KCU/03/A

Topic 11: Accept sinning Christians? Question: In ch. 8 of How People Grow, Cloud & Townsend begin with the story of Gary, who confessed to his small group about an affair with a married woman & was accepted by the group. Do you think the group acted biblically in accepting Gary? If the circumstances were different, say Gary didn’t confess, but instead one of the group members found out, should they have treated Gary differently? (Be sure to do more research into the issue. If the group cannot come to a consensus, feel free to have different group members each express their own opinions.)

Topic 11: Accepting Sinning Christians?

Acceptance: "taking to oneself" (definition given in "How People Grow" by Dr. Cloud and Dr. Townsend)

1. Jesus Christ is coming one, but we regard his coming as progressive and not to be confined to any single event (from The Coming Day by Oscar L. Joseph).

2. In one sense, the coming of Christ refers to "his presence in the Church and in the hearts of believers" (from The Coming Day by Oscar L. Joseph).

3. He has come again and again at great crises and turning points in the history of the world. These coming have been not only to judgement but also for the justice and righteousnes (from The Coming Day by Oscar L. Joseph).

4. The coming will be nothing less than the personal, visible, and glorious return of the same Jesusu wo ascended into heaven (from New int'l dict of Bible).

5. Some scholars hold that Christ will come in two stages: first secretly, later, openly to be seen by all (from New int'l dict of Bible).

6. Having returned to earth, Jesus Christ will be the judge of the nations and of every person who has ever lived (from New int'l dict of Bible).

7. At his coming, the old universe will be marveously regenerated in order to be born as "new heaven and earth" (from New int'l dict of Bible).

8. Those who are alive at second coming of Jesus experience the transformation of their earthly, perishable bodies (from New int'l dict of Bible).

What is Acceptance, and why is it necessary in order for peopleto grow? -The Bible teaches that acceptance begins with God: "Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God" (Rom. 15:7). Christ's acceptance of us is the model for how we are to accept each other. (from "How People Grow" by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend)

When we sinned and fell from grace, acceptance posed a problem for God. His holy nature could not accept our sinfulness; yet his love kept him caring about us. (from "How People Grow" by Dr. Cloud and Dr. Townsend)

-one of the most contriversal issues in accepting christians today would have to be gay christians. there isnt a more of an oxymoron than a gay christian. how could you say you are a christian and deliberatly go against what the bible teaches us. however as taboo as it seems people do it, and they have even started their own "community" on a website (www.gaychristian.net). in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 states "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." that states as plain as day that neither gays nor any other unsinful things will enter the kigdom of heaven. So in my opinion and from what the word says, everyone one sins so accepting a sinning christian is what god wants us to do. but god also wants us to lead people away from sin and closer to him. the word repent means to ask god for forgiveness and turn away from sin. if you are gay or you keep repeating the same sin over and over you have no clue to what the meaning of repent is. you cannot claim that you are saved if you continue to be homosexual and live a life of sinful nature

My opinion on accepting sinning christians is this: God tells us to love everyone. We need to leave the judgmental work to God, our father. (Mathew 7:1-3) says "Judge not,that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge,you will be judged;and with the measure you use,it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye,but do not consider the plank in your own eye?" As christians, we need to learn to accept the person but not to accept their sin. Homosexuality is an impure sin. It is continuing to live everyday in a sinful life without turning away from the sinful nature.