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Danville Enlightener VOL. VIII, No. 14
A Week in the WordToday begins a very, very special week for the Danville church of Christ. We have scheduled a series of gospel meetings during which the precious saving gospel of Christ (Rom 1:16) will be preached. We have invited brother L.A. Stauffer to be with us as guest evangelist to speak to us during each service. He is a man who loves the Lord and respects the sacredness and authority of His word. Brother Stauffer has been blessed by God with marvelous ability to preach the gospel with simplicity, clarity and conviction. He will come ready to make known the unsearchable riches of Christ and will do so superbly. Each night this week we will gather here at the building at 7:00 P.M. to worship God and study from His word. There will be many competing forces vying for our affection and attention. But as members of this congregation we have promised God and the community that this gospel meeting is our priority. Therefore, we must choose the spiritual over the carnal. We must be here on time and ready to worship and we must be diligent in inviting and bringing visitors. If this meeting does not redound to the glory of God, then the fault will be ours (Danville members). Brother Stauffer will do his job well and God is ready to give the increase. We must go into the harvest. -- jrb Pesky Church Discipline
Recently
I encountered two local churches that had “trouble with church
discipline.” That is, many members refused to practice any
disciplining of sinning members. This despite
many passages
that demand
local churches
engage in
correcting unruly members. One such verse is 2 Thess 3:6 “But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us.” For some reason brethren behave as though this command (and it is indeed a command) is not to be obeyed. Local churches have members who openly defy the teaching of scriptures. Their sin is known by all, but instead of withdrawing from the disorderly, the membership often decides to ignore the sin and the sinner. Occasionally it is affirmed that this ignoring is the loving thing to do. “If we kick ‘em out of the church they never will come back” is said to avoid discipline. Or, “How can we ever expect to influence them if we tell ‘em they are not loved or wanted?” First, withdrawing from the disorderly is not “kicking ‘em out.” Those who use this terminology do so either in ignorance of what the Bible teaches or they are trying to prejudice the minds of the weak. Second, withdrawing from the disorderly is an act of love. Since when is ignoring sin and its consequences an act of love? If I am aware that one of my children or grandchildren is about to ingest some toxic material, is it loving not to say something? Should I take drastic action in an effort to prevent what is about to happen? I think all understand that to look away while a loved one swallow’s poison is certainly not love. This is also true among the people of God. When Paul wrote to the church at Corinth he said, “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles-- that a man has his father's wife!” (1 Cor 5:1). Those brethren should have grieved at this kind of behavior (Vs. 2). Instead they were ignoring the sin and the lost condition of those involved. Nothing was being done to bring the sinner to repentance. Paul then spends the rest of the chapter rebuking the neglectful church. This sinning brother should have been removed from their midst. They should have withdrawn their fellowship from him. Today when churches decide to follow the deplorable example of Corinth and not withdraw from the disorderly, they are tolerating sin and this is in itself sinful. It is sinful because it leaves the sinner separated from God (Isa 52:1-2; Rom 6:23). Often what is forgotten when church discipline is discussed is the lost condition of the brother or sister. A soul is lost and needs restoring. Any act of discipline is intended to bring back the lost (1 Cor 5:5). Bringing an erring brother or sister back to the Lord saves a soul from death (Jas 5:19-20).
Ignoring
the sin and the sinner will never restore a brother or sister.
When we recognize that
a brother or
sister is in sin and in
a lost condition, we are better able to answer this question, “What behavior on our part is the loving response to a Christian who falls into sin?” Should we leave them alone and hope they will come back on their own? Or do we confront them with their sin and urge them to repentance? We should understand that withdrawing our fellowship is a last resort in the process of church discipline. Never is it to be the aim to “kick people out” of the church. Instead it is to restore their souls to fellowship with God. Also, it is sinful because it defames the church. “Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Cor 5:6-8). Paul warned the Corinthians of the danger of “a little leaven” upon the local church. Any church that develops a careless attitude towards sin will soon find itself a cesspool of sin. Tolerate doctrinal impurity and ethical impurity soon follows. Allow adulterers to continue to have fellowship with a local church in their adultery, and it is a short step to allowing homosexuals to maintain fellowship with a local church. It is unrealistic to think we can eliminate sin from society (1 Cor 5:9-10). But there sure is something a local church can do about eliminating its sin. “Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump” (1 Cor 5:7). Paul is clear that we are not to associate with those who are brothers or sisters who are immoral. We must be willing to take a stand against sin in the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ. In speaking of the church Paul wrote “that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.” (Eph 5:26-27). No one should be permitted to sully or stain what Christ has cleansed with the gift of Himself. There is no excuse that can be offered to justify neglecting church discipline. Thus, whenever I hear about churches having “trouble with church discipline” I know that the real trouble lies with those who refuse to believe, trust and obey God. And to those who refuse to withdraw from the disorderly, I say “And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother,” (2 Thess 3:12-12).
-- jrb
"As I See It" Several years ago a Unitarian preacher, Daniel Lion, said: “I would like to plead for a Bible that is not yet finished; a sort of loose-leaf Bible to which we would add a great passage from Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address . . .” He went on to list other men’s quotations he would include in his loose-leaf Bible. Mr. Lion does not believe in the sacred inspiration of the Bible. Not many who share his contempt for the Bible would be so bold as to say what he did. However there are many who treat the teachings of the Bible with the same disregard. This they do by ignoring its teaching with the words “Yeah, but.” That is, they would read something from holy writ but rather than believing and obeying its teaching respond with “Yeah, but . . .” Let me demonstrate how this works. “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned,” (Mk 16:16). “Yeah, but!” “Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything,” (Eph 5:24). “Yeah, but!”
“He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly,” (Prov 13:24). “Yeah, but!” These are just a few illustrations of how the Bible is summarily dismissed as irrelevant. It may tell us that baptism precedes salvation, yet we shelve that teaching with “Yeah, but what about the thief on the cross.” The Bible certainly demands that wives be in subjection (obedience) to their husbands, nonetheless that teaching is disregarded with “Yeah, but I don’t respect my husband.” Anyone who can read notices the Bible demands that churches withdraw from those who refuse to conform to its teaching; however this command is disobeyed with “Yeah, but it doesn’t do any good.” God, through His word, tells parents to spank children promptly. Some modern parents refuse to comply with “Yeah, but, violence is never the answer.” AS I SEE IT, those who read the Bible with the blinders of “Yeah, but” are no different from the Unitarian preacher. Neither respects either God or His word. |