Day 29 (Year 2)

Be Alert to and Avoid Those Who Fall Away  

“Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them.” (Romans 16:17 NASB)

The phrase “keep your eye on” in the verse above comes from the Greek word skopeo. Some people turn away from “the teaching you learned,” possibly because they focus too much on what is seen with the physical eye. The scripture points out three conditions that deserve attention: turning away from the teaching, causing dissensions, and causing hindrances among believers.  

First, those who turned away from the teaching are people who once knew Jesus but have chosen to disbelieve Him. They generally have two options: one is to leave faith in Jesus and also leave the community of believers; the other is to abandon the faith while remaining within the faith community to cause destruction. The people referred to in this verse are the latter. They feel capable of persuading others to follow them in rejecting Jesus. In this sense, they see themselves as surpassing Jesus and attempt to stir up a trend of unbelief and dissensions among believers.

Those who fall away create dissensions. Often, their strategy is first to separate the strong in faith from the weak. Then they cause the weak to stumble, so that the eyes of their hearts, once opened, become veiled again. They know they cannot easily cause the strong faith in Jesus to stumble. If the weak are closely connected to the strong, their schemes will fail. Thus, the weaker a believer’s faith, the more our spiritual eyes need to be opened, and the more closely we should stay connected to the believers with strong faith, rejecting all schemes that create division.

Finally, Paul urges us to watch out for those who cause others to stumble and to avoid them. Why does he not advocate tolerating or forgiving them? The reason is clear: a believer’s faith in Jesus is of utmost importance. To tolerate those who weaken the faith is to allow them to continue weakening our faith in Christ. At some point, we must ask: What is more important—faith in the Lord Jesus, or harmonious relationships with people? At the same time, if there are those whom Jesus Himself does not forgive, what would be the result if believers choose to forgive them? Should we consider ourselves more “spiritual” than Jesus? To forgive those who destroy others’ faith is to indulge them, and this only leads to the disintegration of the faith community and causes more believers to drift into unbelief. Those who tolerate people who cause others to stumble will face severe judgment from God, because they become accomplices.

Reflection questions:  

1) Do you think you can discern those within the faith community who have fallen away and are causing harm? If you recognize them, what would you do?  

2) In your opinion, what is more important—faith in the Lord Jesus, or pursuing harmonious relationships with people? Why?