OK, now here is a twist. Repentence and conviction are part and parcel of being saved. If someone is not repentent, or convicted for their sins, does the church body have the resposibilty to admonish the individual, even if it means telling them that they could not come back, until they had changed their heart? Case in point:
I went to a church that had an openly transvetite man that started attending. He was welcomed in and discipled. He never did change his ways, which were proven by scripture to be contrary to God's will. The man refused to change and felt no conviction to change. He insisted God would love him the way he was. He was finally asked to leave, becasue it was decided by the church leaders that he his fruits were bearing his true heart out. His being shunned by church body caused a rift, and people left becasue the church was being "hateful" and not "showing love".
Peresonally, at the risk of sounding like I am casting stones, I think the church body did the right thing by sending him packing. The book of Acts even teaches that sometimes you have to stop trying to preach to those who do not want it. The Lord will take care of the issue in his own time and way. Unfortunatley, sometimes that means doing things that adherets fo the social gospel, and the uninformed, can and will inturperet as being "un-Christian" and hypocritical.
[[becasue it was decided by the church leaders that he his fruits were bearing his true heart out. His being shunned by church body caused a rift, and people left becasue the church was being “hateful” and not “showing love]]
you church did exactly the right thing-
[[The book of Acts even teaches that sometimes you have to stop trying to preach to those who do not want it. ]]
Exactly- There are numerous verses which state this- Paul even had to run for his life on a couple of occasions because the people would not accept his preaching- He didn’t stick around and stick it out- He did what was prudent- The bible also talks about God handing unrepentant people over to the world that the world may have them-
[[and the uninformed, can and will inturperet as being “un-Christian” and hypocritical]]
That’s happens a lot unfortunately- But God’s word remains true, and truth wins the day— When someone demands that Both God and the church accept them DESPITE being shown over and over again that God does NOT accept such behavior, then that person becomes a cancer In the church which can tear the church apart- and in your case did tear the church apart by causing a rift- God commands us to be vigilant and on the lookout for such things- He also tells us to look out for heretics- people who intentionally attempt to tear a church apart by constantly arguing and fighting but who have no scripture to back up their arguments- like that gay person insisting God would love and accept them as they are-
People such as that, and such as apostates, are to be turned over to the world- and apostates lose any chance of being able to accept Christ In the future according to God’s word-