If He Listens

 

 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother….If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Matthew 18:15,17

 

In a large church having a Bible believing reputation, a friend was seeing that appearances were different than reality. When problems arose within that church, leadership would compromise their ethics if dealing with the problem would get uncomfortable.

“Uncomfortable” included things like confronting the sinner, the possibility that someone would quit membership, or the publicity would be bad.  They (leadership) compromised, leaving the Word of God for the comfort of “what feels right.”

After addressing these issues, my friend decided to leave that church.

It seems that people do not usually leave a church over one issue. For our friend, it was several years of watching as unbiblical decisions were made. She and her husband prayed and went to the leadership to express their concerns. Their concerns were acknowledged by some, excused away by others.

It does not display biblical justice when leaders’ concerns are more about the sinner than God’s Word.  We should not worry that people will hear about the sin if it is confronted.  God says we are to confront sin as individuals and if they refuse to hear it, we ask the church to step in (Matthew 18:15- 18).

Please know that I am talking about sin that needs to be confronted by a spiritual leader, for the sake of the sinner and his/her relationship with the Lord. Leaving a person in unrepented sin is dangerous for that person’s standing with God.  They will not experience His blessing. (Deuteronomy 11:27).  He will not hear their prayers. (Isaiah 59:1-2). James 5:20 says, “let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”

Church leaders are human. They are not going to get it perfectly right in every situation. However, a consistent pattern of this lack of biblical leadership is something that needs to be addressed. Doing so helps protect the local church from future problems.

Leaving a church is a decision that should be made with a lot of prayer, not hastily, and not in a huff. Nor should we leave to avoid conflict because we are unwilling to go and talk to a pastor or church leader about a difficult issue. (That’s the same problem for which we’d be leaving!)

If it is a matter of Biblical truth and not personal preference, God will be with us in the conversation. If you see your leaders making unbiblical decisions, how, and who, do you need to approach?