Discipline in the Body of Christ

Those Who Are Not Members

God's heart desire is not that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. As we move in union with God, we will move in this same spirit. If the church is moving in a healthy way before God, there should be visitors and seekers. These are not members. They may be present for a length of time, but because they are not in Christ, there will likely be expressions in their lives that do not bring honor to God. How should we deal with such?

First, let us remember that the church is not primarily a place to preach the gospel to sinners, but the place for believers to be built up. The gospel is proclaimed in the "marketplace" by evangelists and by the witness of every member. It is there that God deals with men to repent and come to Him. There, every believer is called to live a life that proclaims the goodness of God. Our primary emphasis should not be to invite people to come to a church meeting to be saved, but to let God bring them to repentance before they come in. If we will keep a clear vision of this, we will avoid many problems.

Secondly, if the Holy Spirit is moving in our midst, the power of God will be there to convict of sin. It should not take weeks and weeks for a person to make a choice as to which way they are going. A person may visit, but if God is drawing them and the Spirit of God is present in our meetings, they will soon make their choice, either to submit or to rebel. If they submit to God, we will see them born into the family of God. If they rebel, they will not continue to be in our midst. If visitors sit in our midst week after week not moving either way, then we, the members, may be the problem. We may not be moving in the power of the Spirit, and we are the ones that need to repent.

When those who are not in Christ are in our midst, we should be very mindful of what God is doing. We cannot overwhelm them with any natural efforts to force them into Christ, but neither should we just let them drift. Can we be spiritually sensitive? Are we being faithful in prayer? Can we recognize what God is doing and move in union with Him? Remember, it is Christ who is building His church, not us. We are to be under His authority at all times, so that He can use us as He chooses. Sometimes we just let people drift, not being alert to God's direction or seeking His mind in the matter. Again, we are the ones who need to repent and move in union with the Spirit.

If we are alive unto God, there should always be movement in God. If people are allowed to stay in our midst without coming face to face with God and the power of His Spirit, it is likely that the church is at fault. To allow this to continue brings a deadening effect in all of our lives. It is usually easy to see others who are not responding to God. What about ourselves? Perhaps we are looking at the mote in another's eye while the beam is in our own. Are we willing to be honest before God in these things? We may be right in our evaluation of another member but very wrong in what we see as the solution. Jesus said there would be fruit in our lives if we continue to abide in Him. Do we believe that? He also promised that He would bring wells of living water. Are we seeing that?

On the other hand, we may be doing all that we should, and yet still a visitor remains in our midst. He is not a member, and is not subject to discipline. There is no open sin in his life that can be judged accordingly. What should we do? We began our discussion by saying that a free commitment by a person is the basis for being involved in their lives. If there is no such commitment, then it is sure that we cannot really be of help to such a one. He may think he is a member and really he is not. Do we do him a favor by allowing him to continue on in deception? After a period of time, if there is no response to the Lord and to the Word, continuing to visit will only have a deadening effect on him and on the gathering as a whole. It would be better for him to be on the outside where God can deal as He chooses.

How then do we approach a man or woman in this situation? We have clear direction in the scriptures that those who are members should be in submission to one another. Evidence of such submission would be openness to admonition, and taking action when it comes. If a person is not willing to take such direction, then surely in the love of God and the direction of the Spirit we can communicate to them the fact that we do not see them submitting to the direction of the Lord; thus, we cannot help them in their relationship with God. We do not "put them out" as such, but in the love of God, we can bring them to a decision point, even if they had not wanted to make a choice on their own. God never forces a man to choose Him, but He does force a man to choose.

Next: Involvement