THE WEAK, UNCOMMITTED, AND THE REBELLIOUS
By Bob Wedin
This article is derived from one of the lessons taught in a shepherding training class of the Phoenix Valley Church of Christ. The issue at hand is how to differentiate between those that are weak, uncommitted, or rebellious. To best cover the subjects we will be discuss the definition of each, the way that Jesus handled them as described in the book of John, and we will conclude with practical solutions that have a sound biblical basis. The purpose for this article is to better equip the membership on how to identify and deal with those in each group. In addition, we want you to examine yourself to see if you exhibit any of these qualities in your own walk with God. We want each member to be effective and productive in their knowledge of Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:5-11). The goal is to be happy and secure in our relationship with him. We have seen the incredible things that God can do when we trust and lean on him, and not on our own understanding. This is not an exhaustive study, but we hope that it will be beneficial in helping you help others, and will lead you to further study personally on this important subject.
Defining E ach Type
The Weak
1) Chronic: John 5:1-8. The man at the well represents those of us who feel like we suffer from the same issues on a continual basis. It could be health, past hurts, fears, or a number of other things. Jesus asked the invalid man “do you want to get well?” In many ways those that are in this condition know what is wrong but usually don’t know how to get well. They may have trouble making decisions and when they do, have trouble sticking with them. They make excuses and lack the faith that things can actually get better. They see themselves as incapable of change and seem to not be able to let go of past failures. Often these things can be helped by those that are closest to them and know them best. For deeper issues it may require professional counseling along with help from those in the church.
2) Situational: John 18:25-27. Peter’s denial represents all of us, who at some time struggle with our Christian walk. He had felt strong going into to the condemning of Jesus, but like us found it easy to let certain events become overwhelming. God allowed Peter to struggle in his faith to expose the weakness in his character. God allows us to be in situations in which we may feel weak in order to expose our character as well. There is no limit on how long a situational weakness may persist, but it can turn into chronic weaknesses if not dealt with. Many things can bring this on, including the loss of close friendships, health issues, stress, our jobs, school, family problems, sins, or our own faltering relationship with God. It can even happen after a great spiritual event. Such events can produce such a great high that it sometimes results in a let-down. As Gordon said, “We come down from ‘The Mount of Transfiguration’ to the ‘Valley of Reality.’”
The weak, whether chronic or situational, face an internal struggle. Mainly their focus is on how to feel better. The impact on the people trying to help them can sometimes be draining if there is no improvement.
The Uncommitted
1) Lack of convictions: John 12:42-43. These were leaders who claimed to be believers, but lacked the courage to take a stand on their beliefs. They could be classified as “closet Christians.” They can be people who act like Christians when around other Christians, but tuck it away around outsiders. Like the verse says, “they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” This group of the uncommitted may be fearful of the consequences of the association with the church or with other disciples. They may feel that it could affect their current relations with family, people at work, and/or current friends. Their lack of relational depth causes them to complain and easily walk away when things are not going well. These are surface conditions and do not necessarily mean that they don’t have a good heart, but may be in this situation due to a lack of biblical knowledge and spiritual maturity.
2) Worldly: John 2:13-16. Like those at the temple, worldly values placed God in second place at best. The uncommitted here are of those that find themselves distracted by the things of this world. They may be overly involved in work, sports, and/or their home. They may even have the best of intentions, but have their kids in too many activities, thus taking the whole family’s priority away from God. It can be seen by missing many services and small group meetings. When they do attend, they’re often late. They give and serve sporadically. They don’t have strong personal and spiritual relationships in the church, but have only superficial ones, in and out of the church. The uncommitted have both an internal and external struggle going on. The internal is produced by having conflicting goals. They may have this desire to succeed in the world, while knowing that they need God to some extent. To justify their lack of commitment they may become critical of certain aspects of the church. They try to clear their conscience of not serving or giving. They are not living up to their full spiritual potential. This can have a negative long term impact on the church, which is the external effect. They can draw people into their thinking gradually and quietly, while still participating enough to not draw too much attention to their weaknesses. They may not even realize that they are doing it, because it’s a gradual process. This is where children start to question whether it is necessary to follow God. They don’t see godliness at home or in the practices of their parents. They hear grumbling about the church and they ultimately focus on the hypocrisy of their parents and not on God. Left unattended this can spread slowly throughout the church and move us toward being self-centered instead of God-centered.
The uncommitted seek comfort and generally lack spiritual maturity. They complain easily and some comment “they are tired of the drama” when church problems surface. The Bible is full of drama and so is life – with or without God. Biblical convictions help us to stay focused on the goal of our salvation. The uncommitted can have the appearance of being weak or rebellious, but cause more damage in the long term because they have a more subtle presence and influence. They have the leavening effect, which is not as easily perceived.
The Rebellious
1) Overt: John 11:49-53. Caiaphas openly talked about how the destruction of one man, Jesus, could save the whole nation. He felt that he was the one called to save the Jews in the name of God. The rebellious who openly share their feelings are usually focused on one particular issue that they feel that they have been chosen to champion for God. It may be leadership, church doctrine, or even the basic tenants of salvation to name but a few. They gather people around them those who either feel the same way or are easily persuaded. They will claim that the whole church is being lead astray and nothing short of complete change (with their own conditions attached) will satisfy their cause. Even when confronted with biblical evidence that is contrary to their purpose they will not listen or back down. Many times they will rise up in tone and effort until things come to a head. They are so myopic in their beliefs that they will risk everything to accomplish their goal and no one can dissuade them. In this group there is an external focus that believes that they have the truth and the truth needs to be heard. They believe they are God’s chosen instrument to bring change to the church. They can be openly divisive and cause a public scene.
