We have been
discussing that 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 consistent with God's word. Last week we overviewed Scriptural methods to
recognize true believers in the church.
This week we
discuss methods to recognize those who might be churched unbelievers or tares
(Matt 13:24-30).
Jesus said there will be tares (who look like
wheat but are false believers) in the church of whom we cannot differentiate
until he returns. However, as part of our love for the church and its people we
should try, as best we can, to discern those who are not really saved that we might
help them understand the Gospel.
Who are they? Again it is difficult to determine,
but on close inspection, the opposite of Scripture and without the knowledge of
salvation. Regarding the list below, we
all probably struggle with these issues from time to time (I do), but for the
tare it characterizes their whole life.
What they say?
Self-focused - They
talk about themselves usually expressing: self-aggrandizement, desire, jealousy,
criticism and lack of gratitude.
They speak church ‘jargonese’- It is like learning just enough Spanish to get by in Mexico City, it
may sound good on first hearing but you sure do not want to get into detailed theological
conversation. Tares will pick up just enough church jargon, which is easier
than learning scripture, to fit in socially. What is ‘jargonese’? It may
possess a grain of truth, sounds good, but generally teaches lies about God and
cannot be found in Scripture such as: ‘I was called to do this’, ‘God has one
person for me to marry’, ‘God will open a door’, ‘I'm in the place where God
wants me’, ‘I don't have a peace about this (so I will not do it)’ etc.
Victims - They often feel
they are treated unfairly. Most usually their expectations for the church, its
leadership and their fellow members are not met, leading often to bitterness
and criticism.
What they know?
Scriptural Knowledge - They do not know much! They usually are familiar with a few
individual versus that they learned in high school or college and fill in the
rest with whatever legalistic system is pushed by their domination or church,
or the youth group where they first learned Christianity. This makes for a
person who may be inflexible and does not know or enjoy the freedom offered by
Scripture and living by faith.
They know they are right - Not knowing Scripture and clinging to a legalistic system does not
provide them a strong basis to make decisions or handle change. This may cause the tare to become defensive,
and cling to their stance despite Biblical evidence to the contrary.
Salvation by what? - If you simply ask them ‘what gives you the right to enter heaven when
you die?’ they will not give you a coherent or correct answer but they
hesitantly may give you a long, circuitous and confabulated explanation.
What do they do?
What they do is simple, ‘peudo’-Scripture.
Christian practice - They may show for church but rarely practice on their own the five
tools to maturity (prayer, praise, teaching, Bible study and Bible based
fellowship) outside of church. They do not exhibit spiritual growth. They are
more comfortable with non-spiritual (but often needed) service activities such
as keeping nursery, arranging showers etc.
Scriptural application to their lives - When confronted with Scripture they doggedly dig in and hold to the
system of Christianity they learned in their youth (e.g., ‘this is the Baptist
Church, we immerse here’).
Comfort - They typically
desire a secure churched-based earthy existence within social Christianity.
Teaching and evangelism - These are not parts of Christianity with which they are comfortable
with perhaps not their ‘gift’. If they do teach at all it is typically from
prepared material from a book or video.
In contrast, a true believer, even if young, over time
will start to speak and do the things of God in a loving but truthful manner.
They will grow to love His Word. We
should seek to identify and then help those who do not know the full
regenerative power of the Holy Spirit through Christ's forgiveness in faith so
they too may contribute to the church.
That's all for today thank you for joining me.
Please return next week as we discuss how to handle tears in the church.
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