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NASB | Luke 5:31 And Jesus answered and said to them, "It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Luke 5:31 And Jesus replied to them, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but [only] those who are sick. |
Bible Question:
Where in the Bible does it ever command/imply that "lost" people should be part of the church (church specifically referring to a group of people coming together to worship OR collectively referring to the body of believers in any given area)? In old testament times were the heathen allowed to sacrifice (or worship their own gods) in the temple? Have you ever seen a verse in the new testament where Paul or Peter or any of the apostles talked about recruiting unbelievers to come and worship with the believers? In fact, is not the very DEFINITION of the church a body of believers? How then can a professed "unbeliever" be in any way part of something that, by it's very definition, excludes him. It seems to me that bringing someone who does not believe in God to a service which is [supposedly] set aside to WORSHIP God is, to say the least, counterproductive for both us and them. So why do we do it then? Well, I suppose that the easiest and most common answer to that question is so that they can hear the message of Christ and then [hopefully] accept Him. While that seems at first glance to be a worthwhile goal, we should take a minute to think about what we are sacrificing for it. Have not so many of our "worship" services become solely dedicated to "getting people saved" instead of focusing on coorperately worshiping OUR amazing God? Please understand that I do not question the explicit instructions given for us to preach and teach the gospel of Jesus Christ, but if I remember correctly Jesus commanded his disciples [followers] to GO OUT and preach the gospel to all nations and to GO OUT and baptize, etc. He sent people out with instructions to teach and heal and baptize, not to invite unbelievers to worship with them in the temple (or anywhere else for that matter). What sense does it make for us then to invite the unsaved to come to our worship services? It seems to me that evangelism should be a very active and EXTERNAL endeavor rather than the passive internalization that we have made it. Shouldn't the unbeliever first believe in Christ before they are asked to worship Him? When and why did this whole practice of "inviting lost people to church" become so popular among Christians? Was this ever mentioned as a legitimate strategy for converting people to become followers of Christ? |
Bible Answer: Unless you were birth into the church from your mother’s canal; you were born a sinner in need of a savior. Somebody invited you to Christ’s church. Do unto others as you would have them to do... If you are saved, and I don’t know your relationship with Jesus, but do you think that God saved you for yourself. “And Jesus answering said unto them, they that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick.” 1 Cor. 1-3 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Eph. 1.22 The babes in Christ are in the Church/members body of Christ as well. |