Hi all,
I
began this series saying Christians often break fellowshipfor wrong
reasons while ignoring the actual reasons given in scripture. Many of us
have had friends drop us like radioactive waste when we changed
churches or did the slightest thing to offend them, leaving us clueless
as to what we did wrong!.
Confusion in the body of Christ
Let
us not forget people who refuse to break fellowship when they should:
They stay loyal to a minister after he divorces his wife and mother of
their children to marry their nanny and is right back in the pulpit
after the honeymoon. Or they remain loyal to the pastor who weekly
manipulates their hard earned money out of their pockets to line his
own, or the pastor who creates a church culture so toxic that if anyone
raises the slightest question about anything, they are the ones accused
of having a demon.
I
want to teach the Word in context. So I don't want anyone to think
Paul's list of habitual sins in I Corinthians 5 that qualify as reasons
to break fellowship includes family members, co-workers, is license for
divorce, or other situations outside the context in which he was
writing.
Not talking kids and workplace situations
He
was not sharing (nor was I) about adult children who once walked with
the Lord but are now living in one or more of those various sins, nor
was he talking about co-workers at the job.
For
co-workers, you were hired to work, not witness or discuss spiritual
things, so work. They aren't persecuting you, they just want you to do
what you were hired to do; work. Paul said to work not with eye service
as a man-pleaser, but unto the Lord who sees and knows all. Let your
witness be your quality work.
For
adult children I will suggest this; They know they are living in sin,
or are an addict, and that you are praying for them. They don't need mom
and dad expressing their disapproval every time you see them, nor do
they need to hear a sermon. What they need is for you to be mom and dad.
Romans 2:4 says, 'Do you not know it is the goodness of God that leads
to repentance.' Show them God's goodness in you.
Let
them see the Lord's faithfulness in your life, and talk wisdom to them.
Help them make right decisions, and know that none of their behavior
caught the Lord by surprise. Pray for them what Paul prayed, and I pray
this for myself regularly, according to Ephesians 1:17-18 and Colossians
1:9 - that they may receive the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in Him,
that the eyes of their understanding would be opened, that they may be
filled with all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
The good news is the man repented
There
is good news with the man of I Corinthians 5. You'll recall he had an
ongoing sexual relationship with his step-mother, Paul pronounced
judgment on him and turned him over to Satan for the destruction of his
flesh for an early death so he would be saved - but he repented and was
restored. Don't let that point be lost - after judgment was pronounced, he repented and it was accepted. So what indicates a true repentance?
Paul
says in II Corinthians 7:8 of the effect of his first letter to them:
"Though the letter caused you sorrow I do not regret it, though I did a
little for I see it caused you grief and sorrow, though only for a
little while."
He said he caused them 'grief' or 'sorrow', which is the Greek word 'lupe'. the Amplified Version says 'pain'. This is not just
emotional pain and grief, but deeper, spiritual grief. It may take a
sharp, confrontational word to them, as Paul's letter was, that caused
the 'wake up' moment.
Godly grief
II Corinthians 7:9 continues: "I am glad now, not that you were pained, but that you were pained to repentance, for you felt a grief that God meant for you to feel, so that you might not suffer any loss..."
Godly
grief and repentance is all about God and draws us to Him. False
repentance is focused on self keeps a person from God. There is a Godly
sorrow and that draws us to Him which allows us to receive mercy and
grace to help in time of need - restoration. It is a healthy part of
repentance.
And the next verse defines it even more: "For godly grief and the pain God is permitted to direct,
produce a repentance that leads and contributes to salvation and
deliverance from evil, and it never brings regret. But worldly grief is
deadly (the hopeless sorrow characteristic of the pagan world)."
(Amplified Version)
The
people we must break fellowship with need to experience a Godly pain of
the heart which directs them to Him. God is permitted to direct a godly
sorrow because our hearts are turned to Him to give Him that
permission. Have they given the Lord permission to deal with them on
this subject? Have they experienced that grief God wants them to
experience? David did. The man and the congregation of I Corinthians 5
did.
Experience the Holy Spirit, or knowing God?
Because
true repentance flows from this revelation from God that we have
sinned, I wonder if because so many churches provide a church experience
instead of a God experience, people learn church-based repentance and
formula repentance rather than a heavenly revelation based repentance
the Bible describes.
People
are trained to go to an auditorium to experience God rather than first
experiencing God through the week in their personal lives. A whole
congregation following a "Pray this prayer after me" instruction has
become 'repentance'. They are trained to experience God corporately
through worship or teaching, but once they walk out that door they don't
know Him individually - they only know His presence corporately.
Because
sin is personal between the human heart and God, the auditorium can
offer little help as they try to battle sin. Repentance requires a
person to pray their own prayer from their heart, not follow someone
else's idea of what they think a person's heart should express.
As
a result, millions of Christians are stuck powerless in a love/hate
relationship with themselves and God wondering why He won't deliver
them, ignorant that the power over their sin flows from revelation of
the Father on a personal basis, not on a corporate basis.
If not corporate anointing, then...
I've
seen people come forward week after week to altar calls yet are nothing
bettered. Some years ago I began discreetly asking a few about their
lives and found a common trait - each came forward expecting the pastor
(prophet, teacher) to lay hands on them and if they kept coming forward,
one day, Lord willing, hopefully, if the anointing is heavy enough and
there is an open heaven that night, and the pastor holds his tongue just
right, God will touch them and deliver them.
This
culture of 'someone laying hands on me is the key to my breakthrough'
is in contrast to scripture. Repentance is the first word of salvation.
Hebrews 6:1 lists repentance as the first characteristic of the
foundation of faith. Has the seeker friendly, politically correct, don't
pressure anyone, and don't mention 'sin', culture robbed people of a
true salvation experience involving repentance?
We were
created sovereign beings which means neither God nor the devil are able
to make us do anything. Many in the body of Christ need to find
backbone, find determination, and stop waiting for some anointed magic
beans to solve their sin problem, and just repent. Often though, they
love their sin more than our presence in their lives, and would rather
stay in sin than seek God with their whole heart.
It's
always harder work to seek God than seek sin. The standard life line
the church throws to people in need of repentance is, 'Come back next
week and hear the message' (or the guest speaker) because many
pastors have lost or never had in their own lives the knowledge of how
to seek God, so can't lead others.
Just talk to Him from your innermost heart
Again,
for many in the body of Christ, they know how to pray corporately,
worship corporately, receive teaching corporately, even repent
corporately.
But
they don't know how to just talk to the Father conversationally one on
one (nor repent on a one to one basis). Find reasons to talk to Him
- tell Him of the beautiful morning, on the great timing of something
good in your life, and of that issue you are struggling with. Don't get
into the habit of you and He struggling with a sin yet never
actually talking to Him about it - be blunt, be honest - He can handle
it. He has invested in you for the long haul - eternity.
He
knew of our struggles at this time before He even created the world,
yet Jesus still died for us. He not only loves you, He likes you. Wow.
Once you share your heart to Him openly and honestly, be quiet, and let
Him share His heart openly and honestly with you, which may take weeks
or months. Walk with Him in that. That revelation leads to a repentance
that will never be regretted, and will draw you closer to Him than you
ever have been before.
Blessings,
John Fenn
Remember to use cwowi@aol.com for personal email
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