Did you know there are "weeds" in our churches?
Jesus explains in Matthew 13:24-30 that in the Kingdom of God, there are weeds planted by Satan as well as true believers (wheat) planted by God. Unfortunately, these weeds closely resemble the wheat.
So what can we do?
We cannot judge whether professing Christians are true believers.
But we can and should:
1. Biblically judge ungodly behavior and false teaching.(1)
2. Lovingly warn fellow believers of sin (Galatians 6:1).
3. Expect the church to judge members for serious, unrepentant sins (Matthew 18:15-17).
4. Pray for those who compromise their faith (1 Timothy 2:1).
5. Never relax our Christianity based on other people's compromised values (1 Corinthians 10:12).
This last point is perhaps the most important point of all.
We like to compare ourselves with those who are less mature or committed so we can feel good about ourselves.
But God tells us to judge ourselves by His standard, not the standards of others (2 Corinthians 10:12 & 18).
Let's not let the weeds damage the production of healthy wheat!
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(1) God tells us to judge: Bad companions (1 Corinthians 15:33), False teachers (Matthew 7:15-20), Sin and unrepentant sinners - (Ephesians 5:1-13; Matthew 18:15). See more on appropriate judgment HERE.
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Bible Love Notes
Sometimes that is hard because we look around at Christianity in America and many of us are comfortably lukewarm but because that is the norm we accept it as the standard.
ReplyDeleteWe should let the Bible set the standard and open our eyes and see what Christianity means in other parts of the world. When following Jesus means being mistreated, torture or death Luke warm Christians disappear and those who follow Jesus do so with passion.