This morning I have been reading through Paul's first letter to the Church in Corinth. I am interested in his perspective on the churches role in judgement. In chapter four he is writing about not wanting to judge himself. Here are the verses:
1 Corinthians 4:1-5 NIV:
[1] "This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. [2] Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. [3] I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. [4] My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. [5] Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God."
I think the key statement is in verse 5, where he talks about the Lord judging and exposing the motive of our hearts. He says to judge nothing before the appointed time, that time being the day of judgement when the Lord comes. Then in the next chapter he talks about the church judging its members.
1 Corinthians 5:2-5, 9-13 NIV
[2] "And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this? [3] For my part, even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. As one who is present with you in this way, I have already passed judgment in the name of our Lord Jesus on the one who has been doing this. [4] So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, [5] hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.
[9] I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people--- [10] not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. [11] But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people. [12] What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? [13] God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”
Here is an interesting case concerning the body, knowing about the sin of one of the members, and doing nothing about it. He calls the church to judge those inside the church, having nothing to do with those who say they are brothers, but remain in sinful lifestyles. As we were talking yesterday in church, it clearly has to do with the heart attitude, the pursuit of God, the working in our lives of God's mercy and grace, helping us to get free of sin in our lives. If there re those that are in the Church, who are not repentant, not pursuing God, than its clear they are not pursuing a relationship with the Lord, and becoming more like Him.
This is where we step onto a slippery slope of judgement, or trying to judge others motive's of their hearts, trying to give people grace to grow in holiness, without casting them out of the church for their sins. If a person comes out of the world, into the church, often times they have many sinful lifestyles. I have seen the Lord graciously lead these people to wholeness and purity, gently walking them away from their previous choices, and enabling them to step free. I have seen Him work this way in my life as well, not requiring purity and perfect obedience from day one, but rather guiding me through areas, one at a time, sometimes two, and helping me to recognize my sin, repent of it, and choosing to follow Him. I am also aware of others who the Lord, changes radically in a day - those who were addicted to drugs who are set free in a moment, never even going through withdrawl.
It seems to me that Lord leads each of us individually, and that we need to give the Lord room to do so. At the same time we need to encourage all to purity, and holiness in relationship with Jesus. We need to preach Godliness, identify sin as sin, recognize that we are all sinners, and encourage all to move forward in the Lord. When there are those who are clearly not pursuing the Lord, not living lives that embrace repentance, and doing so while maintaining that they are part of the Body of Christ, then we need address those situations, and encourage them to step into right relationship with Jesus. It is apparent that in these situations they are not really walking in relationship, or do not have a right attitude about their relationship wth God. We are supposed to be transformed through the renewing of our mind, becoming like Him, in all ways.
As the church, we must represent Christ, preaching the Gospel of salvation and forgiveness of sins. We must call people out of the world into the Kingdom of God, and help them to grow in holiness and Christ-likeness. We must accurately preach the Gospel, and correctly demonstrate and guard the fundamental truths of our faith and beliefs. We must remain balanced in our pursuit of God and our message, not giving way to 'religion' and a works mentality, at the same time not preaching some sort of free grace message that lacks any conversation of repentance and pursuit of relationship with the Lord. We must hold out the message of life to those that are deceived and on the path of destruction.
Amen Lord! help Your Church to grasp the truth, and accurately communicate this to the world.
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