Last week we discussed how the church is
God's plan to implement His purposes for this time period before Christ’s
return. It should function efficiently with love and consistency with God's
word. Attendees who push their own non-biblical agendas, whether for emotional
comfort or personal power, represent a danger to the church.
How do we recognize these people and what
should we do about them? Let us consider the first topic over the next two weeks.
We will deal with their treatment afterwards.
A
bible-believing church is generally started by well-meaning Christians who,
because of their lifestyle and biblical teaching, typically attract other
people to the church. This makes sense; good message, nice people!
Many of
these new members will serve and desire to grow in Christ.
However,
others may come for alternative agendas, such as seeking fulfillment of their own
desire for personal power or emotional satisfaction, with no real intent to
grow in their faith. They may or may not be a born again Christian but their
effect is often the same, at a minimum slowing the church by consuming the time
of effective believers, or actively damaging the church by causing dissension.
Christ
himself said there would be unbelievers (tares) in church who would be
impossible to detect (Matthew 13:24-30). However, as best we can, I believe we
should try to uncover unbelieving or unfaithful churchgoers to prayerfully help
them (as they allow) and to protect the church.
The
Bible assists us in providing standards for Christians and how to recognize a
faithful believer. If we know who is faithful it makes it easier to know who is
not (discussed next week). Here are some key sections of scripture.
Spiritual
growth process
Basic
measures, 1 John 2-4 -
This important book describes three major criteria that should characterize a
true believer in the process of maturing (i.e., those in the fellowship of
Christ, I John 1).
· Love - They have a
biblical (agape) love. This type of love is not just an emotional feeling but
is primarily based on truth and what is good for the believer, both actions and
speech (Philippians 1:9; I John 5:2).
· Proper doctrine - This centers around
Jesus and that He: came from God, is Man, is God and is the Christ (our
Redeemer, 1 John 2:22; 1 John 4:2 and 1 John 4:15; 1 John 5:1 and 1 John 5:20).
· Obedience - A true Christian’s
life is generally characterized in following the precepts of Scripture (I John2:4-5).
Unity, Ephesians 4: 1-7 -
The apostle Paul often stresses unity which involves both proper doctrine and
love for each other.
The
true disciple, I Thessalonians 1:5-7 - A true believer is:
· Saved by faith.
· Secure in salvation.
· Accepting of the
guiding principles of God's Word in their lives.
· Imitating scriptural
principles and mature believers around them.
· Influencing others to
the faith.
Believer’s
growth, II Corinthians 3:18 - In short, a true Christian changes over time to become
more Christ-like, as this verse states ‘from glory to glory’.
Spiritual
Outcomes
Fruit of the Spirit, Galatians5:22-23
- These are measures of a person's maturity in the Holy Spirit and include: love, joy, peace, patience,
gentleness, goodness, faith, humility, and self-control.
Qualities
of an elder/deacon, I Timothy 3:1-15 - This is a wonderful group of measures we
can all use to assess ourselves and include generally: family values, personal attitudes,
ability to minister and community reputation.
Controlled
by the Spirit, Ephesians 5:18 - This means we think, act and speak as the
Spirit would.
These Scriptures
help you assess fellow believers. Importantly, assessment is not judging! Christ
judges ultimately at the end of the age (John 5:22). Our job is to consider
others so we can better understand them and help know how to love and help them
(I Timothy 4:16; II Timothy 2:25-26).
Interesting
discussion! Let's continue next week by thinking about what a Christian should be
doing in the church. Thanks for joining me I'll look forward to seeing you
again next week.
Bill
Response policy - The purpose of the comment section is to promote discussion that
is encouraging, propels the further search of Scripture and raises interesting
and thought provoking Biblically related questions. You may feel free to
disagree with me in a constructive manner using appropriate language. I reserve
the right to remove your comments if they are profane, pornographic, libelous
or I do not consider them constructive or consistent with the policy
stated above. By posting you no longer own your comments and you are granting
me an unrestricted worldwide license to use your comments.
Copyright © 2016 Teleios, Inc. All rights reserved.
