How should we act regarding the mixtures in the Kingdom?
Discussion question for February 18, 2011.
Jesus taught that there are mixtures in the Kingdom of heaven. The parable of the wheat and the tares (weeds) is one example. The teaching about the leaven in the dough is another. What should we do about a church that has both saved and unsaved members? What affect does it have on the body that there are conflicting values and doctrines? Are we the Pharisees of this age? What does it mean in the way we approach evangelism and equipping?
Here’s my summary of our discussion.
We looked at the parables in Matthew 13 to get an idea of what Jesus taught about the mixtures in the Kingdom. Then began discussing whether we are the Pharisees of this age. Most of us grew up with a Christian influence, Sunday school and Bible School, and perhaps learning to err on the side of knowledge rather than grace.
Jesus taught in parables so the Pharisees wouldn’t be able to use the age-old arguments to hijack the message of the gospel. According to the prophesy He quoted, those with hard hearts would not be able to understand. History shows that all with open hearts were receptive to the message and considered His teaching to be with authority.
Jesus treated the religious insiders of His day differently than the seekers. He was known for joining dinner parties and get togethers with “sinners.” His model was to live among the lost and dying rather than segregating from them. He was able to be in a sinful world without taking on the sinful identity.
Our churches, as representatives of the Kingdom, should emulate Jesus by being open and available to the most sinful and horribly lost souls. If we segregate ourselves then we deserve a reputation of being judgmental and condemning. It is condemnation to view someone as unable to change from their sinful condition. A Christian that is unwilling or unable to associate with an adulterer, prostitute, addict or thief (to name a few) is condemning them to their sinful lot in life, seeing them as damned already.
Jesus showed loving kindness and mercy to each sinner that came to Him with an open heart. However, He did not condone their sinful behavior. In fact, He told the adulteress to go and sin no more. He saw her as a woman with the potential to be a child of God, rather than condemned to eternal bondage of sin.
The opposite of segregation in a church is to show acceptance or tolerance. What if a person mired in sin comes to the church, do we accept them? We agreed that this question forces us to look at the real purpose of the church. If a given church has its purpose to be a family or a community, then they will accept the sinner as they are. But, if a church has as its purpose to transform people into the likeness of Christ then they will accept the sinner as they will be, but not as they are.
To accept a sinner whose identity is defined by their sin is another form of condemnation. It seems like tolerance, but it demonstrates that the one accepting the sin along with the sinner is condemning them to their identity in that sin. We need to see them as God sees them, not as they are.
The spiritual gift of discernment begins with knowing good from evil, right from wrong. But the gift needs to be taken to a higher level. It needs to see the good that comes from redemption despite the evidence that evil still holds the person in bondage. Then the church can be useful in the Kingdom. Then the blind can receive sight and the oppressed receive freedom.
When Jesus was invited to confront the woman caught in adultery He looked at her with eyes of faith. He saw her not as she was (guilty), but as she would be in her God-given identity. His words of compassion and truth saved her life physically and gave her opportunity for life spiritually. Go and sin no more meant that Jesus believed she could be redeemed.
Unless we are able to see sinners as Jesus did, we are indeed the Pharisees of this age. The world accuses the church of being judgmental and condemning, and rightly so. We can reverse that trend by seeing the redeemed nature in lost souls and speaking those words of life to them. We can be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us, and share that hope with the hopeless.