Cleanness and Protection Vital

12. Why show concern for the spiritual cleanness of the congregation?

¹² We must individually show concern for the spiritual cleanness of the congregation. How well this was emphasized when Jewish exiles were about to leave Babylon in the sixth century B.C.E.! The God-given command was: “Turn away, turn away, get out of there, touch nothing unclean; get out from the midst of [Babylon], keep yourselves clean, you who are carrying the utensils of Jehovah.”​—Isaiah 52:11.

13. How did Jude show that we must be concerned about protecting Jehovah’s people from wrongdoers?

¹³ We must also be concerned about protecting Jehovah’s people from those who would seek to entice them into wrongdoing. The “ungodly men” of Jude’s day sought to ‘turn the undeserved kindness of God into an excuse for loose conduct,’ but that loyal disciple acted to warn fellow believers and thus protect them. He reminded them of warning examples provided by unfaithful Israelites, the disobedient angels, and others. Read his divinely inspired letter, and you will see that loyal Christians cannot sit idly by when the cleanness of the congregation is threatened or God’s people need protection from immoral persons having unclean motives.

14. If a wrongdoer fails to confess to the elders, how can Psalm 26:4 help us to decide what to do?

¹⁴ Yet, suppose we have encouraged a wrongdoer to seek God’s forgiveness and confess to the elders, but he keeps putting this off or sees no need to take these steps. Can we just drop the matter? Some might reason that they do not want to become involved. They may not want to risk losing the friendship of the erring one. And they may not want to be thought of as persons who betray a confidence by telling the elders. But this is faulty reasoning. The psalmist David said: “I have not sat with men of untruth; and with those who hide what they are I do not come in.” (Psalm 26:4) Surely, then, we would not want to become accomplices of “those who hide what they are.”

15. How does Leviticus 5:1 show our responsibility after giving an erring individual a reasonable amount of time to approach the elders about his wrongdoing?

¹⁵ Therefore, after we have given the erring individual a reasonable amount of time to approach the elders about his wrongdoing, it is our responsibility before Jehovah not to be a sharer in his sin. We need to inform the responsible overseers that the person has revealed serious wrongdoing that merits their investigation. This would be in harmony with Leviticus 5:1, which says: “Now in case a soul sins in that he has heard public cursing and he is a witness or he has seen it or has come to know of it, if he does not report it, then he must answer for his error.” Of course, we must avoid acting hastily on mere supposition of wrongdoing.

Each servant of God is responsible for keeping the congregation clean, while remaining unblemished personally. (2 Peter 3:14) But what if you are troubled about the propriety of what someone has done? You should feel free to speak with the elders and get direction as to the right course to follow.

21. (a) How is Christ’s love for his congregation an example for us? (b) Regarding the wrongdoing of others, what responsibility should we shoulder?

²¹ Our love for Jehovah’s organization should imitate the love of Jesus Christ for his spiritual bride, the congregation. He “loved the congregation and delivered up himself for it, that he might sanctify it, cleansing it with the bath of water by means of the word, that he might present the congregation to himself in its splendor, not having a spot or a wrinkle or any of such things, but that it should be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:25-27) Similarly, our love for Jehovah’s organization should move us to do what we can to keep it clean. Never may we do anything to dishonor God or his organization or condone the wrongdoing of others in the congregation. Rather, let us encourage wrongdoers to correct their conduct and seek the help of the elders. If they fail to do this within a reasonable amount of time, let us shoulder our responsibility to inform the appointed overseers. In this way, we will avoid becoming sharers in the sins of others and bearing some responsibility for their wrong conduct.