If we are honest, we will recognize that it is easier to be more passionate about evangelism than discipline in the church. We like to see the new birth of a Christian in the kingdom of God. What we don’t like so much is the work that follows: the role of helping someone “grow to maturity. “In simple terms: growing is expensive and difficult.
Biblical discipleship requires commitment. This includes walking with someone on sunny days and also through the storms of life. Isn’t it a constant ascent of holiness?
- There are many books that help us think about what a healthy and practical discipleship would look like (we consider Ed Welch’s Side by Side to be very useful in our context).
- But discipelling isn’t just a manual.
- It’s relational.
- And relationships are often confusing and dynamic.
However, Jesus calls us to make disciples, so we must listen better. With all this in mind, we must ask ourselves a difficult question: is it always fair to move away from a relationship of discipleship?Because situations are complex and different, it’s not easy to give a complete answer to this question, but doing Bible-based work can help us solve this problem.
In our context, in the communities of the slums, we see many people approaching, professing faith in Jesus and being baptized and then leaving, this happens by the simple passage of time or when the person faces persecutions or trials of any As an anchor in a storm, faith is definitely tested when real life comes. Although it is painful to bear witness, we should not be surprised, because this is what Jesus told us to wait in the parable of the sower. (Mt 13).
Unfortunately, some people who profess faith will fall. This can happen in a number of ways, from a gradual fall to a permanent rupture. In some cases, people will stay with us in the church, this loving community, but they will stay there, in no man’s land, spiritually. They still live a life without repentance and without change, and are not willing to come under the authority of Jesus. After all, the Christian community is attractive, but it’s not just a social club for free meals and good games. It is a hospital for the sick and their sinful patients must be under the authority and direction of the great doctor.
That’s why we have an individual responsibility system based on Tite 2, we believe it is crucial that believers meet regularly outside Sunday meetings. Is that easy to say? I’m fine on a Sunday, but it’s much harder to hide the true condition of your heart when you have coffee with a worried brother or sister.
Do we need spiritual tests? People read, cry and pray together, they encourage each other in faith. That’s what the church is for. I think I would be relatively happy to live alone on an island, but I know I would not be challenged or sanctified if that was the case. In His wisdom, God places us in a loyal community in which people support one another. I bet you can think of at least one brother or sister who came to you, took you, and put you back on the pilgrim’s way.
Let’s face it: we all sometimes need a push on the back, it’s for our own good. Proverbs 3: 11-12 shows us that discipline is love. ” My son, do not reject the Lord’s discipline, nor be angry with his rebuke. Why does the Lord rebuke those he loves, as well as the father, the son he loves?
In my experience, if I discipline someone, the relationship will usually end first, especially in the self-examination part. They tend not to want to listen to biblical counsel or remain under the authority of God’s Word.
In such cases, I would ask another woman to accompany that person, because sometimes it can simply be a personality conflict or an unresolved problem, or an unhealthy addiction may have developed (it works both ways). If that person studies the Word of God with the disciple, but does not yet respond, he gives us a deeper view of the person’s heart. The true sheep will hear the voice of the good shepherd (John 10:27). or abandon their own wisdom, but over time they need to hear what comes from god’s Word.
What will result in practice requires an enormous amount of grace, perseverance and discernment. After all, we’re all sheep in need of grass.
Let’s go back to the example of parents, will help us answer our question, especially when we think in biblical terms. Consider the parable of the prodigal son: As he released the son, the father somehow pleased him with the desires of his heart. He did so in the hope that his son would, over time, find his mind and, having seen that the pleasures of sin are ephemeral, he would return home repentant. We certainly know that this is what happened (Luke 15:17-24).
So how does that apply to our question of whether it’s good to stay away from someone you discipline?I think it shows us that sometimes it can be helpful to take a step back. Depending on the relationship, this may mean you expect them to approach. you, instead of starting contact all the time. You may need to stop offering them a walk to church and see if they continue to follow. Do they persist even when it doesn’t suit them or do they do it only when it’s easy?? These little things can be signs that indicate where a person is spiritually.
In other words, if you really want to follow Jesus, you will get it because it is the desire of your heart, just as a father wants his son to be saddened by his own mistake, God probes the heart, but the act of distanceting oneself can sometimes seem unnatural, perhaps even non-Christian, but most brutal, and potentially eternally deastrous , it’s a goat that thinks it’s a sheep because you take it everywhere.
In 1 Corinthians 5. 5, Paul wrote about the purifying benefits and purpose of removing someone from the church in a persistent sin without repentance: given to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit may be saved on the day of The Lord [Jesus]?Does eternal care of the soul sometimes require discipline, does this imply an expectation, like the father of the prodigal son?Pray, watch and wait for them to return. A firm love can reap eternal reunion.
So yes, sometimes it is necessary to leave to allow someone to find their way and/or return repentant, but we still have to take spiritual care and pray for this person’s soul, worried about his eternal salvation.
With eight short lessons, but full of theology and practical applications, Edward Welch will help the reader shape a culture of counseling and mutual care to become a natural part of daily church life.