Mandate to the Church – Part Five – Church Discipline

The last time I wrote on this topic I talked about the fact that churches are to practice church discipline because it is commanded of us by God. I also noted that its purpose is for restoration and the saving of souls.

This last point is well illustrated by 1 Corinthians 5:5. Paul’s instruction concerning the handling of a particular man caught in an incestuous relationship with his step mother was that they were to “deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved.”

Paul’s point is that when we discipline a believer in Christ, the act of discipline is a means of sanctification designed to help bring victory of the Spirit over our flesh. Church discipline, a godly rebuke, a humble and caring correction: we ought to covet these things for ourselves and those whom we love.

In addition to the benefit to the one being disciplined there is also a benefit to the church. Paul continues: “Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump. Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened.” (1 Cor 5:6-7a)

The church must be pure. It must not be defiled by open rebellion against God. The church that coddles sin as a sign of its progressive and tolerant nature is defiling itself and becomes no better than a den of robbers. The church that lovingly and firmly rebukes sin and reproves the sinner to the extent directed by Scripture cleanses itself and signals a love for God and His people, thus demonstrating to the world that God sent Jesus, His Son to save the world.

That is probably the most important point I want to make about church discipline. It is the appropriate action of a loving people. To tolerate sin is to signal a hatred of God and a disdain for the sinner. If we always remember that church discipline is an effort to restore and save a person’s soul we can never go wrong in glorifying God and demonstrating true love to His people and in so doing we preserve the witness of the gospel inherent in the Church.

• Part One
• Part Two
• Part Three
• Part Four

Mandate to the Church, Part 3 – Live In Peace

The Church is a blessing. I love her and desire to see her abiding in Christ. Much of the difficulty we see in the Church stems from the fact that the members of the body don’t abide in Christ. It is as if my hand said to my brain, “No, I will touch the fire, regardless of how much it hurts me and the body.” I pray with my Lord that the Church would be one as Jesus and His Father are one.

This goal was Paul’s when he told the Thessalonians, “Live in peace with one another.” He echoed the words of Jesus who said, “Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.” To be the salt of the earth we must live in peace with each other. Now, peace and unity are things often discussed in the church but not nearly as often achieved.

The first reason for this state is that we are not abiding in Christ in every area of our lives. We hold out things for the self, personal things that we want to protect from the encroachment of our faith, and thus, we put a condition on how we live with one another. We live in peace so long as peace does not interfere with our personal god. The simple answer to dealing with this problem is to kill the self, to mortify the flesh and the desires thereof.

The second reason is more about knowledge and understanding. Often we don’t live in peace with one another because we don’t know what living in peace looks like. In fact, we have created a picture of peace in our minds that is not true. Paul explains to us what peace looks like. I start with the first few pictures found in 1 Thessalonians 5:13-14. Peace can only exist in the Church when the following things are true:

• The unruly are admonished – Church discipline is practiced
• The fainthearted are encouraged – Pastoral care is done
• The weak are being helped – True religion is active
• The governing attitude is patience – We are longsuffering

If we can grasp these things, understand them rightly and practice them well, we will see our selfish motivation die. It would defeat my purpose here to let you walk away from this word looking at the “leaders” in your church saying, “Yeah, they really should be doing these things.” Paul was writing to the whole church, not just the “leaders”. Christ was speaking to all his disciples not just some. These things fall under the realm of responsibility for us all.

It is my hope in the days to come to talk about these things in more detail. I ask that you prayerfully consider them. Pick any one or more of them, and let me know how you would describe them and expect to see them being practiced in the Church. Pray that you would practice them yourself and then do it.

• Part One
• Part Two

Mandate to the Church, Part Two - Love Your Pastor

Previously I talked about appreciating your pastor. I mentioned that we should recognize the heavy burden upon him as he sits under the charge to care for our souls. This recognition leads to an unwillingness to slander or speak ill of our pastor. It leads to a deep appreciation for and a graciousness toward him.

