By Aksel Smith God’s fellow workers are watching over our souls as those who must give account. 1 Cor. 3:9; Heb. 13:17. Seek to meet souls in their current state (1 Cor. 9:22); give them love (1 Pet. 3:8), and lead their thoughts away from that which is human to the divine. Give them encouragement, and do not strike them down. 1 Thess. 2:11-12, 14. Seek to be a voice from God to the soul, and show him the straight way to Christ. Be willing to step aside and be forgotten, and do not dwell on the honor of having been used. Fear to exercise any human pressure on the souls you want to help. Try to find out how God is working with a soul, and then work with this soul in co-operation with the Spirit of God; be willing to wait with this soul and for this soul. Jas. 5:7. Take care not to push souls outside their measure and beyond their knowledge, thus hindering God in His work. We have wronged no one. 2 Cor. 7:2; Isa. 42:3-4. Pray to God for wisdom so that you may see the “grace” in which the soul (according to his experience) stands (Rom. 5:2), and pray the soul onward from there. Do not strike down his life until now as if it amounted to nothing. Acknowledge what is true, and lead him from the light he has to the light you have. You should never reproach a soul because he does not see everything at once. Job 36:15-16; John 16:12; 1 Cor. 3:2. Be silent like Jesus and do not speak about “where people are at” in their spiritual life. Endeavor to promote the unity of the Spirit (Eph. 4:3), and do not dwell on everything that separates. Pour out God’s love over all those who judge you wrongfully. Live to please your neighbor; live for his good, his edification (Rom. 15:2), and be zealous in bearing the others’ un-Christian behavior before God in prayer, but be slow to speak about it. Do not lower yourself to engage in arguments; it only generates strife. 2 Tim. 2:23. Lead the souls to search in the written Word. Have also confidence in the fact that the others’ hearts are sincere in following God’s will. Rom. 14:2.

Some people who have been or are on the inside occupy a unique positon in the church. They have ended up in a state in which they risk being cut off, put out, or spewed out if they do not correct what they are doing wrong. In John 15:2 Jesus says that the branch that does not bear fruit will be cut off. However, He does not say when! In Revelation 3:16 it is written that the lukewarm will be spewed out of the Lord’s mouth if he does not become hot (needy) again. But it doesn’t say when. A time limit is not mentioned! In 2 Thessalonians 3:14-15 it is mentioned that one should not keep company with brothers who do not obey the word of the apostle—those who harden their hearts on one point or another—that they can reflect on the matter. We cannot say how much time they are to be given for it. We can say that all of them have been given a “conditional sentence.” If they do not repent, their lot will be outside. When the overseer notices that a member has fallen asleep, becomes lukewarm, and neglects to bear the fruit of faith, he should give this brother a warning as mentioned above. If it should happen that an overseer himself should end up in such a state, it is incumbent on an apostle to warn him. See Revelation 3:1-3. It is easy to understand that it can go badly with a person when he grows cold, falls asleep, or withers away. But what about the last example—someone who does not obey the word of an apostle (an overseer, or elder)? One can imagine that the situation is not like one would wish; but why is it that serous that we shouldn’t even keep company with such a person? Christ’s servants (if they are that in truth) act—as far as they have advanced—as the Lord Himself. Opposing them is to oppose the Lord. This is rebellion or stubbornness; it is as the sin of witchcraft or idolatry. 1 Sam. 15:23. If a person remains in this state, it is only reasonable that it must go wrong. Those who, generally speaking, live in sin or are evil shall be put out of the church as soon as the situation is revealed to everyone. On the other hand, those to whom this pertains shall remain inside, but they shall be warned so that they can repent and have the assurance of remaining inside forever. It is the Lord’s responsibility alone to cut them off, for we never know whether God’s longsuffering will still let them remain inside for a time.Elias Aslaksen