1. How to deal with those who departed the church

Again this Sunday, we are continuing to read from the epistle of 1 John. The theme of the letters focuses on a split in the church. In John’s church, those who believed in false teachings, perplexed others, destroyed the fellowship, and then left the community. Other members of the church remained in a chaotic state. Many of the people who shared in the worship services suddenly disappeared. Unanimity in the church was broken, causing further conflict and separation. A similar incident occurred also in our church, and others in this area. So we are reflecting upon this phenomena, to see how to deal with such a situation. Today’s reading is from 1 John, chapter 2.

John explains what is happening at that time in accordance with his eschatological point of view: ” Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour” (1 John 2:18). The coming of fake Messiahs or false prophets, which would precede the last day of Judgement, has been repeatedly told in the Bible, for example, in Matthew 24 :23-24, etc. So, John says, the antichrists have come as it was predicted. He affirmed that those who departed from the church were the very antichrists, ” It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son” (1 John 2:22).

Those who left the church advocated gnostic thinking. They rejected the idea that God’s Son became a human and died for our salvation. They thought instead that Jesus received the Holy Spirit by being baptized, and it was then taken back into Heaven at the time of Jesus’ death. They denied the messianic identity of Jesus as God’s Son, a stance which rebuffs the Incarnation too.

Such a way of thinking prevents feelings of gratitude towards God, who sent His only Son to the earthly world as a human. They also distorted the meaning of Jesus’ Passion. So they were not thankful for human redemption through the death of Jesus’. Believers who accepted gnostic teachings did not believe that Jesus was the very Christ. They did not share the same core of faith with those of the other church members. So John wrote: “They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us” (1 John 2:19).

2. Don’t exclude those who left the community

Former followers, who once listened to Jesus’ teachings, witnessed the faith, received baptism and shared the Lord’s communion together, departed the church. Why do such splits and devisions take place inside the church where Jesus should be the chief? We often wonder who was wrong, they or we. Schisms can cause large scale conflict and confusion among believers. The incident in the early church reminds us of a similar problem which occurred here last march, within our very own church, a discord among members of the Maihama preaching center.

The preaching center was founded 20 years ago, in 1988, as a branch of this church. The American Pastor Smith took charge of the center during the first decade, then he was succeeded by Pastor Rau for the following 10 years. As the mother church, we tried to do our best to support its activities. The split happened when Pastor Rau decided to resign. He left Maihama and formed a new church, in consequence, many of the members followed him.

Reasons for the resignation and ultimate split was, in part, financial and practical. Instead of a designated place, a member’ personal residence was being used as a preaching place. Then, as time went by, circumstances changed, and the residence became unavailable. It is true that there were a lot of obstacles to the provision of a place to preach. Problems arose with the choice of buildings and the proposed use of the Pastors’ residence. But we did not understand why it resulted in their separation from our church.

Actually I might suggest an explanation, a different point of view perhaps, regarding the Pastor’s role in the church. Some think the Pastor is the leader of the church because he has trained and speaks with authority as a disciple of Jesus. Therefore, church members would normally follow the Pastor’s guidance and wisdom.

In contrast, others think the chief of the church is always Jesus. So when a severe disagreement occurs within the church that seems impossible to reconcile, the Pastor should give to Jesus the responsibility, and leave. The members remaining offer prayer and wait in preparation for the arrival of a new Pastor chosen by God. The former way of thinking is to consider the church as a farming pasture, and if it becomes barren, the Pastor sets off with his flock to find more fertile ground. The difference of opinion might also depend on one’s cultural and educational background.

Perhaps the early church members who stayed thought, in spite of the different patterns of thinking, all of the fellowship would remain together and observe Sunday services. But John rules out that possibility. He said, “their going showed that none of them belonged to us” Though that stand may seem very cold, he was determined, “No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also. See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us—even eternal life” (1 John 2:23-25).

We attach ourselves to God through Jesus. So much so, those who reject the divinity of Jesus, the Son of God, could not be true believers. I believe that the chief of the church is Jesus Christ, therefore I think the attitude which considers the Pastor to be the leader is defective. Nevertheless, I don’t blame or criticize those who have chosen to separate from this church.

John did not tell his flock to exclude those who left his church, even though he thought their attitude was wrong. He compels the resident believers to entrust God with the people who have departed, and to remain in Him, ” As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him” (1 John 2:27).

3. “Children of God, continue in Him !”

In the Gospel of Matthew there is the parable of the weeds among the wheat, from which I chose a passage for today’s invocation, chapter 13 verses 29-30: “No; because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.” These verses offer meaningful suggestions about our behavior regarding belief which is different from ours.

Jesus told the parable as an allegory of God’s kingdom. The story is of a person who sowed a field. Though he has sown wheat seeds an enemy mixed weed seeds among them. So the weeds came through with the wheat sprouts. The servants tried to pull the weeds but the master says, “Let both grow together until the harvest.”

In Jesus’ time many Jewish people wanted to “pull out weeds”, meaning, to segregate those who were considered to be eroding the traditional faith from communities. The Pharisees blamed people who did not observe strictly the law. The second century Essene sect tried to distinguish themselves from others whom they considered to be impure. Both of those movements are characterized by an attitude which insist on purity and righteousness. They thought they were “wheat” and others were “weeds” which should be pulled out. Jesus told this parable in order to correct such arrogant thinking.

The disciples approached Jesus, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels” (Matthew 13:36-39).

“The Son of Man sowed the good seed” means, thanks to Jesus’ teachings many came to believe. But the “good seeds are mixed with the evil ones.” This expression points to the fact that there were some false teachers who insisted on their own righteousness. Such people tried to exclude those who would not share their thinking.

We do not know why there is evil within the church. But, in reality, evil exists. Saint Augustine* (354 - 430), Christian philosopher and theologian, meditated upon “the evil” inside the church. He said: “We as humans cannot see who are the good, and who are evil. Because in each Christian both types of seeds lurk. Therefore, it is better to take care of raising and growing good seeds inside of each, rather than to seek and blame the bad in others.”

He also taught that evil factors in the church should not be merely rejected and thrown away. Christians should take responsibility for them. We help and support those whose faith is not strong enough, or whose thinking seems false. We must consider the evil as necessary elements in order to strengthen our own faith. St. Augustine says, “God is so almighty that He uses the evil for good purposes” So much so, we must trust all decisions to God. Once we begin to act as a judge in pretending to be faultless, we might make the same mistake of pulling out good seeds, or even worse, become evil seeds ourselves. I think the fellowship will be strong when believers admit their own vulnerability, and make the effort to establish a church of real believers. Then perhaps, the evil seeds might be pulled from the Christian community.

John says, “continue in Him as you were taught” (1 John 2:27). It means to live by following in the foot-steps of Jesus. We love each other, because Jesus loves us. We renounce self-centered lifestyles, because Jesus died for us. John tells us to merely follow Jesus’ way of living, instead of discussing who are unfaithful, who is right and who is wrong.

The verses of 1 John 3:16-18 describes the perfect model of a Christians’ life. I share these words from this verse with you in conclusion of today’s lecture: “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”
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Reference:
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustine