According to 1 Corinthians 5:9, we are not to associate ourselves with sinful people; how are we supposed to try and help them if we shouldn’t be hanging around them?

Sincerely,
Love From A Distance

Dear Love From A Distance,

In order to understand 1 Cor 5:9, we have to read the rest of the chapter.  Chapter five of first Corinthians is dealing with a christian who had decided to return to a wicked lifestyle (1 Cor 5:1).  Instead of rebuking this sinning brother, the Corinthian church was accepting his immoral lifestyle (1 Cor 5:2).  Paul was rebuking the congregation for not disciplining this wayward christian.  The church has the responsibility to discipline willfully sinning brethren – we do this by not associating with them until they repent (1 Cor 5:11).  This responsibility is only in regards to those who are within the church – not those outside of it (1 Cor 5:12-13).  God wants us to spend time with the lost, so we might win them to Christ (Mk 2:16-17).  We are to live in the world (1 Cor 5:10) as shining lights (Matt 5:14) to those who don’t know Christ.

Is there a place in the Bible that says a pastor or priest should guard himself lest he seek the riches of kings or something like that?

Sincerely,
On Guard

Dear On Guard,

Every christian is a priest (1 Pet 2:9), and the Bible warns us to flee from the love of money (Heb 13:5).  When we begin to seek wealth and make it our king, we dethrone the Lord and place money above spiritual things (Lk 16:13).

Pastors (also known as elders – Tit 1:5) are specifically warned to avoid “greedy gain” (Tit 1:7).  Money is not inherently wicked, but the love of money can be devastating upon our spiritual lives (Lk 12:16-21).

Hello.  My home church has a lot of problems going on, and my opinion is that most of them stem from my pastor.  Where in the Bible does it say that the church is supposed to support the pastor and his family?  And if so, does that mean we have to support him and his family in every part of their lives?

Sincerely,
Perplexed From The Pew

Dear Perplexed From The Pew,

The Bible does provide precedent for financially supporting those who preach and teach… but only if they are living godly lives and if the congregation desires to do so – it certainly isn’t a blank check for bad behavior.  Paul says that when a good man is preaching the gospel, we shouldn’t “muzzle the ox while it is threshing” (1 Cor 9:9-11), which is a fancy way of saying that when someone is doing the work, they ought to get paid for it.  After all, a worker is worth his hire (1 Tim 5:18).

Having said that, someone who is preaching needs to be actually doing good to be worth his hire.  Just like a bad employee – a congregation has every right to let a preacher go if he isn’t doing a good job.  We here at AYP don’t like the idea of being fired… but we also don’t like the idea of doing inferior work.

Another problem might be that your congregation is mixing up the roles of a pastor and a preacher.  Preachers preach and teach; pastors shepherd and lead the church.  Many churches today are having problems because they are giving preachers the authority to lead the church – when preachers only have the authority to teach.  Pastors must meet rigorous qualifications before they are allowed to lead the church (those qualifications are found in 1 Tim 3:1-7 and Tit 1:5-9).  Preachers are not required to meet those qualifications, but they also aren’t given the same level of authority.  Another difference between preachers and pastors is that pastors never serve alone.  There are no examples of a pastor leading a church – it is always pastors leading the church (read the article “One Too Few” for further details).  If a congregation’s leadership isn’t following the Bible’s patterns, that congregation will have major struggles.  This may or may not be the issue in your situation.

Suffice it to say, if this man is more of a harm than a help to the Lord’s work in your area – the congregation has every right to send him packing.

Does it matter what religion you are as long as you worship the right god because all the Ten Commandments say is to ‘worship no other gods’?  And if it does matter, how do you know you have the right religion?

Sincerely,
Looking Around

Dear Looking Around,

It does matter what religion you are – it matters more than any other decision you will ever make.  Jesus said that He is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him” (Jhn 14:6).  This single statement by Christ nullifies Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, etc.  Jesus is the only one that offers salvation to mankind.

But the Bible takes it one step farther.  Paul condemned the Jews because they worshipped God without knowledge (Rom 10:2).  He also warned that there would come a day when false teachers infiltrated Christ’s church and started teaching things contrary to Scriptures (2 Tim 4:2-4).  Paul told the first century christians to watch out for the “falling away” (2 Thess 2:3).  Division and false teaching in the name of Christ is a very common thing.  There are tens of thousands of different religions in America that refer to themselves as “Christian”… yet God says there is only one true faith (Eph 4:4-6).  So how can you know whether a church is Christ’s church?

Jesus says that we can know them by their fruits (Matt 7:15-20).  A church is faithful if the way they worship, preach, and live is in accordance with Christ’s teachings.  A faithful church keeps Christ’s commandments (Jhn 15:14).  Most churches today have added all sorts of things to their worship (from rock bands to belly dancing) and leadership structure (popes, community boards, franchised churches, etc.) that were never intended by Christ.  We should never add to God’s Word, and we should never take away from it (Rev 22:18-19).  A faithful church should be able to give you book, chapter, and verse for everything they do.  We recommend the posts “Down With Denominationalism”, “Finding A Church”, and “Preacher Interrogation” for further information on what questions to ask.  If you would like us to help point you in the right direction of a congregation in your area, please e-mail us at askyourpreacher@mvchurchofchrist.org, and we will do our best to put you in contact with a Bible-founded congregation.

The Bible doesn’t give that much detail on the role of a deacon in a church; what is his or her responsibilities, and what are good ideas for them to present to the board?

Thanks,
Want To Be Of Use

Sincerely,
Want To Be Of Use

Deacons are servants of the church.  The word ‘deacon’ comes from the Greek word ‘diakonos’ which literally means ‘servant’.  The Bible doesn’t give a detailed account of their job because there are so many ways that servants can serve.  Deacons in the church are men that meet the qualifications of 1 Tim 3:8-13.

These deacons are a specific type of servant in the church – they serve the eldership (Php 1:1).  Deacons are given authority by the elders to oversee various responsibilities within the church.  These responsibilities might be building maintenance, the treasury, benevolence, etc. – whatever tasks the elders need help getting done are the tasks deacons are to fulfill.  A good example of how this would work can be found in Acts 6:1-4 when the apostles needed help making sure the christian widows received their daily bread.  The apostles had too many responsibilities already, so they delegated that task to seven capable men (Acts 6:5-6).

It seems many christians think being faithful means one attends all gatherings of the church – Sunday morning Bible study, worship in the morning and evening, and Wednesday evening Bible study.  Please help me with a biblical definition of faithfulness for my use in discussions.  Thank you for your clear answers that are backed by Scripture.

Sincerely,
Faithful Attender

Dear Faithful Attender,

Faith is a simple word with a lot of big implications.  The word for ‘faith’ in Greek is ‘pistis’.  ‘Pistis’ is translated ‘belief’ and ‘faith’ in English, so when you see the word ‘believe’ or the word ‘faith’ in your Bible… they are the same Greek word.  The word means ‘conviction that something is true’.  The Bible specifically uses the word ‘faith’ to describe our attitude toward God (Acts 20:21).   Faith is a requirement for salvation (Eph 2:8).

Biblical faith exists when we trust in the unseen God (Heb 11:1).  Faith is also described as a lifestyle of seeking God (Heb 11:6).  Faith without action is dead (Jas 2:26).  Even the demons believe in God… but they don’t seek Him (Jas 2:19).  Faith has its origin in the Scriptures – we believe because we hear God’s Word (Rom 10:17).  Biblical faith is best described as ‘hearing what God says and then doing your best to loyally act upon those words’.

Using that definition, regular church attendance is a part of faith because God tells us to not forsake assembling with the saints (Heb 10:24-25).  However, attendance is certainly not the all-defining characteristic of a faithful lifestyle.  One could easily attend every meeting of the church and still be a godless heathen the rest of the week (the man who had his father’s wife is a great example of this – 1 Cor 5:1-2).  Faith is a life guided by the words of the Bible.  A faithful person allows the Bible to be their compass and lets God reign within them (Lk 17:21).