5 prices forgetting ecclesiastical discipline

He was a middle-aged pastor of a relatively influential church of good size. The church was theologically conservative and had a high perspective on the scriptures, which made its comment so tragically memorable.

He had asked me what I was working on, so I said, “A case of church discipline. “He was firmly convinced to take God and His Word seriously regarding the discipline of the church. My own congregation had recently faced a difficult situation. painful and painful situation, so I shared that I felt that we would not be faithful if we did not strive to obey in this area.

That was his answer: “You’re right.
But.
You know.
I decided from the beginning of my ministry what I would do and what I wouldn’t do.
And isn’t that the path I’d take?.

I never forgot your words. It is not a small thing to deliberately decide not to follow Jesus’ instructions (Matthew 18:15-18), the apostolic applications of divine truth (1 Cor. 5: 7, 12-13), the restoration instructions of the congregation ( 2 Cor. 2: 6-8), in the call to?fulfill the law of Christ? (Galatians 6. 1-5), of course, the apostolic mandate (2 Thessalonians 3. 6-10, Titus 3. 9-11), the determination to avoid those who disobey these instructions (2 Thessalonians 3. 14), the God-ordained tool for instruction against blasphemy. (Timothy 1. 19b -20), and an unequivocal order for us to follow this counsel?(1 Timothy 5: 19-21).

Still, many pastors have chosen not to follow “this path. “They want job security. They want to avoid the difficulties of confrontation, they want to avoid the complex dynamics that inevitably arise in a congregation when we practice church discipline.

It is worth remembering, as pastors, what we must lose if we neglect biblical ecclesiastical discipline, as well as what we have to gain by faithfully following the word of God.

What we have to lose

1. Blessings and God’s favor

As we neglect ecclesiastical discipline, we must lose God’s blessings and favor. Make the recognized, intentional and deliberate decision to write?about the biblical teachings about ecclesiastical discipline is writing?Icabode !? about the church. Someone seeks god’s blessings and favor in vain when he chooses to ignore the instructions he gave his wife.

2. Our deceased members

We can also lose our fallen limbs. Here’s a great irony: fallen members we don’t want?Judge? Wounded? Or?Distance? If they are abandoned in their own sins and deprived of the church’s call to repentance, they will find themselves despised and leaving the church in any way. Even if they do not leave the church, their inner distance from God makes their presence a mere facade, which means that we lose them anyway.

3. Our loyal members

If we do not take all of God’s counsel seriously, we run the risk of taking members who take God’s counsel seriously. How strange it is to renounce faithful members because we fear lovingly remembering disobedient members of the Lord through the ministry of ecclesiastical discipline!

4. Our testimony before the observing world

The world can ignore the gospel, but at least it respects coherence. When we fail to tell the truth to those who have destroyed their faith and thus consent to their harmful rebellion, the observer world mocks the open hypocrisy of the Church.

5. Our power to speak

What right do we have to speak prophetically to our culture about unbalanced sexual debauchery if exactly the same rebellion is raging in our churches? What right do we have the right to speak out against corruption and greed if we do not confront these things in our own church? To extract passages on ecclesiastical discipline is to tear your tongue out.

What we have to gain

1. God’s favor

As we practice ecclesiastical discipline, we must earn God’s favor. It is appropriate to apply?Very good, good and faithful servant!? Local congregations in addition to individual Christians. God’s favor and pleasure must be our main motivation for embracing the biblical discipline of the church.

2. The growth of our brothers and sisters

Discipline also leads to growth. Ecclesiastical discipline is almost certainly the most neglected path of Christian growth in the body of Christ today. However, when administered with love, ecclesiastical discipline helps believers grow in obedience to Christ.

3. Power in the pulpit

Another advantage that pastors often lose by not practicing ecclesiastical discipline is that obeying Christ in difficult situations strengthens our preaching, the congregation that sees its ministers faithfully applying the Word will take this Word more seriously and pay more intentional attention to it. the congregation to obey the word of God, the preacher himself will grow clinging to the correct and bold application of the word of God in his preaching.

4. The Unity of the Church

Unity around anything other than all of God’s counsel is not unity, it is simply a peace full of mixed shadows and tones, built on everything that touches the Word of God that we find acceptable, only an authentic unity, a unity that embraces the whole Word of God, can claim the blessings of God.

5. Evangelical contrast

At a time when many churches have reduced their evangelization to programs and their scope to clientelism, we often forget that the so-called evangelical inherited from God’s people is what it was done for, what operates in what can be called a contrasting evangelical ministry: as the Church grows in holiness, it creates a growing and strong commitment to the culture lost around it , when this happens, the world begins to see that the Church presents a true countercultural alternative, an alternative emanating from convictions clearly based on a standard than her own.

Choose a better way

A few years after this sad conversation, which I recounted earlier, I met another minister, probably the same age as the first, also pastor of a good-sized church. He was also a curator of theology and had a high perspective on the scriptures. We were talking about the ministry, life, and challenge of church discipline, and he also said something I’ll never forget: “You know, I just want a new pastor. Church of the Testament once before he died. I think we can be like this and I want my people to be like that.

Two men. Two paths. Two alternatives: the first brother, I am convinced, will pay a high price for seeking tranquility and comfort; the other will sometimes pay a price for spending time in discomfort and potential conflicts, but their reward will be great.

Choose the best shape. Isn’t the choice obvious?

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