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Should I Feel Guilty?

It’s a sad and repetitious event that people come to our Bible studies, our church, become our friends in Christ, and then, all of a sudden and for no apparent reason, they are nowhere to be found.  It’s not that they’ve gone to another church or joined another Bible study; it’s that they’ve gone AWOL (absent without leave).  Then, it comes upon us.  Along with the confusion and disillusionment, guilt.  Are we responsible?  We feel it in the darkness of our heart so somehow we must be.  Maybe it was something we said, maybe it was that we did not call them enough, and most prominent is the feeling that we didn’t nip it in the bud – the first time they were absent we didn’t check up on them.

These are valid concerns and we do need to be sure we are following up on people, but if the voice that whispers accusation in your ear is vague, be sure that it most likely is not God but Satan.  By the way, do you know what the word “Satan” means?  Devil means “tempter,” and Satan means “accuser.”  He is the accuser of the brethren.  When God speaks, He speaks in the definite, e.g. “Thou art the man” to David.  God’s purpose for accusation is always with the goal of restoration.  He wants to call us to repentance, restoration, and fellowship with Him.  Satan, on the other hand, wants us to feel guilty and leads us into a world of sadness, depression, self-absorption, further insensitivity, and sin.  My grandmother used to say, “All that glitters is not gold.”  The truth is that not all professors are possessors.  Just because someone speaks “Christianese” does not mean that he is a Christian.  Recently I had a conversation with someone in an office who began to run down a list of symptoms to a heart ailment.  He used all the vernacular of modern medicine and when I inquired if he was a doctor, he replied, “No, I’m a contractor, but I’ve studied this ailment on the internet.”  (Do you remember the commercial where an actor comes out with a white coat on and says, “I’m not a doctor but I play one on television”?)

Time allows truth to reveal itself as to the legitimacy of a person’s relationship with Christ.  I John 2:19 states, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.” (ESV)  As it’s true with people in the pew, so it’s true with ministers and other full-time Christian workers. Jesus said in Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.’”  You mean that people who have been with me, talked with me, even have prayed and worked with me, may not have made a real profession of faith?  Exactly.

So, let’s get back to the topic. Should I feel guilty?  Here are some questions to ask yourself.

1. Have I prayed for them?  Prayerlessness is sin, so confess that sin right now, then pray for them.
2. Have I reached out to them?  If not, confess that, and ask in prayer what you can do to attempt a reconnect.  If nothing comes to mind, then keep walking with God and tell Him that you are available if He puts something on your heart.
3. Do I feel that ultimately it’s my responsibility to follow them up onto maturity?  Confess that as sin, adjust your attitude, and move on.  In Philippian 1:6, Paul said, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

Happens every other Thursday evening. Call Steve or Christine at 216-269-7596 for more info.