害群之马：主日缺席者
在我的成长过程中，我总是听到这样的说法：疏漏之罪好于过犯之罪。这样一来，你就能把自己的罪归咎于健忘、无知或疏忽。过犯之罪指的是蓄意而为的犯罪，因此似乎是更大的禁忌。
缺席：仅仅是疏漏之罪？
我担心太多的基督徒把经常不参加聚会当成一种疏漏之罪；就算这是罪，也是个小罪。没什么大不了。他们会说：“不要把律法主义带到这里！”显然，这是很多牧师、长老、执事和会众的想法，因他们从未注意到缺席者的惊人数目。
例如我自己的教会所属的宗派美南浸信会（Southern Baptist Convention），无论是哪个礼拜天，在全美国超过四万个的教会中，只有三分之一的正式成员去教会。也就是说，大约有一千万名义上的基督徒实际上并不会出现。
缺席者不尽相似
既然缺席者情况不尽相似，教会应该区别对待不同的缺席者。这里是四种不同的情况：
住在附近而不能来的：年龄和健康拦阻了他们。对这些年长的或被病痛折磨的成员应当给予特别的关心。本文不是针对他们。
（暂时）住在区域外而不能参加的：军事或商业任务拦阻了他们。这些（暂时的）缺席者也应当被给予特别的关心，因为他们不定的工作地点给自己和家庭带来了特别的负担。本文也不是针对他们。
住在你们教会的服事区域之外，却要选择成为你们地方教会成员的：距离拦阻了他们。应当鼓励这些缺席者参加他们能够委身、离他们近的地方教会。本文是针对他们。
住在教会服事区域内，但却偶尔露面的成员。除了自己选择不来聚会之外，没什么真正的拦阻。本文特别针对他们。
缺席者为何有害？
后两种类型的缺席者对地方教会有害处，因为他们使得基督身体中的成员相交变得毫无意义。
哥林多前书12章中使徒保罗用身子和肢体来比喻教会：“就如身子是一个，却有许多肢体；而且肢体虽多，仍是一个身子；基督也是这样”（林前12:12）。“你们就是基督的身子，并且各自作肢体”（林前12:27）。
当我把钟摆从爷爷的时钟上拆下来，它还是有点用处，比如可以把钟摆当作撬棍来撬开密封的油漆罐盖子。但那是对钟摆的误用。钟摆（作为一个部件）是被设计用来安装在时钟里面，和其它部件一起，给轮齿提供移动的重力，从而带动时间指针。基督徒在教会身子上的功用也是如此。把自己从本地基督徒群体中分开的基督徒就像一个开油漆罐的钟摆，而不是让时钟运转的钟摆。
然而，缺席者伤害的不仅仅是自己；实际上他们对自己名义上归属的地方教会有负面影响。我认为缺席者在四方面有害。
缺席者的害处
1.他们让传福音变得更难
首先，缺席者让传福音变得更难。你们的教会是被呼召成为神国在社区的前哨，当你们彼此相爱并在基督里成长的时候，这是以小见大，有意义地彰显神的荣耀。因此，每一个被教会确认披戴基督之名，却选择离开立约信徒群体的人，都是在盗窃身份。他们冒用基督之名，却不真诚地认同祂的身体：教会。
借用约拿单·李曼（Jonathan Leeman）的比喻，他们穿了你们队的队服，却不和你们一起作战。那样会在周围还不信的人群中混淆你们的见证。非基督徒看见你们的队服披在一个好像为别的队而战的家伙身上。就好像一个人穿了华盛顿红人队（Redskins）的球衣，却只为达拉斯牛仔队（Cowboys）欢呼，他跑到牛仔队的赛场，讨论牛仔队的队服颜色以及有一天住到达拉斯的梦想。这会前后矛盾，令人困惑，并且引人误解。回到更加圣经化的语言，基督徒已经被基督的身体接受。缺席者却表现得像孤儿。这给你们教会作群体的福音见证带来困难。
2.他们让初信者困惑
第二，缺席者让初信者困惑。初信者常常会陷入混乱。他们过去认为对的，如今都是错的，过去认为错的，如今都是对的。初信者的前几周、前几个月，甚至前几年都会面临巨大的困惑。初信者需要好的教导。
不仅如此，他们还需要好的榜样。当接收的教义和看到的榜样不一致时，他们困惑了。缺席者不仅是反面见证，也是反面榜样。尽管他们宣称自己是祂的儿女，却忽视和违反无数圣经的经文，甚至不能用最基本的方式彰显神的品格。
缺席者傲慢有力地对初信者说，“所有你在圣经中读到的东西并非必要。没有其他基督徒的鼓励，你可以活。不牺牲自己去服务和爱其他基督徒，你可以活。没有教导和传道，你可以活。没有牧养，你也可以活。”
3.他们使稳定聚会者气馁
第三，缺席者使稳定聚会者气馁。稳定聚会者作出牺牲来持守他们和教会的约定。他们为了满足其他成员的需要奉献自己的金钱和时间，这些说起来都不容易。缺席者不做这些，至少不经常做。因此，如果教会继续保留缺席者的成员资格，他们就会大大摧毁成员关系的意义，伤害和拦阻信徒。
此外，缺席者缺乏应有的服侍，这也会让有信心的参与者气馁。很显然，一个100人的教会，如果人人都用神给的恩赐作工荣耀神，当然比一个35人参与65人缺席的教会强壮得多。缺席者不经意中把所有的重担转移到一小群人身上，而这一小群人并未想过要独自承担。
4.他们使领袖忧愁
第四，缺席者使他们的领袖忧愁。希伯来书13章17节说，“你们要依从那些引导你们的，且要顺服；因他们为你们的灵魂时刻警醒，好像那将来交帐的人。”根据这节经文，忠心的牧师或长老应当对群羊中每一个的属灵状况都有负担。像父亲担心深夜迟迟未归的儿子一样，好牧人不数点完所有的羊绝不休息。缺席者让这个任务变得几乎不可能。
解决这些缺席者的问题需要时间和鼓励，每一位牧师或长老都应当有此负担，消除缺席者现象，医治他们对福音、初信者、忠心的出席者和教会牧者的有害影响。回报？当教会逐渐只由忠心、奉献于身体的成员参加时，这个教会将成为神旨意中的身体：彰显祂的智慧，荣耀教会的头 — 耶稣基督。
Those Toxic Non-Attenders
Growing up I always heard that it was better to be accused of committing a sin of omission than a sin of commission. That way, you could always chalk your sin up to forgetfulness, ignorance or thoughtlessness. The sin of commission was the bigger no-no since it appeared deliberate and calculated.
NON-ATTENDANCE: JUST A SIN OF OMISSION?
