Welcome back to my blog. I am so glad you can visit today.
Over the past few weeks, we have reviewed scriptural methods to recognize true and un-true believers (tares) within the church. Why is helping an unbeliever towards salvation so important? Bringing them lovingly to Christ is vital for the church for two reasons:
- Salvation in Christ is essential for the individual for eternal life.
- Salvation for the unbelieving church member is important for the local church. A congregation needs active members to be effective, so they help and don’t hinder the advance of the gospel and affecting society for good.
We'll deal with salvation in upcoming blogs, but let's consider today the influence of the unbelieving church member inside the local church.
Scripture stresses the importance of unity in the church (Ephesians 4:1-7). Unfortunately, churches sometimes can be a place of discord with angry splits between groups. No one knows all the reasons for disunity in churches, either on the personal or global level. The causes are probably multiple.
However, an unbelieving church member may pursue an agenda that can be distracting to church unity either by wasting people's time for their disruptive purposes or a deeper discord leading potentially to division. Although I don’t know that this question has been researched specifically, I believe generally a tare could negatively influence the church in several ways, by:
- Building a power base by which they can control a portion of the church ministry
- Seeking attention for their emotional pain or desires - While appropriate biblically (Galatians 6:2) this situation can become draining if the tare is not willing to change to conform to scriptural wisdom, or is solely interested in soaking up people's attention.
- Living a passive Christian life - Even if the tare is not overtly disruptive, they can have a negative influence by merely talking continuously about subjects that are non-biblical, or not encouraging others to seek scripture or act in godly ways. Otherwise, they hide the truth by their words and actions.
For the church to function productively and for individual Christians to attain the greatest benefit from body life, the effect of tares and other unbiblical agendas must be limited. How to do this?
- Recognize who tares are (please read the prior blog https://teleiosresearch.com/what-is-a-tare/).
- As we discussed before, bringing them salvation this is the best solution!
- Expect tares to conform their life to the Bible. If they do not, then members and leadership should consider:
- Limiting social and fellowship time with them.
- Refraining from giving them spiritual or non-spiritual leadership positions from which they might build their expectations that they could influence the church.
- Consider corrective biblical action (by the church leaders) if the tare is clearly disruptive to body life (e.g., Matthew 18:15-20, 2 Corinthians 2:5-11).
The health of the modern church is vital! Each member should be a functioning, growing Christian who facilitates fruitful and positive teaching, praise, prayer and fellowship and enables the church to have a positive impact on their community. Don’t allow the agenda of a limited few, who refuse to come to Christ or be obedient to Scripture, to diminish the progress of Christ’s church!
Next week we will begin talking about methods to bring salvation to unbelievers/tares. Please come back and join us then.
William C. Stewart, MD
For questions or to view more of our research…
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Disclaimer - This blog and its content are provided only as information and are intended for visitors 18 and older. No content on the website should be taken as advice or recommendation to any personal or institutional situation. The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily either shared or endorsed by Teleios. Both the blog and the contents are subject to change at any time without notice. Although I endeavor to ensure that the blog and the content are current and accurate, it may contain errors. I do not represent that the blog or the content is current, accurate or complete, or appropriate for your specific requirements. I do not accept any liability from any person for the blog, the content or any other information (or the use of such information) I provide. I do not have a seminary degree, but I have trained myself in the scriptures to teach and provide this information. For any specific question, I suggest you contact experts in that field and or do your own research into the scriptures.
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