Watchmen

There is a philosophy that (it appears) most Christians hold, which states something to the effect that since God set amongst His people Israel the many prophets that proclaimed wrath and calamity concerning those who were being disobedient to the Word of God, that this somehow places an obligation upon the Church to head out into the world and do the same. This is absolutely not the right course to take. In fact, this type of behavior – extreme and not – has been disastrous in an evangelical sense.

To take the example from the Old Testament of the prophets proclaiming warnings concerning the behaviors of the nation of Israel, and carry that over to the Church and make it applicable to them having a duty to proclaim the same type message to the world is erroneous. The prophets proclaimed warnings to God’s redeemed people, where only such warnings concerning disobedience to the Word of God can be directed. The unredeemed are not chastised by the prophets of God concerning their disobedience to God’s Word; on the contrary, they need only to be told of God’s substitutionary sacrificial provision for life... which today, post-Cross, is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 

We can see the example from Ezekiel 33:1-20 wherein we see God appointing a “watchman” over the house of Israel, whose primary duty was to warn the people about their disobedient actions. Here's a portion of that passage:

Ezekiel 33:2-9

2 "Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say to them: 'When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman, 3 when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people, 4 then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head. 5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life.

6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand.' 7 So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me.

8 When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you shall surely die!' and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. 9 Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul."

Context dictates clearly that the “watchman” example from Ezekiel concerns “the house of Israel” only, specifically adding, “the children of YOUR PEOPLE.” 

The context is that the leaders of Israel are to make certain that they loudly proclaim God’s truths to the REDEEMED, as Ezekiel was told to do. In that context, Ezekiel (and subsequently all leaders/watchmen of God’s redeemed) is told that should he be silent concerning God’s Word, and God’s redeemed die in their sins (their disobedience), then their “blood,” meaning their judgment & punishment, is laid on the watchman’s shoulders. But, should the watchman/leader warn the people of God concerning their unrighteous behaviors, and the people do not listen to him, then he is not held accountable for their subsequent judgment and punishment. 

The only way to carry this over to the Church is to relate this to the leaders of the Church, warning them to speak God’s truths to the Church concerning the repercussions of disobedient behavior.  And that is exactly what we are doing – we are proclaiming that every Christian’s deeds will be judged at the coming Judgment Seat of Christ, where rewards and punishments concerning the inheritance in the kingdom of Christ are meted out. Concerning this we are dutifully bound to proclaim.

There is no scriptural basis for the Church today to get herself intermingled with the world affairs in order to proclaim morality and obedience to the Word of God to the unredeemed. The Church today needs to get herself heard in the world proclaiming Jesus Christ, crucified and resurrected. There is a passage in Acts Chapter 17 that shows how Paul went about his teaching. He first taught and spoke in the synagogues to the Jews (to the redeemed), then to God-fearing Gentiles in the synagogues (the redeemed), then he carried the message of Jesus – not obedience, but belief in Jesus – to those Gentiles in the city (those we would see as unredeemed).

Reading even further in Acts Chapter 17 we see how Paul went about explaining the existence of the Creator God to these pagan, unredeemed people. There is no judgment in his speech; there is no condemnation of behaviors. (He also didn’t integrate himself into the pagan legislative system in order to bring about the morality of God into the lawbooks.) Paul just speaks to the passers-by, then respectfully answers questions when asked, telling them the simple truth about a God who desires to be sought; a God who gives “life, breath, and all things,” a God who “is not far from each one of us.” For, as Paul succinctly pointed out, this God has set a pre-determined amount of time for each of us on the earth before He judges the world through His Son.

Perhaps if the Church would stick to bringing to the unredeemed individuals in the world just the simple initial gospel message of believing in Jesus Christ (and why one needs to believe in Christ), whilst inwardly and corporately (in the Church body) working toward the unity of the faith, the mature man, growing up in all things unto the Christ (Eph. 4:1-16), then perhaps we’d find many more open doors in the world into which we could walk, and maybe more people asking more questions to seek after the God we serve.  But to bring obedience and behaviors into the arena first is to confuse and butcher the simple message of salvation by grace through faith. 

There is an urgency that the Church leaders should have in boldly teaching their flock concerning the coming Judgment Seat of Christ. We must make sure that we are doing our utmost to adequately equip and train the children of God towards their sanctification, so that they can, as mature men and women, go out and teach and preach to others. Unfortunately what has happened all too often is that the over-zealous Christian, minus a solid foundation in the meat of the Word, has gone out into the world proclaiming righteous behaviors to the world, while they themselves seldom reflect (or even understand) the righteousness they so boldly proclaim. The end result has been, and still is, a world that rightly calls Christians “hypocrites,” because they indignantly point out the slivers in others’ eyes, rather than concentrate on the log in their own.