Local Church Discussions - View Single Post - Erroneous Teaching of Lee Concerning Natural Affection

Raptor · 07-13-2019, 12:00 PM

I have always understood this teaching of "natural affection" without causing me much trouble at all. There are plenty of negative examples in the Bible (and even in society). Maybe the issue with some is the words "n...a" themselves? Regardless, this thing is real and can cause lots of problems in God´s house.

Part of what I have understood it to be is what James talks about in ch. 2:1-13: that is, personal favoritism, respect of persons, making distinctions among yourselves, showing partiality. You like someone, you have a click with someone, so you favor them and go beyond what God desires or says in His word, sometimes at the expense of others.

This is partly why probably Peter withdrew from the Gentiles, to hang out with the Jews and got him a rebuke from Paul. Also, probably partly why some in Corinth said, "hey we like this guy Apollos...he´s much cooler than Peter, let´s be of Apollos"....Also did not Jacob care more for Joseph, more than his other sons, ...that was part of what caused his brothers' jealousy.

Did not WL seemingly love and care too much for PL, allowing him to hang around, work and promoting him ....going beyond what God prescribes? That is "natural affection". Look what that caused. And did not the leading brothers care too much for the person of WL and PL and did not remove the evil brother but looked the other way? Did they not apologize to PL, to make WL happy? That´s what I understand it is, to love, appreciate, befriend someone in the flesh or with your self, even if it´s "good", but God is not in it or allowing it.

I´ve heard horror stories about churches in central america, where the elders and other saints that are better off and better educated really "like their own class" and are very racist and discriminatory to the poorer saints/ones with more of an indigenous background. When it comes down to sending some to the FTT, guess which ones always go?

Hypothetically, if you push this "na" to an extreme in a church, you can end up with a social club, full of "clicks" and people relating to others based on family, relatives, likes, dislikes, race, "chemistry", background, money, not based on the love of God, in and through the Spirit.

All these are obvious examples with bad results, there maybe many other contexts where friendships and relationships, maybe family based or "my roommate from college based" and never cause any problems.....until the test comes. I still keep in touch with high school friends, but I have prayed for them and seek a way to share something about the Lord. I don´t like to have friends at work or in the world just for the sake of having a friend to "hang out" with or watch the game with. For me befriending someone, to have a real friend you care for is one you want to share with and give the best you have, which is Christ.

(In society one example of this is nepotism, favoritism, "old boy network". )

07-13-2019, 12:00 PM	#7
Raptor Member Join Date: Jun 2019 Posts: 414	Re: Erroneous teaching of Lee concerning natural affection I have always understood this teaching of "natural affection" without causing me much trouble at all. There are plenty of negative examples in the Bible (and even in society). Maybe the issue with some is the words "n...a" themselves? Regardless, this thing is real and can cause lots of problems in God´s house. Part of what I have understood it to be is what James talks about in ch. 2:1-13: that is, personal favoritism, respect of persons, making distinctions among yourselves, showing partiality. You like someone, you have a click with someone, so you favor them and go beyond what God desires or says in His word, sometimes at the expense of others. This is partly why probably Peter withdrew from the Gentiles, to hang out with the Jews and got him a rebuke from Paul. Also, probably partly why some in Corinth said, "hey we like this guy Apollos...he´s much cooler than Peter, let´s be of Apollos"....Also did not Jacob care more for Joseph, more than his other sons, ...that was part of what caused his brothers' jealousy. Did not WL seemingly love and care too much for PL, allowing him to hang around, work and promoting him ....going beyond what God prescribes? That is "natural affection". Look what that caused. And did not the leading brothers care too much for the person of WL and PL and did not remove the evil brother but looked the other way? Did they not apologize to PL, to make WL happy? That´s what I understand it is, to love, appreciate, befriend someone in the flesh or with your self, even if it´s "good", but God is not in it or allowing it. I´ve heard horror stories about churches in central america, where the elders and other saints that are better off and better educated really "like their own class" and are very racist and discriminatory to the poorer saints/ones with more of an indigenous background. When it comes down to sending some to the FTT, guess which ones always go? Hypothetically, if you push this "na" to an extreme in a church, you can end up with a social club, full of "clicks" and people relating to others based on family, relatives, likes, dislikes, race, "chemistry", background, money, not based on the love of God, in and through the Spirit. All these are obvious examples with bad results, there maybe many other contexts where friendships and relationships, maybe family based or "my roommate from college based" and never cause any problems.....until the test comes. I still keep in touch with high school friends, but I have prayed for them and seek a way to share something about the Lord. I don´t like to have friends at work or in the world just for the sake of having a friend to "hang out" with or watch the game with. For me befriending someone, to have a real friend you care for is one you want to share with and give the best you have, which is Christ. (In society one example of this is nepotism, favoritism, "old boy network". )