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| BEEN THERE, DONE
THAT |
The
“Great” Commission of Gwen Shamblin & Remnant Fellowship:
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Epilogue
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Should I Leave Babylon?
 I
know that some of my readers are struggling with the same situation that
I found myself in at the beginning of this story. In some format
(convention, WDAdvanced, etc.) you have been exposed to Gwen’s erroneous
teaching that if there is sin in your church, if not all the members are
sold out to total obedience, then you need to leave! This teaching
is extremely compelling because it is based on real Scriptures (1 Corinthians
5, among others). The problem is that if you accept a legalistic
approach to the Scriptures, then you are bound to follow this and other
directives about separating oneself from sinful brothers without the freedom
to stop, think, and determine how this command best applies to your situation.
First
of all, realize that there will always be sin in the church. Christ
calls us at different phases in our lives, and some are called to Him when
their lives are veritable disaster zones! It may take them some time
to allow the Holy Spirit to do its sanctifying work. During this
time, they will require prayer and support. And sometimes believers
fall asleep spiritually and stymie the work of the Holy Spirit for a season.
However, this is no different than the state of the church found in the
Bible. Contrary to Gwen’s twisted presentation of the New Testament
church as a sinless body with one immoral brother who needed to be expelled,
careful reading of most of the Epistles reveals that in every church body,
there were always people who were not measuring up and who needed to be
admonished to continue growing up. First Corinthians reveals that
one man was expelled because his sin was not even tolerated amongst the
Gentiles. There were plenty of others who were engaged in sexual
immorality, taking each other to court, and practicing divisiveness.
Paul didn’t have those brothers thrown out. Rather, he encouraged
them to grow.
Secondly,
remember that when one brother separated from another, rarely was it a
full excommunication. Rather, evidence points to the fact that they
stayed in contact to monitor whether the disciplined brother was being
brought to repentance.
Thirdly,
and most importantly, there was a situation when Christ our Savior
Himself addressed many of these New Testament churches. In the opening
chapters of Revelation, Christ dictates seven letters to the seven churches
of Asia. The letters to the churches in Thyatira and Sardis are instructive
(Revelation 2:18-3:6). In both of these churches, the situation was
grim. In Thyatira, the church was tolerating a false prophetess who
was leading many into sexual immorality! Jesus did not command any
in that church to leave. He assured them that He would take care
of the situation. And in the letter to Sardis, Christ acknowledges
that only a few in the church had not “soiled their clothes.” However,
He did not command them to leave and form a Remnant Fellowship Sardis.
Rather, He affirmed their perseverance, and commended their walk!
What
should you do if you find yourself beginning to be upset by sin and rebellion
in your congregation? First of all, check your own heart. In
Matthew 7:1-6, Jesus says to take the plank out of your own eye before
trying to remove the speck from a brother’s eye. In other words,
if you want to be of assistance to your brother, examine your own heart,
and see how anxious you are to be obedient to Him. Can you look at
another brother’s weaknesses without judging him? If not, then pride may
be getting in your way. You will not be able to intervene until you
address this with the Savior.
Secondly,
when deciding what to do about sin in your fellowship, compassion and gentleness
should be the watchword. Matthew 18:15-17 indicates that confronting
sin in a brother’s heart is a process, and requires several steps.
And I think that a defining passage to be considered is Galatians 6:1-5.
| Brothers, if someone is
caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently.
But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s
burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone
thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each
one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself,
without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his
own load.33 |
This
passage indicates that as we restore a brother, it should be gently, and
we should be willing to “carry” that brother for a while, just as Christ
“carries” us. This is Christ like! This is what we should aspire
to! But this type of restoration requires a relationship, and so often
we do not cultivate relationships with our fellow believers. We sit
back from a distance and judge. It’s easier to do that than to courageously
get involved with someone who needs to be turned from his or her sin.
There
will be situations when church leaderships are so corrupt or blinded that
it is best to leave and go where you can be better served, and so that
you can better serve. But these situations require prayer, and true
discernment. There is no “one size fits all” solution, as Gwen Shamblin
would try to tell you.