I fear too many Christians think that not attending church on a regular basis is a sin of omission; if it’s a sin at all, it would be a little one. No big deal. “Don’t bring that legalism over here!” Apparently, this is what many pastors, elders, deacons and whole congregations think, since they have done little to address the staggering numbers of non-attenders.
For example, in my own denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, just one-third of the formal membership of over forty thousand churches in the U.S. actually attend on any given Sunday. That means that about ten million so-called Christians are actually no-shows.
NOT ALL NON-ATTENDERS ARE ALIKE
Since not all non-attenders are the same, churches should treat different kinds of non-attenders differently. Here are four different kinds:
Those who live in the area and are unable to attend: age or health prevent them. Such elderly or physically suffering members should be treated with special care. This article isn’t about them.
Those who live (temporarily) outside the area and are unable to attend: military or business assignments prevent them. Such (temporary) non-attenders should also be treated with special care since their travel for work places unique burdens on them and their family. This article isn’t about them.
Those who live outside the area and choose to keep their membership with your local church: distance prevents them. Such non-attenders should be encouraged to join a local church they can attend. This article is about them.
Those who live in the area and sporadically, infrequently attend: nothing really prevents them except their own choice. This article is especially about them.
WHY NON-ATTENDERS ARE TOXIC
These last two types of non-attenders have a toxic effect on the local church because they render membership in the body of Christ meaningless.
In 1 Corinthians 12 the apostle Paul speaksof the body and its partsas a metaphor for the church:
“The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body.” (1 Cor 12:12)
“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” (1 Cor 12:27)
When I take the pendulum out of my grandfather’s clock, it can still do certain things, such as open sealed paint can lids. But that’s a mis-use of the pendulum. The pendulum (a part) was designed to fit inside the clock, join the other parts, and provide the weight to put in motion the cogs which turn the hands which allow us to tell time. That’s how Christians are meant to function within the body of Christ. A Christian who cuts himself off from a local body of Christians is like a pendulum opening a paint can, not a pendulum that makes a clock run.
