After reading through Onedayillbefree's thread about being taken into the back room and asked inappropriate questions, I was reminded about a part done at the KM School. One of the common themes throughout the one day school was viewing things the way God sees them and how doing so will require that elders develope insight. They defined insight as, evaluating individual aspects in light of others, or getting & understanding facts and how all relate to one another.
Next, they gave specific examples where an elder will need insight in order to assist wayward sheep. The very first situation mentioned from the platform was about understanding why one misses meetings and that elders can understand why with discernment and insight. Whether this can also be used as a green light to go after ones who are in phase one of fading, I guess time will tell. The speaker then went into 1 Tim 2:7 which states that the Lord will give one understanding the the true discernment that comes from God.
The speaker then went into James 1:25 where it talks about peering into the law which will help one to truly understand a matter. This is where they tested the audience and Sir82 already delved into this concerning the man collecting sticks on the Sabbath as recorded. At this point the speaker illustrated the difference between one who thinks human thoughts and one that thinks with Godly thoughts. The man collecting sticks was put to death and anyone who views the punishment as being harsh, is looking at the matter with human discernment. The person thinking with Godly discerment will view the punishment as appropriate considering the man had 6 other days to gather wood so why'd he wait until the Sabbath to do so? Also the very fact that he was put into custody while they determined what to do with him demonstrated just how serious the matter was.
That said, the speaker made a correlation between how ones view the punishment given to the one collecting sticks, and how one today views missing meetings. He gave the example of a brother with a family, who has been laid off from work for the past 6 months but has recently been offered a job. However this new job will cause him to miss most midweek meetings and one Sunday meeting a month. If he takes the job, then it shows he's thinking with human wisdom as opposed to Godly wisdom. It would show that his own fears would trump God's views. It would also be more detrimental to take the job because of the spiritual impact it would have on his family. Elders while not telling the man what to do, would be doing the right thing by letting the man know how God would view the matter.
I hadn't thought much about that part at the school, but after reading Onedayillbefree's recent experience it made me wonder if some of the more zealous elders might start going after folks who start to fall off.