1 Samuel 24; Psalm 39; Ezekiel 3; 1 Corinthians 5
When the news comes on, I usually make judgments against those who are lawbreakers and rebellious. Sometimes I might pity their plight with excuses and reasons. However, when the church is reported as doing something offensive, Christians are usually defensive. How are we supposed to respond if someone in the family of God is the news maker?
Yesterday a friend told me a story about Christian responsibility — the problem of false teaching and immorality within our midst. She said in her city an atheist wanted to be the pastor of a church. The officials of that denomination decided this was okay and let it happen. How can a person who denies the existence of God be a spokesperson for the God that they deny? This seems so ludicrous that it is almost laughable.
This happened twenty years ago but the deterioration continues. False teachers have invaded our midst and to those outside the faith, the church, in general, has lost its credibility. This isn’t funny.
There are many strong and faithful local congregations but those who are pure, faithful to God and do good in their communities often fail to make the news. It is the rebels in our midst that get the press, those who cheat on their spouse, lie on their income tax, and embarrass those who love God and remain true to His Word.
Even then, many of us struggle to be totally true what God says. This morning a couple verses jumped out at me as I thought of my friend’s story. Paul wrote this to a church that was losing its credibility for several reasons. One of them was putting up with sin in their midst . . .
But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.” (1 Corinthians 5:11–13)
Again, it is easy to judge the sin of people who do not know the Savior, but that really is not our place nor is it fair. Unsaved people, according to Scripture, have no power to stop their behavior. God knows that and bids them to turn to Him, to ask forgiveness and invite into their lives the One who conquers sin. Telling them to quit doing bad things is like telling a leopard to change its spots. They need to know Jesus who empowers us to battle sin.
Christians (at least true Christians) have all we need to do this and have no excuse for sin. Yet we fail and when we confess our sin, God forgives us, lifts us up and helps us move forward.
We also have no excuse for letting false teachers into our midst. God’s Word warns us multiple times yet some seem oblivious to those who preach “another gospel” or teach things that are contrary to the Word of God, even to the point of allowing atheists to become our teachers and people who defy the Word of God to tell us it is okay to do the same.
1 Corinthians also reveals that this church was imposing judgments “beyond what is written” (4:6). That is, they set down standards and criteria with no basis in God’s revelation but based on the interests of their various groups and biases, yet in chapter 5 they were not imposing judgments as they should. Scripture tells how to deal with sin in our midst. In other words, no matter what was going on, this church was disobeying God.
Today’s local churches are as varied as wildflowers, from legalism with rules to “freedom” with “anything goes” . . . and all variations in between. No wonder many, even genuine Christians, have decided to drop church affiliation. The trouble is many believers miss out on the proper functioning of the Body of Christ, miss opportunities to hear the truth and be edified, and are unable to share it and defend it to a world that so desperately needs it.
APPLY: Yesterday’s sermon was about Nehemiah. He was exiled with his people in Babylon but heard of the conditions back home in Jerusalem. He wanted to repair that city’s walls so he prayed for about three months. When the king in Babylon allowed him to go, there was opposition from all sides yet the wall was finished in 51 days. God can do the same kind of repair job in His church. He calls on those who care to pray. For me, that is what God keeps saying: pray about the neediness I see in others and in my own life. God can repair it all — and quickly, yet we need to seek Him with all our hearts.