their good and mine.

The goal of this probing is not to cut each other down, but to get to the real issues in the lives of each believer so that we can encourage, pray for, exhort and occasionally rebuke each other (2 Tim 3:16).  We are to "confess our sins to one another and pray for one another" (James 5:16).  That is that if we are struggling with sin – fellow believers are the ones who can help us overcome through accountability and prayer.  If we are in a financial or similar crisis we should all be there to help out.  When one part of the body is weak, we should gather around and work together to strengthen what remains.

Identifying problems

So – how do we know when someone is wandering from the truth?  There will be lots of variations but there are a number of simple things to look for.

Matthew 7:18 says that a good tree cannot bear bad fruit and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.  This is a metaphorical way of saying a Christian – one who is born again by the Spirit of God – will cease from sin.  That is – there should be a marked difference between a true believer and an unbeliever in terms of the things that they are affectionate about.   1 John 3:7-9 echoes this:

Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. ⁸ Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. ⁹ No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.

Thus, for a believer to continue in sin, means either stand clear for the discipline of the Lord is about to descend, or they are not born again.

It is possible for believers to sin, however, it is not the pattern of a believers life to sin.  We can get led astray in some theology, but if we belong to the Lord we will be disciplined and corrected.

There should be a definite change in behavior from unbeliever to believer.  The reason for this is that the love of Christ controls/compels/constrains us.  That is that the Spirit of God transforms our affections so that they are focused on Christ.  Paul said to the Corinthians that they were not restrained by Paul and his colleagues, but by their own affections (2 Cor 6:12).  That is that they had been sidetracked by unimportant things – and not focused on Christ.

We read the same thing in Col 3 where Paul tells  the believers in Colossae

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ² Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. ³ For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

This passage contrasts with the legalistic and asceticism warning of Col 2:20-23 where he asked why they submitted to worldly regulations if they had died with Christ.  Here He makes it plain that believers should have their focus firmly on Christ – He is our treasure – in heaven (Matt 6:20-21).

Believers will be constrained/controlled by this love to behave a certain way – in a way that pleases the one we love (Col 1:10, 1 Thess 2:4, 2 Cor 5:9).  One who does not have this love has no joy in pleasing the Lord and thus walks in sin.

This does not mean that they will necessarily be the sort of person who is engaged in drunken orgies each day when they are not at church (although they may be).  Typically the modern churched person will engage in worldly activities including, but not limited to the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the boastful pride of life.  They may be quite moral, but without a love for Christ they are unregenerate.

Next – bringing them back and who is qualified?