As Paul continues his plea to the church, he takes our treatment of those who have charge over us to a higher level. It is not enough that we appreciate our pastor. Paul says, “We request of you brethren…that you esteem them highly in love because of their work.” Three things must be addressed here. One, what we are to do. Two, how we are to do it. Three, why we are to do it.

What we are to do is esteem our pastor. The word esteem communicates the idea that we are to view our pastor as one who is above us as our leader, governor, or prince. In other words, our actions toward our pastor must be akin to those of a follower to his leader, a citizen to his governor, or a subject to his prince. This is how you are to think of and treat your pastor.

Now, if we were to leave it there, we would miss something very important. Many people are fine with the concept that a follower can disrespect a leader, a citizen can criticize and ridicule a governor and a subject can subvert and even plot against a prince, but not if he loves him. That is how we are to esteem our pastor: with love. It is more than just appreciating him. It is loving him as one who has charge or authority over us. We are to look at our pastors as men whose rule over us is a joy to our hearts.

Some might say, they love their pastor by keeping him humble, but that is not your job. You esteem him with love. Submit to him, even in joy, desiring and praying for his success as God’s under-shepherd. God will humble the man, if humbling is necessary. You esteem with love.

Why must we esteem our pastor with love? Because of his work. Now this word ‘work’ may speak of the things that he does, the output of his life, or it may speak of employment, that with which he is occupied. I tend to think it refers here to the latter. The reason we esteem our pastor in love is because of where God has placed him. He is not your pastor because you choose him. He is not your pastor because he was the best candidate for the job. He is your pastor because God, in his care for you, gave him that office. In recognition of this fact, we should esteem him as one who has authority over us, because God has given him that authority. We should do so in love, because it was in love that God placed him over us.

This is the beginning of the path to unity for God’s people.

Part One

Mandate to the Church, Part One - Appreciate Your Pastor

Over the next few posts I intend to talk about some things that we as Christians are taught to do in scripture as it relates to the body of Christ, the Church. One of the most life changing concepts to ever grasp my heart was the idea that I am a member of a body, accountable to that body and impactful on that body. In other words, when I learned that my character, the health of my soul, has a direct impact on the health of the church, my concern for my own soul became even stronger.

I am grateful for those who teach me how to be a better Christian and how to have a closer walk with Jesus. However, I fear that too often we stop in our thinking at the point of our individual relationship with God and rarely transfer the concept of spiritual growth to the realm of the corporate body. As a result, we “go to church” as individuals, we worship as individuals and we later wonder why we don’t feel more loved by others in the church or have more love for them. We have removed the concept of the body of Christ from Christianity and the Church is suffering the consequences.

For this reason, I address these messages to the church. In fact they were first addressed to the church in Thessalonica by Paul – 1 Thessalonians 5:12-22. Here Paul gives a list of things that the church is to do. They are not suggestions to consider and adopt if you agree. They are imperatives – “do this”. As I read them they seem to be aiming toward the idea that the church is a body and must conduct itself in a unified way, “having the same mind”.

Paul’s first imperative is this: “But we request of you, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction.” 1 Thessalonians 5:12. Here Paul starts with a plea. It is not technically an imperative, but it is followed by a string of imperatives which show that while Paul is pleading for us to do this, he really does expect us to do so.

What Paul wants and expects of the Church first is that we appreciate our pastor. Our pastor is the one who labors for the gospel among us. He has been given charge over us. This means that our pastor has both authority over and responsibility for us. He is told that he will give an account for those under his charge. The spiritual weight upon him is great, and he is yet a man. Therefore, Paul says, appreciate him. The Amplified version helps by telling us to recognize him for what he is, namely one who cares for and is responsible for your soul, one who has the weight of your eternity on his shoulders.

I believe that if we, as the church, look at our pastor in this light, we will be more gracious and even appreciative of him. We will not speak ill of him, rather, we will seek to encourage him with words of affirmation and prayers of intercession. It only makes sense that a church who cares for her pastor in this way is a unified church, one that has put aside all envy, malice and strife.

Recognize and appreciate your Pastor for his burden is great!