A Small Piece of Advice
If
you’ve read this far, thank you. Many of my readers will most likely
be people who are currently members of Remnant Fellowship, are current
potential recruits for the movement, or are involved in any of the Weigh
Down programs and are currently seeking more information. Please
allow me to offer some humble advice to those who find themselves in these
situations. You are certainly free to make your own decisions about
these suggestions.
If
you are currently a Remnant Fellowship member or a potential recruit, it
is clear from this article that I believe that Gwen Shamblin and the Remnant
Fellowship leadership are not all that they appear to be, and that you
are well advised to terminate your involvement in these organizations.
I am not saying you should cut off your relationships with the people in
them. However, I don’t think it’s wise to be under their authority.
They will encourage you to stop up your ears against any criticism of the
group, and do not honor a free flow of information to the people in their
organization. They wish to test for you what is good, and by not
allowing you to have all the information (by speaking to former members,
reading critical articles, etc.), you are unable to fulfill your responsibility
to Christ to “Test everything” (1 Thessalonians 5:19-21). My advice
to you is to seek support from strong Christian friends and family members
outside the group, discuss the issue with spiritual leaders in your community,
and to leave. At the least, it would be wise to open up a dialogue
with someone outside the group who might be able to offer you an informed
but differing perspective.
If
you are not personally involved with Remnant Fellowship or the
leadership of Weigh Down in Nashville, but are simply taking the
Weigh Down program, I would advise you to withdraw from these
programs. There are excellent alternatives to Christian
weight loss available, and this program only opens the door to
associating with and financially supporting a pseudo-Christian
cult group. Furthermore, I believe that Gwen is a very divisive
person, and the Bible does warn against associating with such
people. If you are looking for an alternative to Christian
weight loss that employs the food principles (without turning
them into a law) try ThinWithin.org.
This organization is made up of many former Weigh Down staff and
counselors who helped develop the materials but left or were fired
for not supporting Gwen’s doctrinal errors.
The End of Our Story
We’ve
arrived at the end. After our encounter with our friends (Remnant
Fellowship New York), Maria and I felt spiritually raped. We had
trusted them and loved them, and they had abandoned us with little consideration
regarding how their actions would affect our souls or our hearts (anything
can be justified by “vertical emphasis”). We had no recourse but
to fall back on (guess who?) our former church. We called our pastor
and our elders and asked to speak to them. They listened to our story,
and we told them the whole thing. We told them that we hadn’t even
come to our senses, we were just rejected! We apologized for our
pride and the rebellious things we had said to them. And just like
that, they forgave us, and asked us to come home!
Things
are definitely not the same. We damaged a lot of people’s trust in
us by leaving so abruptly. We have a lot of relationships to rebuild.
But the day we stood up in church and apologized for our pride, we were
embraced by that congregation and welcomed back. The welcome was
not universal. I think a few were glad to see us go, and we have
had to face gossip upon our return. But we have been given a new
insight into the meaning of humility and perseverance, and we are able
to find it in our hearts to love them anyway.
Yes,
we have returned to a church body that has sinful people in it. It
is a church with problems. But as it turns out, we fit in there!
We have problems. And we have begun to challenge ourselves to not
judge anyone unless we feel comfortable confronting them and then bearing
their burdens as Christ would.
When
I compare the treatment we received from our “spurned” church to the treatment
we received from Remnant Fellowship New York (and Nashville, by extension)
it’s not difficult for me to decide who is the true counterfeit.
It’s a decision I can make on a rational, spiritual, and emotional level.
My
heart aches for those I have met and befriended who are now part of Remnant
Fellowship. I continue to pray on a daily basis for reconciliation
and restoration of these relationships. I welcome your prayers for
myself and my wife as we heal and find new ministries in our lives.
And please pray with me for Gwen Shamblin, David Martin, and the Remnant
Fellowship leadership all over the country. God loves them exceedingly,
and wants to see them cease this division. Let’s trust Him to work
it out.
Peace
to you. If you need anything from us or need to talk, please contact
us at faithwithoutstrings@yahoo.com. |
ENDNOTES
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International Version. [BACK] |
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