How do you treat people living together in a heterosexual relationship? How about the promiscuous man or woman? How about teens who are open about multiple partners?
How is that different if you change it from heterosexual to homosexual? Why is it different?
Where I serve, we allow anyone to attend. We allow anyone to worship. We allow anyone to attend groups. When it comes to serving and leading, however, we have a covenant that we ask them to sign that includes a clear moral statement where we state that only within marriage is sexual intimacy appropriate and for our leaders we ask them to please pledge before God to ensure their commitment to our community, themselves, and others.
Great question PIJ .... my answer would be based upon scripture. Jesus was introduced to a problem in the community by some Rabbis that wanted to trap him. In other words, a woman committing adultery and fornication was pointed out and brought to Him for judgment. He took care to drive off the accusers, and then address the woman's sin, telling her to go and sin no more!
There is also the account of the son sleeping with his father's wife (1 Cor. 5). Paul writes clearly, "I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside.
“Expel the wicked person from among you.”
I think the church, if a couple attending your church is living in sin, and it is brought to the pastor's attention. That sin demands a meeting to discuss the living arrangements with the couple, and if they refuse to repent and change their current living arrangements, Paul shows what MUST be done ....
they should be Expelled!
There is no room for intentional and habitual sin being allowed in any church, knowingly. It needs to be addressed and dealt with immediately.
To take no action, IMHO, lowers the witness of that church and its effectiveness on others, such as the you and impressionable teens and youth in your church! You can't permit sin to lay dormant in the fellowship, because like a cancer, what is an innocent little cyst can just as easily become full blown cancer, and it could infect and affect the church as a whole!
There is always room for mercy, charity and love in the church,
but not leniency when it comes to known sin within a body! Scripture says if the left hand causes you to sin, or the eye causes you to sin, it is to be removed. F/urthermore, Jesus told us the path to the narrow gate which leads to heaven is a Narrow Path. There can be no room on the narrow path for those who continue to practice sin. Like Paul, deal with it, and if need be, remove it!
