Rare Action

Rare Action

1 Corinthians 5: ^12-13 After all, it is none of my business to judge outsiders. God will judge them. But should you not judge the members of your own fellowship? As the scripture says, “Remove the evil person from your group.”

 

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My meetings usually ran smooth, but this one wasn’t going so well. I had a guy who insisted on interrupting and asking antagonizing questions. Usually my approach was to request to hold questions until the end, but this was not going to happen with this guy. I stopped the meeting and told him to leave.

 

• There have been rare times when I had to kick someone out.
• There have been rare times when I needed to let someone go.
• There have been rare times when I exceeded the capacity for patience and had to tell a person to leave.

 

Paul addressed a person, perhaps a self-acclaimed church leader, who was boastful about his sexual escapades. He implies that the guy also acted greedy, worshipped idols, slandered people, was a drunkard and a thief. It seemed like the guy was not going to surrender his life to following JESUS any time soon. The best thing to do was to tell him to leave.

 

• GOD wants me to be able to tell a disrupter to leave.
• GOD wants me to recognize when a person is not following CHRIST but serving their own lusts.
• GOD wants me to remove the evil person from the group as a rare but necessary action.

 

Judge not lest you be judged still applies when considering kicking someone out of a fellowship. I mean, any group can segregate themselves and make up rules to keep their fellowship looking and acting like themselves.

 

That is not what is going on here. In a diverse group of people, there may be a person who clearly is not following JESUS and is harmful to spreading HIS message of love and forgiveness. Such a person is spreading evil versus love. This person needs to be removed from the group. I am grateful GOD forgives and restores.

 

• Do you have a person who is being disruptive in your group?
• Has that person exceeded everyone’s patience regarding the love of CHRIST?
• Is the person spreading evil and focused only on worldly conversations?
• Will you prayerfully remove this person and hope he or she will be restored by GOD someday?

We are Family

Matthew 12: ⁴⁶ While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. ⁴⁷ Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”

⁴⁸ He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” ⁴⁹ Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. ⁵⁰ For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

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Outcast was how I felt when going to school. I mean other’s fit in and I stuck out like a sore thumb, or at least I felt that way. Ridiculed and unpopular, I trudged through my daily routines. Fortunately for me, I met a group who pulled me in as one of their own.

• Regardless of what I look like, I am part of GOD’s glorious family.
• No matter how I have sinned in the past, I am part of GOD’s wonderful family.
• Irrespective of what I want to be, I am a person in GOD’s family.

Belonging is what I craved from the world but the requirements were too steep. I had to look like the trendiest people and act like people who acted like brats. I could not be quirky in my humor or just relax when I wanted to. BUT GOD says different.

• GOD says to me “I made you just how you are.”
• GOD says to me “I created you with a purpose that only you can fulfill.”
• GOD says to me “I love you so now you belong in MY family.”

Being part of a holy family is a breath of fresh air. I can be valuable just by being me. GOD expects me to treat others the same. HE wants me to see their value as part of an amazing family that HE created and purposed. I belong.

• Do you feel like an outcast?
• Is your immediate family torn apart?
• Can you give your life to GOD so you can be part of an amazing family who are still sinners yet forgiven?