Featured Can Sinners Serve in your church?

Foolishness as I , in no part of my post, said that being fat was a sin. Sorry to ruin again your attempt at a "gotcha" moment. :laugh:

 

In terms of response, jeben, allow me to pose a few questions to you.

Do the workers in your church resign their positions the moment they sin?
If so, then your church must be replacing workers everyday.

Do the workers in your church not sin at all?
If so, I'd like to see your church, as the only person I can recall having never sinned is Jesus Christ.

 

Why do we even get into these conversations?

Why do we put up with those who try to phrase a question so that UNLESS you let a gay person preach, you are a hypocrite? Or unless your church will ordain a woman who FEELS called contrary to God's Word, your church is full of hypocrites? (What could she preach anyway, having tossed out the Word of God by her "calling"?)

Whoever you are--male, female, gay, straight, leading a generally bent on sinning life or leading a life where you strive for holiness, let me ask YOU a question?

Jesus said if you would be first among us, be the slave of all. So quit worrying about how to get one of those upfront on the platform jobs, or teaching jobs, or playing an instrument or singing jobs. Just....serve. Clean a toilet. Go clean an old geezer's yard for him. Drive Aunt Tilly all over town this week as she recovers from cataract surgery.

Show us you yourself are not a hypocrite. Give up YOUR sin of judging before you ask others not to judge you.

We know, being literate, what the Bible teaches. Why on earth do we keep listening to some who are not sinners but COMMITTED TO THE SIN sinners try to justify it? And then complaining they get looked down on it to boot?

 

As defined in Merriam-Webster:

That is true, our metabolism becomes slower as we age. That is one of several reason I eat far less now than when I was young. I now carry the same weight as when I was discharged from the Army at age 22. I lost from 180 to 165 simply by eating less.

 

Romans 3:22-23 "there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."

 

People don't want to admit it but that's exactly why people are fat. We eat for fun in this country. It's comfortable and cheap. Baptists are actually more prone to doing so because they have a guilt complex with drinking and have to get their cheap thrills from somewhere. The endorphins that your brain releases when you are full from a good meal are the same as you get with a drug high, and they are just as addicting. So, yeah, if you're really fat, you're probably a glutton, like it or not. People sometimes don't feel like they eat all that much but those same people totally ignore the multiple Cokes they drink every day. That doesn't make you innocent.

 

Wow. Which hardware store did you buy that "broad brush" from? I've been looking for a new one. :smilewinkgrin:

 

If workers sin and do not repent do they still serve in your church? If a sinner doesn't repent should the church take action or let the un-repented sinner serve as a worker?

 

I also think you have to take into consideration what CTB said. If your metabolism slows down, you can't eat the same amount that you used to. That is gluttony in a lot of cases. If you're burning energy slower, then you're not gonna need as much as you once did.

Unfortunately I don't think many eating habits change when the metabolism slows down.

 

I don't. I will not abide those who add or take away from God's word. Just because they do….their foot shall slide in due time.

Excellent. Only the Pharisees judged people's charity, and tithing.

Amen. Serving in the church is not posting on the Baptist Board.

 

I can only say that I don't know the hearts of everyone that works in my church. I can only figure that sinful living will eventually catch up to a person.

If the person remains unrepentant afterwards, then there are appropriate steps to take in rectifying the manner, leading up to a thing we old-school baptists (at least in my neck of the woods) refer to as "withdrawing fellowship" from someone.

You still haven't answered my questions to you. Should a worker resign their position the moment they sin? It seems to me that you are setting an extremely strict standard (though I acknowledge the sentiment is probably well meant) on a people who have a sinful nature.

 

Find a large belly attached to a bible thumping big mouth at the Sunday afternoon southern baptist potluck and I bet you that guy will be fervently anti-drinking.

 

All are sinners

 

You still haven't answered my questions to you. Should a worker resign their position the moment they sin? It seems to me that you are setting an extremely strict standard (though I acknowledge the sentiment is probably well meant) on a people who have a sinful nature.[/QUOTE]

I think it depends on the sin if one should resign their position the moment they sin, lets say molesting of a child, then yes. I do not judge anyone with a sinful nature on the other hand I don't believe an un-repented sinner should hold a position in the church

 

Why doesn't everybody here just be honest and say that it depends on whether it would look bad on the church or not based on everybody's modern view of morality. Everybody sins, so that can't be the litmus test. Socially acceptable sin such as gluttony can't be the litmus test for obvious reasons. The only ones that you can use are socially unacceptable ones.

wife beaters
child molesters
drunk drivers
prostitute solicitors
members who got in a big fight
swingers
openly gay
married cheaters who are currently having an affair
people awaiting a trial for a serious crime
etc., etc., etc.

Those are the ones you are concerned about, because it's all about the image that points back to you and the church since you seemingly support and tolerate it. This ought to be obvious because of the last one I posted. It doesn't matter if the person actually did anything, churches will typically try to keep people from serving even if they are going to trial and have not proclaimed their guilt nor have been found guilty by a jury of their peers. This has ZERO to do with whether someone sinned, and EVERYTHING to do about image.

Sad part is, I think I have witnessed every one of the things I mentioned above. Over half of them came out of a single smallish church. People in leadership positions were asked to step down for awhile, especially if several people knew about it, while higher up leaders committed sins that were swept under the rug.

 

Well if you work with kids or with money we require a national and state security check; we steer some people away from serving in certain positions depending upon the result.

There's often an interview by the head of the section where a person desires to serve – to find out skill levels and to fit the person into a proper position.
The higher a position in the church, the greater the expectation of godliness.

Yes, we have a few unsaved regular attenders who serve in various roles.

Our revolutionary war militia has about half of its regiment filled with the unsaved. It draws quite a crowd and is a wonderful witness of Christ in the community.

And anybody can help me set up chairs on Sunday mornings …especially unrepentant gluttons!

Sinners are welcome… …"let me tell you what God has done for me!"

We even encourage our member to attend "unsaved" events and serve with them outside of church.

Rob

 

I believe there is a lot of truth to this. Perhaps this is why so many evangelical churches don't address the young girls and women dressing like hookers. The clothes they wear are socially acceptable.

A lot of people don't want to admit the church has an obvious list of pet sins. But we know we do.

 

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