How far should I go in helping a family living in sin?
Question:
My father-in-law is in poor health and is moving up here with us so we can help take care of him, and he can spend some time with his grandchildren during his remaining time here. Unfortunately, he's not a Christian. He was originally going to move in with us but then decided against it, and he's finding a place of his own. He is seeing someone who is married, although she may be moving to a different state than him instead. Even though he just considers them friends, he was going to live with her.
If he did move here and she lived with him, how should I handle that without encouraging their sin? This has been on my mind quite a bit, and I called him to tell him I couldn't help him find a place here if she moved in with him. While he said that he understood, he would still be coming over probably quite frequently for visits to see me, my husband, and my children. My husband is also not a Christian and would be totally against me if I said his father wasn't allowed over. As I said, this is based on if his girlfriend does move here with him. Any advice on how I would handle these visits?
Also, the elder and a member of the congregation I attend told me that Baptists and the church of Christ essentially believe the same thing. I did my best to correct both of them, that while they may speak many truths, the Baptist plan of salvation is completely different, the elder also told me it would be OK to help my father-in-law find a place to live, even though his girlfriend would be moving in with him, beyond that they are biblically sound in most other areas. This is my second congregation by the way. I left my first a few days after becoming baptized because they were pretty liberal in their teachings and the way they did things. But it still concerns me that they've held these views.
Obviously, I ended up not following through with my father-in-law, and I know the falsehoods of the Baptists, but now I'm wondering if I should find a different congregation to attend?
Answer:
You can draw the line at what happens in your home, but you can't control the behavior of others. You can tell your husband and father-in-law that you don't want to explain these types of sins to your children.
"I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner--not even to eat with such a person" (I Corinthians 5:9-11).
You are not in a sound church. This elder won't be able to fulfill the command to hold "fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict" (Titus 1:9). If you need help locating a sound church in your area, let me know.
