How many times have you met someone and in that initial meeting determined that you were speaking to a brother or sister in Christ, but something was amiss, something just didn’t seem right. Too many times to count. Too many times to remember, or that you want to recall?
That my friends is the prompting of the Holy Spirit, that momentary doubt, that sensation that perhaps what seems to be is not what is. There are many areas that we are to use righteous judgment in, (John 7:24) and this is perhaps one of the most contentious issues with many who not just call Jesus Christ Lord today, but know Him as such, that have a personal relationship with Him. The trickiest part, so to speak, is that many times we meet these individuals in the church setting, and here is where much prayer and spiritual discernment must be brought to bear, for the action that not just might be taken, but should be taken could either destroy an individual or an entire church.
I have witnessed church splits, where it was found out after the fact that the congregation was not serving or worshipping the Lord God, but the man behind the pulpit, and when that man left, for whatever the reason, so did a good part of the congregation. “And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.” (Matt. 18:17) Have you ever witnessed this event, a man in the church who has the outward appearance of a sheep, but is actually a wolf in sheep’s clothing, (Matt. 7:15) one who has fulfilled Jude 1;4 “For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ,” and has been found out. It is not a pretty site, and it is just as rare to see most generally as an eclipse of the sun is, for “never offend” has taken place of these two verses, never reproof or correct, for then you will be seen as judgmental.
There are many individuals sitting in the pews of Evangelical churches this very day who are not saved, but they are exceptionally good at acting like they are, those men whose business dealings are not just shady, but downright dishonest, matriarchs whose tongue can cut through the hardest steel, but who seems so sweet and nice, as long as you stay on their “good side.” They are not approached, for without that man, there would not be a new addition on the church, without that woman, without that individual, the church would not grow, would not be the same. They produce no fruit, in fact they are just the opposite, the are “Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;” (2 Peter 2:13) but they are tolerated because of the worldly goods they have to offer, because they invoke a type of fear, because even if the truth was brought up in accordance to Matthew 18:17, you would more than likely be the one to hear, “Perhaps you would be happier someplace else.”
Now is when you must make a decision, do you speak up when the truth is known and cannot be denied, do you follow through with what the Scriptures are quite clear on, even if you are standing completely alone when you do so, even if it means that you will more than likely no longer be accepted back into the congregation, either physically or emotionally. Who do you stand for, all of these thoughts are what should have gone through your mind in almost the very first sentence of this letter to you, who will I stand for. When the Lord God closes one door, inevitably and always He has another door open, He never leaves us alone, (Deut. 31:8) but you are the one that has to make the decision, and many times when these actions must be taken, you will take them alone. Who are you going to stand with is up to you, “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” (James 4:17) What is right in the sight of God is rarely right in the eyes of man.
