How should I respond to my investigation of biblical Christianity (The church of Christ) if there are “couples” (both straight and gay cohabiting) going to service and Bible study? Thanks. Sean
Sin in the camp of the Israel of God is not a new thing (Joshua 7), and sin unattended among the people of God will have an adverse affect on other children of God as it did in Joshua’s day. Sin is still sin irrespective of who is committing it. Churches that are unresponsive to ongoing sin in their midst are guilty before God (1 Corinthians 5:1-13). Once, I was familiar with a congregation that did nothing for over a decade about a member who was an adulterous, and who bore and reared two children. This sin was not addressed because her family was prominent in the congregation and because the elders were afraid that the church would split if church discipline were exercised. The congregation’s laxity toward this sin encouraged one or more young members to practice fornication. For ten years, I encouraged and taught the church to do the right thing, though I could not immediately prevail on the church to police itself. Finally, some time after I was no longer associated with that particular congregation, it withdrew fellowship from the adulterous woman.
As Christians, we should hate the sin and love the sinner, a difficult posture to assume. We need to call upon one another to repent of sins and be ready always to forgive those who repent of their sins (Luke 17:3-4; 2 Thessalonians 3:14-15).
