Silas
Beloved of All
Your desire to see obedience to everything Jesus commanded is right and biblical, and your burden for repentance and holiness in the community reflects God's own heart. The Great Commission is not only to go and to baptize, but to teach people to observe all that Christ has commanded, Matthew 28:19-20. We cannot pick and choose which commands to teach while claiming to bring the good news. The instruction Jesus gave for dealing with sin among His people is part of that teaching.
Jesus laid out a clear pattern for how relationships are to be cared for and restored when sin remains. First go to the person alone. If he listens, you have gained your brother. Often a person will push back and not receive correction at that first step. If that happens, you are not to keep going alone and risk your word against his. You are to go again with two or three witnesses so that the matter is established. If he still refuses to listen to them, then the matter is to be brought before the church. If he refuses even to hear the church, then he is to be regarded as outside the fellowship, as one who is not yet part of God's people. That pattern was given by Jesus Himself even before the church began, as the way He intends His people to pursue reconciliation and to guard holiness, with restoration always the hope, 1 John 1:5-10.
You are also right that faithfulness is not measured by whether people listen. Scripture shows this from beginning to end. God warned Adam and Eve, though He knew they would disobey, and the Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world, Revelation 13:8. God told Moses to speak to Pharaoh while telling him plainly that Pharaoh would not listen, Exodus 3-4. The generation in the wilderness repeatedly refused to hearken, as the Psalms and Stephen in Acts 7:51 recount, and their bodies fell in the wilderness. The prophets spoke as God told them, whether the people listened or not, Ezekiel 2:5-7, Isaiah 6:9-10, Jeremiah 7:27, and often only a small remnant heard. Jesus Himself was perfect, yet the world did not receive Him, and His own did not receive Him, John 1:10-11. When He sent out the seventy, He told them some would not receive them and to shake the dust from their feet as a testimony. He was not seeking popularity or public approval, John 5:44, John 12:43, Galatians 1:10. The message is God centered, not man centered, and not shaped to be seeker sensitive.
For that reason do not be surprised if you meet resistance or receive only vague and polite replies, or if responses come indirectly rather than through direct obedience. True prophets in Scripture were often persecuted while false prophets were praised and made comfortable, because people do not naturally want to hear God's truth. Jesus said if they hated Him they would hate His followers, and if they persecuted Him they would persecute those who belong to Him, Matthew 10:40, John 15:20. Do not be discouraged by that.
Your calling is to speak the truth in love and leave the results to God. Jesus said the one who rejects Him and does not receive His words has a judge, the very word He spoke will judge him on the last day, John 12:48. The response to the Word is what will matter then. God looks to see whether we have been faithful to teach and to obey what He commanded, trusting His promise that He is with us to the end of the age, Matthew 28:20. What was written in the past was written for our instruction, Romans 15:4, 1 Corinthians 10:11, so we learn perseverance from those who spoke whether they were heard or not.
Continue to pray and to walk faithfully. Pray that those with responsibility will have courage to follow through with what Jesus taught in Matthew 18:16-17, not for punishment but for the hope of repentance and restoration. Pray for the woman you mentioned, that God would grant her a heart to walk in the light, to confess sin and receive cleansing, and to live in holiness within the community. And pray for yourself, that God would give you a mouth and wisdom, settle your heart, and guard you with His peace that passes understanding, Luke 21:15, Philippians 4:6-7, as you trust Him to work whether they listen or not.
Jesus laid out a clear pattern for how relationships are to be cared for and restored when sin remains. First go to the person alone. If he listens, you have gained your brother. Often a person will push back and not receive correction at that first step. If that happens, you are not to keep going alone and risk your word against his. You are to go again with two or three witnesses so that the matter is established. If he still refuses to listen to them, then the matter is to be brought before the church. If he refuses even to hear the church, then he is to be regarded as outside the fellowship, as one who is not yet part of God's people. That pattern was given by Jesus Himself even before the church began, as the way He intends His people to pursue reconciliation and to guard holiness, with restoration always the hope, 1 John 1:5-10.
You are also right that faithfulness is not measured by whether people listen. Scripture shows this from beginning to end. God warned Adam and Eve, though He knew they would disobey, and the Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world, Revelation 13:8. God told Moses to speak to Pharaoh while telling him plainly that Pharaoh would not listen, Exodus 3-4. The generation in the wilderness repeatedly refused to hearken, as the Psalms and Stephen in Acts 7:51 recount, and their bodies fell in the wilderness. The prophets spoke as God told them, whether the people listened or not, Ezekiel 2:5-7, Isaiah 6:9-10, Jeremiah 7:27, and often only a small remnant heard. Jesus Himself was perfect, yet the world did not receive Him, and His own did not receive Him, John 1:10-11. When He sent out the seventy, He told them some would not receive them and to shake the dust from their feet as a testimony. He was not seeking popularity or public approval, John 5:44, John 12:43, Galatians 1:10. The message is God centered, not man centered, and not shaped to be seeker sensitive.
For that reason do not be surprised if you meet resistance or receive only vague and polite replies, or if responses come indirectly rather than through direct obedience. True prophets in Scripture were often persecuted while false prophets were praised and made comfortable, because people do not naturally want to hear God's truth. Jesus said if they hated Him they would hate His followers, and if they persecuted Him they would persecute those who belong to Him, Matthew 10:40, John 15:20. Do not be discouraged by that.
Your calling is to speak the truth in love and leave the results to God. Jesus said the one who rejects Him and does not receive His words has a judge, the very word He spoke will judge him on the last day, John 12:48. The response to the Word is what will matter then. God looks to see whether we have been faithful to teach and to obey what He commanded, trusting His promise that He is with us to the end of the age, Matthew 28:20. What was written in the past was written for our instruction, Romans 15:4, 1 Corinthians 10:11, so we learn perseverance from those who spoke whether they were heard or not.
Continue to pray and to walk faithfully. Pray that those with responsibility will have courage to follow through with what Jesus taught in Matthew 18:16-17, not for punishment but for the hope of repentance and restoration. Pray for the woman you mentioned, that God would grant her a heart to walk in the light, to confess sin and receive cleansing, and to live in holiness within the community. And pray for yourself, that God would give you a mouth and wisdom, settle your heart, and guard you with His peace that passes understanding, Luke 21:15, Philippians 4:6-7, as you trust Him to work whether they listen or not.
