Silas
Beloved of All
Your desire to see obedience to everything Jesus commanded is right and comes from a sincere love for Christ and for His people. The burden you carry to see His word honored even when it is difficult is a mark of faithfulness, and God sees it.
Scripture is clear that we are called to speak the truth whether people listen or not. The Lord told Ezekiel to speak to a rebellious house and said they would know a prophet had been among them whether they listened or refused to listen. The same pattern runs through the whole Bible. God warned Adam and Eve though He knew they would disobey. He sent Moses to Pharaoh and told Moses beforehand that Pharaoh would not listen. Israel in the wilderness repeatedly refused to heed the Lord through Moses, and the prophets and apostles were sent again and again to a people who often rejected them. Jesus Himself came to His own and His own did not receive Him, though the world was made through Him. When He sent out the seventy He told them to shake the dust from their feet where they were not received. Our calling is not measured by popularity or response. As Jesus said, the one who rejects Him and does not receive His words has one who judges him, the very word He spoke will judge him on the last day.
That is why the Great Commission cannot be reduced to only going or baptizing. Jesus said to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe everything He commanded. We are not free to pick and choose which commands to teach. Obedience to all that He taught is the way disciples are made.
Within that obedience Jesus gave a clear way for handling sin and conflict among His people. If a brother or sister sins, first go privately. If they will not listen, take one or two others so that every matter may be established by two or three witnesses. If they still refuse to listen, bring it before the church. If they refuse to listen even to the church, then they are to be regarded as outside the fellowship, as one who is not walking with God's people. This was given before the church was formally established, yet it is the pattern Jesus set for how relationships are to be guarded and restored. Its purpose is not punishment but purification and restoration, that the person might be brought to repentance and walk again in holiness and in fellowship with others, as John writes that if we walk in the light as He is in the light we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.
That purifying work is part of the church's very identity. Jesus said His people are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Salt preserves and prevents decay. If the church loses that preserving influence and no longer stands for righteousness, it becomes good for nothing and is trampled underfoot. The mission of the church is to open eyes, to turn people from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are set apart. A church that only functions as a social center has lost that calling. God chose ordinary people with ordinary struggles to be His disciples, and He still uses ordinary, imperfect people to carry this mission with love and humility, checking our own attitudes as we do it.
I understand the discouragement you feel when you have reached out to those with responsibility and received only vague and general replies, and when you sense that messages are being answered indirectly rather than through clear obedience to Matthew 18. It is painful to care deeply about holiness in the community and to long to see someone restored while feeling your appeal is not fully heard. Continue to speak the truth in love, patiently and without seeking to win favor with people. The Lord is not looking for those who please men but for those who faithfully teach and obey His word, trusting that He is with us to the end of the age.
Keep praying that God would work repentance and a renewed walk in the light, and that those who lead would have courage to follow the steps Jesus outlined for the sake of the person's soul and the health of the whole fellowship. Even if the response is not what you hope, your obedience in speaking faithfully matters to God, and the word you have spoken in love will remain as a testimony.
May the Lord strengthen you to fear Him above the opinions of others, to keep speaking what is true and right with grace and humility, and to rest in His peace that guards heart and mind in Christ. May He grant repentance where it is needed, bring cleansing and restoration, and help His people to be a clear and preserving light in a dark world.
Scripture is clear that we are called to speak the truth whether people listen or not. The Lord told Ezekiel to speak to a rebellious house and said they would know a prophet had been among them whether they listened or refused to listen. The same pattern runs through the whole Bible. God warned Adam and Eve though He knew they would disobey. He sent Moses to Pharaoh and told Moses beforehand that Pharaoh would not listen. Israel in the wilderness repeatedly refused to heed the Lord through Moses, and the prophets and apostles were sent again and again to a people who often rejected them. Jesus Himself came to His own and His own did not receive Him, though the world was made through Him. When He sent out the seventy He told them to shake the dust from their feet where they were not received. Our calling is not measured by popularity or response. As Jesus said, the one who rejects Him and does not receive His words has one who judges him, the very word He spoke will judge him on the last day.
That is why the Great Commission cannot be reduced to only going or baptizing. Jesus said to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe everything He commanded. We are not free to pick and choose which commands to teach. Obedience to all that He taught is the way disciples are made.
Within that obedience Jesus gave a clear way for handling sin and conflict among His people. If a brother or sister sins, first go privately. If they will not listen, take one or two others so that every matter may be established by two or three witnesses. If they still refuse to listen, bring it before the church. If they refuse to listen even to the church, then they are to be regarded as outside the fellowship, as one who is not walking with God's people. This was given before the church was formally established, yet it is the pattern Jesus set for how relationships are to be guarded and restored. Its purpose is not punishment but purification and restoration, that the person might be brought to repentance and walk again in holiness and in fellowship with others, as John writes that if we walk in the light as He is in the light we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.
That purifying work is part of the church's very identity. Jesus said His people are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Salt preserves and prevents decay. If the church loses that preserving influence and no longer stands for righteousness, it becomes good for nothing and is trampled underfoot. The mission of the church is to open eyes, to turn people from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are set apart. A church that only functions as a social center has lost that calling. God chose ordinary people with ordinary struggles to be His disciples, and He still uses ordinary, imperfect people to carry this mission with love and humility, checking our own attitudes as we do it.
I understand the discouragement you feel when you have reached out to those with responsibility and received only vague and general replies, and when you sense that messages are being answered indirectly rather than through clear obedience to Matthew 18. It is painful to care deeply about holiness in the community and to long to see someone restored while feeling your appeal is not fully heard. Continue to speak the truth in love, patiently and without seeking to win favor with people. The Lord is not looking for those who please men but for those who faithfully teach and obey His word, trusting that He is with us to the end of the age.
Keep praying that God would work repentance and a renewed walk in the light, and that those who lead would have courage to follow the steps Jesus outlined for the sake of the person's soul and the health of the whole fellowship. Even if the response is not what you hope, your obedience in speaking faithfully matters to God, and the word you have spoken in love will remain as a testimony.
May the Lord strengthen you to fear Him above the opinions of others, to keep speaking what is true and right with grace and humility, and to rest in His peace that guards heart and mind in Christ. May He grant repentance where it is needed, bring cleansing and restoration, and help His people to be a clear and preserving light in a dark world.
