Parents are constantly warned to be aware of signs that their child may be on drugs, alcohol, or depressed. Society spends thousands of dollars informing parents on how to detect these signs in their children. Have you ever considered whether it’s possible to detect when a congregation is in trouble? Can some signs let leadership know if a congregation is heading down the wrong road? I have seen some over the years, and I pray, just as parents do, that we will heed them and take action if needed. Let’s notice some of these signs.<\/p>\n
The local church, in any given area of the country, has a great responsibility to teach the lost and bring folks to Christ. The Holy Spirit tells us “But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth<\/em>” (I Timothy 3:15). Whenever I am told by a member of a local congregation, “Oh boy, we are really having trouble here,” I always ask, “Say, how many Bible studies do you folks have in progress right now?” Most always, without exception, the answer will be “none!” You see, the Devil knows if he can get a group to stop looking “out<\/strong>” for lost souls, that will lead to only one thing! They will begin looking “in<\/strong>” at each other. When this happens, there will always be trouble on the horizon for that group. So when you see this sign in your congregation, take action quickly, or trouble is sure to follow. Sadly, so many congregations have taken the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) and made it the Great Omission!<\/p>\n This is another sign that a congregation is headed for trouble or already in trouble. I see this often in congregations without elders, but it is possible in congregations with elders. To detect this sign, ask, “What are you doing to help the work grow here?” Usually, the answer will be, “Well, I used to do a lot, but no one else seems to care, so why should I?” I believe there is one passage of scripture that sums up how every Christian’s mentality ought to be, whether there are elders in the group or not. The Spirit through Paul says, “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ<\/em>” (Colossians 3:23-24; cf. I Corinthians 15:58).\u00a0Most congregations that are in trouble have very few folks with this frame of mind. Notice that the Holy Spirit tells us that our reward will come from the Lord and not men. Notice also that the person with this attitude is “serving the Lord Christ<\/em>” and not themselves! When a congregation is in trouble, every member should first examine his own frame of mind to see if his thinking is right, and if it is not, correct it immediately. Sadly, so many Christians have the “let somebody else do it” mentality — sad for them and sad for that congregation.<\/p>\n This sign may come as a surprise to many, but when I hear of a congregation in trouble, this always pops up! To detect it, ask, “How are the brethren treating each other right now?” The answer will almost always be, “Well, there is a lot of gossip and backbiting taking place, and many are no longer talking!” The Holy Spirit tells us how this problem can be remedied. “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace<\/em>” (Ephesians 4:1-3). I never cease to be amazed at folks who claim to love God, and yet they won’t even show love for their own brethren in Christ. The apostle John addressed this problem (I John 4:20). We must understand that if we cannot love those whom we can see, then this shows we have no real love for our Heavenly Father, whom we cannot see! Friends, love for God and love for man embrace the whole of true religion.<\/p>\n Let’s always be watchful for these signs, for the Devil knows them well. Determine not to let him win in your congregation. Remember, he doesn’t win when there is trouble; he wins when we fail to correct the problem!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Rufus Clifford III via\u00a0Biblical Insights, Vol. 15 No. 2, February 2015 Parents are constantly warned to be aware of signs that their child may be on drugs, alcohol, or depressed. Society spends thousands of dollars informing parents on how to detect these signs in their children. Have you ever considered whether it’s possible to…<\/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":[27],"tags":[448],"class_list":["post-92805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-church"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":69767,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-a-church-organize-social-activities\/","url_meta":{"origin":92805,"position":0},"title":"Should a church organize social activities?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 11, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have been a Christian for nearly 40 years and recently became a member of a new congregation after moving. One of the initial impressions is the focus among the brethren about various social activities. Card playing clubs, baseball outings, book clubs, etc. Some of these are promoted from\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":39552,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-church-aint-doing-nothing\/","url_meta":{"origin":92805,"position":1},"title":"The Church Ain’t Doing Nothing","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 16, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Elliott How often have we heard that statement from a brother in Christ? And it is to be admitted that we often fail in fulfilling the many obligations that God has given us. But there are some pertinent observations that need to be made relative to this broad\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":43401,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-congregation-is-so-caught-up-in-meals-and-activities-that-they-have-lost-sight-of-teaching\/","url_meta":{"origin":92805,"position":2},"title":"My congregation is so caught up in meals and activities that they have lost sight of teaching","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 23, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I have been a member of the church of Christ for almost 20 years. I now have my own family and have been highly discouraged to continue attending the congregation in our hometown. Lately, I have been noticing so many changes in the church. Many local congregations, as\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":42655,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-we-be-lights-of-the-world-if-we-are-closeted-behind-our-doors\/","url_meta":{"origin":92805,"position":3},"title":"How can we be lights of the world if we are closeted behind our doors?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 29, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Bro. Hamilton, I would like to thank the church there for its great website. I am a Bible school teacher and I think it will be a big help to me when my students have questions about biblical things. I have read the introduction to the La Vista\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":37037,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/young-peoples-program\/","url_meta":{"origin":92805,"position":4},"title":"Young People’s Program","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 31, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Robert Turner In the small town of Sundridge, Ontario, Ca. 300 miles north of the U.S. - Canadian border, the young folk of a small congregation (45-50) put many of their U. S. counterparts to shame. They are High School and under: with the same love for and participation\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":33619,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/belief-baptism-and-signs-following-still-today\/","url_meta":{"origin":92805,"position":5},"title":"Belief, Baptism, and Signs Following \u2013 Still Today?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 24, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Larry Ray Hafley Here is the text of Mark 16:15-20: No, I do not possess the power to perform any of the above signs and neither does anyone else.\u00a0 Observe why this is true. First, if these signs are to be possessed by all believers, all who do not\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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92805","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=92805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92805\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}No Sense of Personal Responsibility<\/h2>\n
No Real Love for God<\/h2>\n