But non-attenders don’t merely harm themselves; in fact they have a toxic effect on the local church to which they nominally belong. I would argue non-attenders have a toxic effect in four ways.
THE TOXIC EFFECTS OF NON-ATTENDERS
1. They Make Evangelism Harder
First, non-attenders make evangelism harder. Your church is called to be an outpost of God’s kingdom in your community, a small but meaningful display of God’s glory as you love one another and mature in Christ. Therefore, everyone who bears the name of Christ, as affirmed by your church, yet who willingly chooses to live their lives apart from the covenanted community of believers is practicing identity theft. They’ve taken Christ’s name, but they don’t honestly identify with his body, the local church.
To borrow Jonathan Leeman’s metaphor, they wear your team’s jersey, but they don’t practice with or compete for your team. That confuses your witness to the unbelieving community around you. Non-Christians see your jersey on a guy who looks like he’s playing for the other team. It’s like a man who wears a Redskins jersey but who only cheers for the Cowboys, goes to Cowboys games, talks about the blue and silver and dreams of living in Dallas someday. It’s inconsistent, confusing, and misleading. To go back to more biblical language, Christians have been adopted into the body of Christ. Non-attenders act as if they are orphans. This makes it all the more difficult for your church’s corporate life to bear witness to the gospel.
2. They Confuse New Believers
Second, non-attenders confuse new believers. New believers are often a mess. Everything they thought was up is down, and everything they thought was down is up. There is great confusion in the first weeks and months and even years of a new believer’s life. They need to be taught well.
But not only that, they need good models. When the doctrine they’re taught doesn’t sync with the models they see, they become confused. Non-attenders are not only reverse-witnesses, they’re reverse models. They disregard and disobey countless passages of Scripture and fail to image God’s character in even the most basic ways, even though they claim to be his adopted children.
In their arrogance, non-attenders are effectively saying to new believers, “All that stuff you’re reading in the Bible isn’t really necessary. You can live without encouragement from other Christians. You can live without sacrificing yourself to serve and love other Christians. You can live without teaching and preaching. You can live without shepherds.”
3. They Discourage Regular Attenders
Third, non-attenders discourage regular attenders. Regular attenders sacrifice to keep their covenant with their local church. They give their money and their time to meet the needs of other members of the body, which is not easy to say the least. Non-attenders don’t do these things, at least not with any regularity. So when a church allows non-attenders to remain members, they effectively gut the meaning of membership, which hurts and discourages the faithful.
Further, non-attenders rob the church of their needed service, which also tends to discourage more faithful attenders. Surely a church of 100 members, all of whom are laboring for God’s glory with the gifts God has given them, is exponentially stronger than a church of 35 attenders and 65 non-attenders. Non-attenders unwittingly shift the entire burden to a few, a burden those few are not meant to carry alone.
4. They Worry Their Leaders
Fourth, non-attenders worry their leaders. Hebrews 13:17 says, “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account.” In light of this verse, a faithful pastor or elder should feel responsible for the spiritual state of every member of his flock. Like a father worried about his son who hasn’t yet come home late at night, a good shepherd doesn’t rest until all his sheep are accounted for. Non-attenders makes this task nearly impossible.
While time and courage are needed to address the problem of non-attenders, every pastor or elder should feel a burden to remove these no-shows and cure the toxic effect they have on evangelism, on new believers, on the faithful attenders, and on the church’s shepherds. The payoff? As the church’s membership increasingly consists only in those who faithfully attend and contribute to the life of the body, the church will begin to resemble the body God intended: a display of his wisdom that brings glory to the Head of the Church, Jesus Christ.
作者：Matt Schmucker
舒马特长老是九标志的创始人之一。他现在负责组织多个全国性大会，包括“共同为福音”（Together for the Gospel“）、CROSS校园宣教大会等。他同时也是国会山浸信会的长老之一。
翻译肢体：咸燕美
用圣经视野和实用资源装备教会领袖
进而通过健康的教会向世界彰显神的荣耀
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