2) Covert: John 12:4-6. Judas was part of the twelve, but at the same time he was working to undermine all that Jesus was about. Judas had seen the same miracles, heard the same teachings, and knew how special Jesus was. Still by his hard heart he worked things for his own good. He was clever in that with exception to Jesus none of the others knew about his rebelliousness. People like this can be the most dangerous kind to deal with. They may be opinion leaders who seem spiritual by nature, but have their own agenda in mind. One aspect of this is what Gordon calls “Objective negativity” This is best described by conversations with people that give a disclaimer that seems positive but in the ends leads to negative feelings or comments. Acts 20:30 says, “even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them’. They have become corrupt in their own thinking feeling entitled to power, money, or position. They are so self consumed that the collateral damage that it causes to others doesn’t seem to bother them. They are comparable to the Pharisees that Jesus rebuked in Matthew 23.This group has an internal focus that wants to take control for their own benefit. They feel that the ends justify the means and that anyone who stand in their way, needs to be at the very least discredited.
The rebellious both overt and covert could be called pridefully, insecure. They put up a strong front on the outside, but inside are full of insecurity. They may feel unappreciated or underutilized and want to be elevated to a position that feeds their self importance.
How Jesus D ealt W ith E ach
The Weak
John 4:7-26 – With the Samaritan woman at the well. Jesus draws the woman into a spiritual conversation by making a simple request of her. He patiently talks to her, breaking down religious and cultural boundaries. He talks of godly matters, but she thinks of worldly. He knew her background and didn’t judge her because of it: “the man you have now is not your husband.” But he knew that she was weak in her character. He did keep her on track with what was important and because of that she ended up impacting her town (John 4:39-42).
John 3:1-15 – Nicodemus was a religious man, who came to Jesus at night. He probably didn’t want others of his group to see him. He was weak in faith and wanted to know more about the essentials things of salvation. Jesus again talks of spiritual matters, while Nic at night is confused by earthly things. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born.” Jesus understands this man’s crisis of faith and works it through with him. In the end Nicodemus is with Joseph of Arimathea, taking Jesus’ body for burial (John 19:38-39). In both cases, Jesus keeps stressing matters of the heart and overlooks the verbal distractions that come out. He stays with them and shares his testimony. He loves them by looking past their actions and focusing on reaching their hearts.
The Uncommitted
John 6:35-66 – Jesus taught the Jews a hard lesson for them to understand. Also in the group were all of His disciples. Instead of staying and asking questions to clarify his statements, they grumbled amongst themselves. God took issue with Israel’s grumbling in the book of Exodus and His Son, Jesus, was not going to be any different. Jesus in the end allows them to walk away. He doesn’t change His words or message to fit their sensitivities. He was there to please his Father and help anyone willing to stay to gain a better understanding.
The Rebellious
John 8:42-47, 59 – Jesus challenged the Pharisees hard. He knew the damage they had done to the faith of others. He knew their hypocrisy and calmly but firmly told them where their hearts were. He used biblical and historical facts to confront them and in the end He walked away from them before they were able to do him physical damage. In summary, Jesus stayed with those who were weak. He allowed the uncommitted to walk away, while He walked away from the rebellious.
Biblical Solutions
The Weak
Romans 15:1-7 – We all will be weak in our relationship with God at some time. All of the great men and women in the Bible had their struggles. It is during these times that we need the spiritual strength of others. As the passage says, we ought to work to please others and not ourselves. It takes an investment of heart and time to help others to overcome. We need to remember that Christ accepted us when we were in our own weakness.
The Bible calls us to use the encouragement and endurance from the Scriptures to build a spirit of unity. It is so important not to give up on people and at the same time not become weak ourselves. In the case of someone who is chronically weak, we may need others to help us to evaluate the severity of the issue(s). We should talk to the person we are helping if we need to get input from others, in order to make sure we do not breach confidentiality. It takes a good listener to hear how someone feels and to figure out what the real problem is. We have to be able to dedicate time without distractions to do that. Possible questions to ask are “what they see as their need” and/ or “what happened to rob them of their faith.” Once we know the problem, we can help by showing them related verses of the Bible and giving them practical advice. Give them an assignment so they have a vested interest in overcoming. Make sure to get an affirmation that they understand and are going to follow the advice. Ask them to repeat back to you their understanding of what you said. We need to follow up with them to make sure that they are making progress. Some evidence of change or attempts of change are important to recognize for the weak. Bottom line, what they do is more important than what they say.
How often to meet is based on need, but we must involve them initiating for help as well. We need to teach people to hear God’s spirit themselves. We should never become the answer man or fix-it person. This is a short cut and that doesn’t do for them long term what teaching them to work through things spiritually themselves does. If after a period of time they do not complete assignments or generally seem stuck, professional counseling may be recommended.