Live on 4/30/1998 at KCBN
We call those who attend church “church members.” But among those members, how can we truly know who is a saved Christian? And at times, we ourselves wonder whether we are genuinely God’s people.
In church, we keep the Lord’s Day. We give offerings—not too much, not too little—just the appropriate amount compared to others. We even lead public prayer in front of the congregation. We know the Bible well enough to find passages in the Old and New Testaments faster than others. Seeing these things, people around us recognize us as someone with “good faith.” But is this really the entirety of what pleases God?
While listening to the Old Testament, I discovered something astonishing once again. It was the reaction of Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh’s guard, when Joseph—who had been taken to Egypt—was sold into his household as a slave. Potiphar, who did not know God at all, was a man who commanded many under him and had the keen ability to discern a person’s inner character just by looking at their face. To become captain of the guard, he would have undergone rigorous training and an excellent education. He was an exceptional man.
Yet when he saw the young foreigner Joseph, he immediately recognized his intelligence and sensed that he was no ordinary person. As Potiphar continued to observe him closely, he came to know the name of the LORD, and he saw that the LORD was with Joseph and made everything he did prosper (Genesis 39:1–6).
Scripture never records Joseph preaching God’s name in Potiphar’s house or promoting himself in any way. Yet Potiphar became convinced that this Hebrew slave, who believed in the LORD, was someone he could trust completely. So he appointed Joseph as the overseer of his household and entrusted everything he owned into his hands. Potiphar’s decision was wise and extraordinary. And just as he expected, through Joseph—the man of the LORD—blessing came upon everything in his house and in his fields.
The astonishing truth is this: the ones who can most clearly distinguish whether we are truly God’s people are not those inside the church, but those outside it—those who do not believe. Even if we never announce that we are Christians, they can quickly discern “a person who believes in Jesus” from “a person who does not.”
Several years ago, a new family came to our church. They attended for a few weeks and then suddenly stopped coming. Whenever a new family joins, the church prays earnestly for them from the very beginning until they are fully settled. We pray for them first thing in the morning, and several times throughout the day. We call them, being careful not to interrupt their business hours. New believers are usually joyful and grateful for such love and attention, and just when they begin to settle into church life—suddenly, they leave. It is deeply discouraging.
When we visit them to ask what happened, they rarely give a clear answer. Something is troubling their hearts, but they do not open the door to share it. Eventually, however, the truth comes out: they cannot continue attending because of a certain person in the church.
During their first few weeks, everything felt exciting and uplifting. But once they became familiar with the faces and learned who was who, they discovered that someone who had made their immigrant life extremely difficult in the past was now a church leader. They were deeply disappointed. They had come to church hoping to live rightly by believing in Jesus, but if they had to encounter the same kind of behavior they experienced in the world, they wondered why they should struggle to attend church at all.
— Yoon Wan‑Hee
Daily Sauntering 
You must be logged in to post a comment.