Church Discipline<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nIf being married to a non-Christian is a sin, then is the church being consistent? Is everyone married to a non-Christian barred from serving in the church? What are they doing with passages that teach that deal with Christians being married to non-Christians (I Corinthians 7:12-16; I Peter 3:1-6)?<\/p>\n
The person was told to repent, but nothing was asked of him to change. True, they want his wife to be a Christian. That is something everyone would want, but it is the man who is charged with sin. What is he supposed to do other than what he is already doing?<\/p>\n
It doesn’t look like you are attending a faithful congregation for so many reasons, so I doubt that anything you point out to people from the Scriptures will sway them. Perhaps it is time to look for a faithful congregation to attend.<\/p>\n\t
Question:<\/h2>\n
Hi,<\/p>\n
Thanks for the prompt response; regarding (I Corinthians 7:12-16; I Peter 3:1-6) the elders have said that these verses of the Bible apply for people that hear the Gospel, get baptized and become a Christian when they are already married but not for a member of the church that consciously get married with a non-christian.<\/p>\n
Is that explanation correct?<\/p>\n
Thanks again!<\/p>\n\t
Answer:<\/h2>\n
Yes, it can happen that one spouse becomes a Christian and the other refuses, leading to a Christian being married to a non-Christian. However, that is not the\u00a0only<\/strong> way it can happen. Nor do Paul in I Corinthians 7:12-16 or Paul in I Peter 3:1-6 state\u00a0how<\/strong> a Christian finds himself in a situation married to a non-Christian. To add their opinions to what God stated is dangerous. They are not drawing a necessary conclusion. To add in qualifiers that God did not give is to make dangerous assumptions.<\/p>\nThey declared that marrying a non-Christian is a sin. The passage they cite (II Corinthians 6:14-7:1) doesn’t discuss marriage. It talks about not getting into situations where a non-Christian has power over a Christian. Marriage is about two equals entering into a union. I suppose you might argue that the husband, as head, has some authority over the wife, but notice that it doesn’t match the situation they are complaining about. It was a Christian man who married a non-Christian woman. You and I both agree that it isn’t a wise decision. It can lead to all sorts of difficulties, but it cannot be called a sin when other passages talk about dealing with a Christian being married to a non-Christian and specifically stating that they are not to leave their spouse.<\/p>\n\t
Response:<\/h2>\n
Thank you so much!<\/p>\n
In addition, the elders have communicated that he is no longer a member of the church until he repents. Then, he will be welcome as our brother in Christ, but he will not preach or lead anything until his wife becomes a Christian (if that ever happens).<\/p>\n
We are really close, and he is thinking about proceeding with that, but I have told him that he will be accepting that he sinned. I think his best option is to look for another congregation, as you mentioned (and that is also the best option for me).<\/p>\n
Thanks.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Hello, First, thank you for all you do to answer these difficult questions. They have helped me a lot on my Christian journey. My question concerns something that happened very recently at my congregation; our youth group had two ministers helping and supporting all the activities (spiritual and recreational), and they were doing a…<\/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":[64,1511],"class_list":["post-86538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-marriage","tag-preachers"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14141,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-non-christian-wife-led-me-to-stop-attending-worship-but-im-trying-to-come-back-do-you-have-any-advice\/","url_meta":{"origin":86538,"position":0},"title":"My non-Christian wife led me to stop attending worship, but I’m trying to come back. 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Knowing we cannot be wed in the church if we say yes, though we didn't do the real act.\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":69287,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-non-christian-serve-in-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":86538,"position":5},"title":"Can a non-Christian serve in worship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 14, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a great deal of respect for your website and the articles on it. However, I don't agree 100% with everything. I have worshipped in congregations that have and don't have a fellowship hall; neither bothers me. 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