After the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira, in Acts chapter 5, we read that "all the believers used to meet together in Solomon's Colonnade. No-one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number." (Acts 5:12b-14 NIV) At first glance, this seems to be a bit of a contradiction. No-one dared join them but more and more ... were added to their number. The answer, it seems to me, is that no unbeliever dared to join them but new believers (converts) did. The early church was a group of believers only. They were visible to the public, they preached their message to the public but you didn't join in their meetings unless you were saved. There was a clear line of demarcation between those who believed in the risen Christ and those who did not.
This state of affairs did not last, although we see another hint of it in Acts 8:21 where Simon the Sorcerer is told that he has no part in the ministry of the apostles because his heart is not right before God. Later epistles such as those of John and Jude indicate that there were unbelievers and deceivers in the church, masquerading as sheep. The prescribed remedy for this was for the church to have nothing to do with such people. Which brings me to my question in the title of this post. What is the church for? Nowadays it seems to be for unbelievers, judging by the actions of many churches, however, in the beginning, it was for believers. Those bringing false teaching were not welcome. Sinners had to repent or leave.A far cry from most churches today.
In an effort to evangelise the lost and grow the church, we just about fall over backwards trying to get unbelievers through the door, and, when we succeed, we fail to preach the whole gospel to them (in case we put them off) and so we get half-baked converts in our midst who then go on to spread their yeast of worldly thinking/new age beliefs/doubt/false teaching through the whole congregation. We think that as long as we preach the word every Sunday they will eventually become true believers, while, in fact, we are ignoring Jesus' teaching about the effects of leaven. Meanwhile the gangrene is spreading within the Body of Christ and no-one has the guts to chop off the affected limb.
I have frequently witnessed double-minded so-called believers mainlining doubt and unbelief straight into the heart of a church or bible study group. They may be promoting new age therapies. They may have embraced the cult of positive thinking. They may advocate watering down the gospel lest we scare people away. They may encourage ecumenicism and inclusiveness and other worldly views. They may try and bring business management techniques into the church. It's all poison and its long-term effects on the Body of Christ are fatal. The early church had an antidote - separation. Unfortunately the doctrine of separation has become discredited over the years to the extent that it is now a dirty word in evangelical circles. More fool us. (For more detail see this excellent article from Herescope.)
I'm not saying that we shouldn't be friends with unbelievers - of course we should. We just need to make sure that someone truly is a believer in the Risen Christ, with a good understanding of all that that means, before we let them join our church. That was what communicants classes were for in the Presbyterian tradition. They seem to have fallen somewhat by the wayside. I personally believe in adult (believers) baptism because I think it has a more solid scriptural foundation but also because it requires a degree of commitment, particularly when backed up by a godly interrogation beforehand by the person doing the baptism, to make sure that the one being baptised understands what they are doing!
I expect to have to defend my Christian beliefs outside the church. I shouldn't have to do so inside the church, which should be a safe haven for sheep. Instead it is full of wolves because the walls of the sheep fold have broken down and the shepherds are not doing their job properly.
