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So, how important is it? Do you kick out anyone with a porn problem? Or do you go so far as to accept divorce and remarriage couples into membership because they believe that they are not committing adultery because of their interpretation of scripture, and that's between them and God? Some of this comes from reading how many of you don't want to church with people who are willing to use concealed carry to protect people from people on another thread. So, where do you draw the line?

A church that understands itself as “pure” is not a church I’m interested in being a part of.

Szdfan wrote:A church that understands itself as “pure” is not a church I’m interested in being a part of.

Yea, I wouldn't want the church I attend to be called, Purest Fellowship Mennonite Church either. However, should a church try to remove members, to pursue purity of some form, or for any other reason?

Lonny90 wrote:So, how important is it? Do you kick out anyone with a porn problem? Or do you go so far as to accept divorce and remarriage couples into membership because they believe that they are not committing adultery because of their interpretation of scripture, and that's between them and God? Some of this comes from reading how many of you don't want to church with people who are willing to use concealed carry to protect people from people on another thread. So, where do you draw the line?

Where did Jesus draw the line?

Szdfan wrote:A church that understands itself as “pure” is not a church I’m interested in being a part of.

Although Eph. 5:27 is somewhat parenthetical, it implies that a church without interest in becoming pure is not headed in the right direction.

I draw the line at any continual sin that won't be repented of, stopped, carried on purposely without struggle.. etc.

Examples:

Sin struggles like pornography - a growing problem, so long as it is condemned by the "user", worked on, battled against, and the struggle is real... (this includes drugs) and the person fails, tries, fights, begs for help, etc etc. They are my brother or sister in Christ. They can fail and fail again... Seventy times seven.... So long as the fight is real, they pull for Christ, and ask for help.

A person who has murdered, and had true repentance, is my brother or sister in Christ.

But if a person simply whispers profanity at somebody and refuses to apologize/repent..... We have a real problem on our hands. This is up for excommunication.

Keep in mind, God offered grace and salvation to all who desired it. Not just the elite.

Maybe there is a need to define "pure".

Remember God's message to Peter: "Don't let anyone call something ('someone' was the applied meaning in the context) impure, that I the Lord have called pure." So if we are talking about "imputed purity" - declared so by God, then sin confessed to God is to be "tolerated", because God considers it forgiven, and the person pure. Persistent and unrepentant acts of sin & wickedness should not be tolerated, because God doesn't, either.

Not to rabbit trail the thread, but I'd like to ask... when you hear that someone is "living in sin," what does that mean to you? We're all sinners. But I heard this comment made about other people and never really knew what was meant. Is it a situation where someone knows there're living wrong but don't do anything about it?

steve-in-kville wrote:Not to rabbit trail the thread, but I'd like to ask... when you hear that someone is "living in sin," what does that mean to you? We're all sinners. But I heard this comment made about other people and never really knew what was meant. Is it a situation where someone knows there're living wrong but don't do anything about it?

Generally this is a euphemism for a man and woman in a sexual relationship to be living together unmarried, so that's my first thought. The context could tell more.