Would it be a sin to worship in a congregation where the elders are not correct (I Corinthians 5:11)?<\/p>\n\t
“Not correct” is too vague. Not correct by who’s standard? If anyone is in sin, then what have you done to rescue them? To point fingers but to seek no restoration is to hate a brother. “If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?<\/em>” (I John 4:20).<\/p>\n Let’s suppose that a congregation has a drunkard as an elder. There are steps that first need to be done to try and bring the man out of his sins. “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector<\/em>” (Matthew 18:15-17). If it gets to the point that the congregation will not reject a member who remains in his sin, then it will come to a point where you must decide whether you can continue worshiping there while keeping yourself separated from the sinner. What isn’t an option is not worshiping with fellow Christians as a church.<\/p>\n What I’ve seen more often are people who decide they don’t like a decision of the eldership or who get annoyed that others don’t agree in every aspect with them. Rather than working at being of the same mind toward each other, the inability to work together becomes the reason for dividing. “Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind<\/em>” (Philippians 2:1-2). It takes effort to be united and too few Christians are willing to put in the required work.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: Would it be a sin to worship in a congregation where the elders are not correct (I Corinthians 5:11)? Answer: “Not correct” is too vague. Not correct by who’s standard? If anyone is in sin, then what have you done to rescue them? To point fingers but to seek no restoration is to hate…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[356,448,544],"class_list":["post-36350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-attendance","tag-church","tag-membership"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":17446,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-date-someone-from-the-church-you-attend\/","url_meta":{"origin":36350,"position":0},"title":"Is it wrong to date someone from the church you attend?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 29, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question regarding church discipline. I attend a congregation where a brother has dated several sisters in the same congregation.\u00a0 Also, some of them have left this congregation. Should I stay or look for another place of worship? Is this acceptable? Thanks for your cooperation. Answer: If\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24049,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-we-forgive-even-though-the-elders-refuse-to-change\/","url_meta":{"origin":36350,"position":1},"title":"Do we forgive even though the elders refuse to change?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 24, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: \"Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, \u2018I repent,\u2019 you shall forgive him\" (Luke 17:3-4). After reading\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28602,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-someone-be-withdrawn-from-for-not-moving-his-seat-during-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":36350,"position":2},"title":"Can someone be withdrawn from for not moving his seat during worship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 22, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: This question is in a scenario form: A member of the Lord's church was asked to move his seating in the church building during worship on several different occasions. This member refused to do so after several requests. This member was consequently brought before the congregation with the charge\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":70936,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-a-command-to-seek-forgiveness-of-sin-from-a-brother-before-worshiping-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":36350,"position":3},"title":"Is it a command to seek forgiveness of sin from a brother before worshiping God?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 6, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day, brother Hamilton, I have a question. Does Matthew 5:21-24 always mean or dictate one must go to their brother whom they have sinned against before they can ask God to forgive them? Answer: \"You have heard that the ancients were told, 'You shall not commit murder' and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":94937,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-we-withdraw-from-those-who-have-admitted-their-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":36350,"position":4},"title":"Do we withdraw from those who have admitted their sin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 4, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day Jeffery, A few months ago, in my old congregation, the preacher, a married man, was having affairs with some sisters. One became jealous and reported to the father of another sister that she was having an affair. This other sister's father was a preacher in another congregation.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21733,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-detailed-does-a-confession-of-sin-have-to-be\/","url_meta":{"origin":36350,"position":5},"title":"How detailed does a confession of sin have to be?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 16, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How detailed does a confession of sin have to be? Do you need to list out all that you've done wrong? Answer: First, we need to remind ourselves what is the purpose of confession. Confessing our sins means we are facing up to the fact that we were in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36350"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36350\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}