Do you feel it's your Christian duty to hold other Christian's accountable

[kweenameena]

for their sins?
I have a brother in Christ who was a big time mentor to me when I began my walk. He is so powerful in Christ. I can't describe it. God has revealed himself to my brother in so many ways. He's a warrior for Christ.

But he struggles with homosexuality. And now that he has moved to the DC area (he's from the south) where you can freely live a homosexual lifestyle without the stigma......he is out of control.

He sent me an email with pictures of him on his way to DC Pride. I responded by telling him that I was disappointed and that he knew better and that it was not too late to turn things around. (I was loving but stern).
I felt bad and started to feel like it wasn't my place to go there with him. So do I just sit back and watch him stray?

What do you do when you see another Christian slipping?

 

[HeChangedMyName]

Good question. On the one hand, yes, we should make it known to one another when we are sinning. The reason being that we are all a part of one body.
On the other hand, it is not for us to condemn one another. That is God's place. You said your peace, now you can still love him and pray for him, but ultimately that is just one sin and in the end, it will be between him and God.
I had this discussion with one of my best friend sister girls in Christ and she told me that a sin is a sin, God only knows how to give out consequences for those sins, not us.
Also had this same discussion in my theology class where the professor introduced to us the idea of willfull sinning. That is when you do something that you know is a sin, and you still continue to do it in spite of the fact that God says it is a sin. None of us are sinless, but that there are some of us who sin just to be sinning, but still claim to follow God. Then, that is a problem.

 

[kweenameena]

Good question. On the one hand, yes, we should make it known to one another when we are sinning. The reason being that we are all a part of one body.
On the other hand, it is not for us to condemn one another. That is God's place. You said your peace, now you can still love him and pray for him, but ultimately that is just one sin and in the end, it will be between him and God.
I had this discussion with one of my best friend sister girls in Christ and she told me that a sin is a sin, God only knows how to give out consequences for those sins, not us.
Also had this same discussion in my theology class where the professor introduced to us the idea of willfull sinning. That is when you do something that you know is a sin, and you still continue to do it in spite of the fact that God says it is a sin. None of us are sinless, but that there are some of us who sin just to be sinning, but still claim to follow God. Then, that is a problem.

Thanks for responding.
It really hurts me to see him feel so defeated. He told me that he has been dealing with his homosexual desires for his entire life and now it feels good to not fight anymore.
He once told me that he believes that he was more susceptible to a homosexual demon because he was molested by his uncle as a young boy and grew up with just his mother.
His eyes are wide open with what he's dealing with. He has seen demons and has audible heard God's voice. But he's in a serious uphill battle with these desires. I have no idea what to tell someone who knows the bible front to back. I told him I would pray for him and I will but how do I comfort him, how do I tell him to continue to pray and to fight and at the same time give him some hope?

 

[Blossssom]

I want to say so much about this, but I can't get into it that deep because I'm at work...

I'll say this, though... pray for the brother, but let him do him... God is his judge and if he truly is one of God's chosen, God will take care of him. Gay or otherwise.

Just pray he is one of God's chosen... everything will be alright, and I've said more than I intended and maybe it's enough.

 

[metamorfhosis]

Hi kneenameena-

First, I have to make sure my life is in order before I warn someone else.

I went out to dinner with a male friend a couple of weeks ago. We usually don't talk spirituality much but it did come up the whole time during dinner. He said that he didn't think we should be worried about who believes in GOD and who doesn't. So I told him, if you knew someone was going to try crack cocaine and it's addictive, wouldn't you warn them.

My friend has a problem with lust. He lusts after women. So I told him that if you lust and think about having sex with a woman, it's just like actually having sex. Matthew 5:28

He also has issues with homosexuality and thought that it was not a sin because they were born like that. So I provided scripture for him again.

We talked about about 8 issues related to the Bible. So later, I typed an email with each of the issues and Bible verses about each. I sent it to my friend and I don't know if he read it but he has not said a word about it. So I have done my job. I warned him gently and now its up to him to do the rest.

I have an aunt who is 63. She has been a Christian for at least 50 years. Well, one day, I was telling her about the Anti-Christ and the Rapture. She has been a Chrisitian all this time and didn't know about these events. That's really sad. There are even atheists who know about the Anti-Christ and the Rapture. My aunt just goes to church, watches TBN and depends on the preacher to explain the Word to her. I told her that she needed to know the Word for herself. She hasn't changed. I warned her gently and now its up to her to do the rest.

I have a friend who has a controversial pastor. He incorporates "other" religions in his sermons and even talked about Oprah's new religion from the New Earth. I think it is good to be "aware" of what is going on the world. But he asked his congregation to read the book that Oprah is promoting called the New Earth. Now, I think it is good to be "aware" but not consume the whole book (New Age/Witchcraft) in your spirit.

I sent my friend an email with prophecy. She freaked out. So I gently said, "I am trying to understand....You can't accept prophecy in your spirit (and we know if it doesn't come to pass that it is false) but you can receive false religions and this New Age genre of spirituality. So, she explained studying false religions so you can communicate with someone with a different religion. And she didn't see anything wrong with reading an entire book on New Age/Witchcraft. I just didn't understand how you can't receive prophecy (and I know there are false prophets) but you can accept false religions and witchcraft. I questioned her pastor's ideology and now it's up to her to do the rest.

There is a way to gently warn someone who is going down the wrong path. I try not to be pushy because that could be counterproductive. For someone who really wants to please GOD, they will make the change. And if you don't know how to "plant" a seed, pray!

 

[springbreeze]

for their sins?
I have a brother in Christ who was a big time mentor to me when I began my walk. He is so powerful in Christ. I can't describe it. God has revealed himself to my brother in so many ways. He's a warrior for Christ.

But he struggles with homosexuality. And now that he has moved to the DC area (he's from the south) where you can freely live a homosexual lifestyle without the stigma......he is out of control.

He sent me an email with pictures of him on his way to DC Pride. I responded by telling him that I was disappointed and that he knew better and that it was not too late to turn things around. (I was loving but stern).
I felt bad and started to feel like it wasn't my place to go there with him. So do I just sit back and watch him stray?

What do you do when you see another Christian slipping?

PRAY and intercede on their behalf that's more powerful than anything