Greetings Brother Hamilton.<\/p>\n
I trust your family has been in good health.<\/p>\n
I have this concern. I have a member who is new to the faith. She was baptized roughly 3 years ago. She started well and then became less punctual. Now, she has stopped worshiping altogether. Efforts have been made by individual members, myself as the preacher, and selected persons, but she refuses to say anything other than she has no reason to give why she doesn’t have one for worship. As long she sends her children, she is satisfied. She told us we should stop bothering ourselves over her. In such a situation, what can the church do? Should they resort to disciplining her? But will there be value in the discipline? Should she be left like this? I need your insight on this.<\/p>\n
Thank you, sir.<\/p>\n\t
In the parable of the sower, Jesus said, “The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful<\/em>” (Matthew 13:20-22). I suspect that this person fell away because her knowledge of the word and her ties to the other brethren are weak.<\/p>\n She has already withdrawn herself from the church. The best you can do is clarify that she can’t be considered a member of a group she doesn’t want to be a part of.<\/p>\n If possible, see if she would be willing to study with one of the members and if building up her knowledge of the Bible would lead her to want to be with the brothers. It may not work, but it is worth an attempt.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: Greetings Brother Hamilton. I trust your family has been in good health. I have this concern. I have a member who is new to the faith. She was baptized roughly 3 years ago. She started well and then became less punctual. Now, she has stopped worshiping altogether. Efforts have been made by individual members,…<\/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,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[356,544],"class_list":["post-83380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-attendance","tag-membership"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3774,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-i-marry-a-woman-who-refuses-to-submit-to-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":83380,"position":0},"title":"Should I marry a woman who refuses to submit to me?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 27, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, How are you? 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