Elder Discussion - Immature Brother
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When is the right time to be patient with an immature brother in error? -
The key to this would be discernment. There is a big difference between a person who is a new, struggling, or weak christian as compared to a person that looks like they are struggling but is living out his/her rebellion against God. “It’s not always easy to tell the difference between these two: the sincere, humble, often-failing stumbler, on the one hand, and the person who’s using weakness as a cover-up for a hard, resistant, insubordinate heart of disobedience. So, that’s the discernment challenge.” ( “How Do I Bear with Immature Christians?”John Piper). 1 Corinthians 3:1-15 shows great examples of weak or immature brothers in the early church. It says in verse 1-3 “3 But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?” So Paul recognizes that there are levels to this. He is not ignoring sins, and is quick to rebuke the sins of the church members, but he also understands that sanctification is a process and tells them to repent. The more they mature in Christ, the more ‘meat’ he gives them. “As new Christians and mere babes in Christ, the Corinthians were still conformed to the non-Christian patterns of this age in their thinking about the Christian life and related issues. It is hard to unlearn non-Christian attitudes and ways of thinking. When people become Christians, it takes time to stop thinking like unbelievers” (First Corinthians, “Time to Move on to Maturity”)
The key to this would be discernment. There is a big difference between a person who is a new, struggling, or weak christian as compared to a person that looks like they are struggling but is living out his/her rebellion against God. “It’s not always easy to tell the difference between these two: the sincere, humble, often-failing stumbler, on the one hand, and the person who’s using weakness as a cover-up for a hard, resistant, insubordinate heart of disobedience. So, that’s the discernment challenge.” ( “How Do I Bear with Immature Christians?”John Piper). 1 Corinthians 3:1-15 shows great examples of weak or immature brothers in the early church. It says in verse 1-3 “3 But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?” So Paul recognizes that there are levels to this. He is not ignoring sins, and is quick to rebuke the sins of the church members, but he also understands that sanctification is a process and tells them to repent. The more they mature in Christ, the more ‘meat’ he gives them. “As new Christians and mere babes in Christ, the Corinthians were still conformed to the non-Christian patterns of this age in their thinking about the Christian life and related issues. It is hard to unlearn non-Christian attitudes and ways of thinking. When people become Christians, it takes time to stop thinking like unbelievers” (First Corinthians, “Time to Move on to Maturity”)
I think for brothers like this we need to be patient. We need to guard against one of the biggest pitfalls of the reformed church at large which is their rigidity, and their lack of patients in their hearts to a new believer. People are at different points in their lives, and we need to show patients to the brothers that show repentence, show change, show growth, and show an interest in building His kingdom.
On the other hand, if there are the brothers who have not changed in the years that we have known them. If they show no repentence, no growth, no change, and no intrest in the kingdom, then maybe that is where we are not as patient. If the only fruits from a brother are conflicts and problem, then maybe what that brother need is for us to be more blunt.
