17 Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.
20 Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
21 make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Christ is our Good Shepherd, and He has called our spiritual authorities to watch over our souls, according to verse 17. Our loving Savior wants us to live a fulfilling and productive life, in fellowship with Himself and God our Heavenly Father, and He has provided the Holy Spirit and His Word to keep our lives in line, headed in the right direction. Caring for our souls is so important - it's a high priority for each of us, as well as those around us who are our fellow believers, a concept that was also covered by that Dallas pastor.
Here is a Scripture passage that was referred to by a church in Dallas in a letter that it wrote in the
context of church discipline. It is from 1st Peter 5:
1 The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed:
2 Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly;
3 nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock;
4 and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.
So, our spiritual leaders are called to be shepherds, an extension of the work of the Good Shepherd.
When a local church body has a member who has been living in overt sin; someone who has sought counsel to deal with it, but has rejected it and insists on accommodating that sin, does the Bible give a prescription for dealing with that person?
In this "anything goes" culture, we still recognize that the Bible set parameters for those who are determined to be part of the body of Christ. Please let me share a few Scripture references: 1st Peter 5:1-4, Acts 20:28, Matthew 18:15-18, and 1st Corinthians 5:11.
These are references, according to a story on the Christian Examiner website, that were used in a case of church discipline by a multi-site church in the Dallas/Fort Worth area named Watermark Community Church. There was a member, Jason Thomas, who, after seeking help in dealing with his homosexual behavior, decided that he could not change and continued in an inappropriate relationship with a same-sex partner. For this, he was removed for membership one year ago. He posted an anniversary post several weeks ago.
It's church discipline; it's Biblical, and it's a way for the church to take care of its own by challenging them to repentance. But, Thomas decided that he would try to embarrass the church by posting the letter from the elders removing him from membership on social media. Here is a sampling of the contents:
So, Thomas shared his post and said he spent years battling homosexuality and believed God would change him. He said he prayed daily for change, but "when I wasn't able to change, you turned your back on me." He now says, "Thank you for removing yourself from my life! I am who God made me to be. I cannot change my sexual orientation and nor would I want to. I now have internal peace and happiness like never before..."
Here are a few comments that emerge from this conflict:
For one thing, church discipline is Scriptural and is intended to lead to repentance. Just as Pastor Wagner says, a child who is lovingly disciplined by his or her parents is better for it. When a person violates God's standards, not only does God work directly in someone's life by the Holy Spirit to bring about repentance, but there are human instruments whom He will use.
For those who would seek to brand Watermark as less than compassionate, we have to recognize that the Church should be loving to all, but, and this is important, we should always stress that a relationship with Jesus involves bringing one's life into conformity. Yes, we come to God just as we are, but He does not intend to leave us there - if we refuse to grow or even refuse to obey, there should be consequences, and lack of fellowship with the church is one of them.
The problem has come when churches have made one activity that the Bible clearly calls sin - homosexuality - "acceptable"; in fact, for many, it is no longer a sin from which one should repent, but a matter of identity that someone should embrace. It is singled out today as a badge of honor, in direct contradiction to Biblical teaching on the matter. One could say that the church is being intolerant here, but it is certainly not compassion to see a person violating God's principles and not take steps to provide the remedy, the way to a right relationship with Him.
+++++
context of church discipline. It is from 1st Peter 5:
1 The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed:
2 Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly;
3 nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock;
4 and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.
So, our spiritual leaders are called to be shepherds, an extension of the work of the Good Shepherd.
When a local church body has a member who has been living in overt sin; someone who has sought counsel to deal with it, but has rejected it and insists on accommodating that sin, does the Bible give a prescription for dealing with that person?
In this "anything goes" culture, we still recognize that the Bible set parameters for those who are determined to be part of the body of Christ. Please let me share a few Scripture references: 1st Peter 5:1-4, Acts 20:28, Matthew 18:15-18, and 1st Corinthians 5:11.
These are references, according to a story on the Christian Examiner website, that were used in a case of church discipline by a multi-site church in the Dallas/Fort Worth area named Watermark Community Church. There was a member, Jason Thomas, who, after seeking help in dealing with his homosexual behavior, decided that he could not change and continued in an inappropriate relationship with a same-sex partner. For this, he was removed for membership one year ago. He posted an anniversary post several weeks ago.
It's church discipline; it's Biblical, and it's a way for the church to take care of its own by challenging them to repentance. But, Thomas decided that he would try to embarrass the church by posting the letter from the elders removing him from membership on social media. Here is a sampling of the contents:
"Specifically, your desire to actively participate in a same-sex relationship with another man, and your unwillingness to heed biblical counsel from your church to turn from that relationship, has made it exceedingly difficult to shepherd you during this time..."According to the letter, Thomas had obeyed the church's counsel in the past and repented of the sin of homosexuality, but "this is no longer the case." The letter also said,
"So, in obedience to Matthew 18:15-18 and 1 Corinthians 5:11, we are left with no other option but to remove you from our body and treat you as we would anyone living out of fellowship with God ... and we lovingly, but firmly, call you back to repentance. This means that you are no longer a member of our body at Watermark."It also outlined steps to repentance and restoration.
So, Thomas shared his post and said he spent years battling homosexuality and believed God would change him. He said he prayed daily for change, but "when I wasn't able to change, you turned your back on me." He now says, "Thank you for removing yourself from my life! I am who God made me to be. I cannot change my sexual orientation and nor would I want to. I now have internal peace and happiness like never before..."
After the media publicized this conflict, the church issued a statement, which included these words:
"As directed by Scripture, Watermark makes a distinction between regularly attending and being a formal member of our church. We don't remove someone's formal status as a member for struggling with sin – whether that sin is pride, materialism, or sexual sin. Every member of Watermark needs God's grace to stand firm in the midst of temptation and His forgiveness for the times we fall short."
"An individual's formal relationship with us as a member is only changed when someone no longer desires to resist sin and/or refuses our help, care, and encouragement. Even if someone's formal membership status is removed, our desire is to continue to love and care for them, and they are always welcome to attend Watermark and be reminded of the grace and truth of our Savior, Jesus Christ..."The church's pastor, Todd Wagner, wrote an opinion piece on the Dallas Morning News website. The Christian Examiner article states that Wagner "said church discipline as a concept may seem archaic and oppressive to many, but he said the goal of it is repentance and He said 'loving correction.'" He wrote for the newspaper: "Loving correction (church discipline) can be a difficult idea to understand, because candidly – though the mandate is clearly explained by Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, most churches today completely ignore it. Discipline is an act of love, something any parent knows..."
Here are a few comments that emerge from this conflict:
For one thing, church discipline is Scriptural and is intended to lead to repentance. Just as Pastor Wagner says, a child who is lovingly disciplined by his or her parents is better for it. When a person violates God's standards, not only does God work directly in someone's life by the Holy Spirit to bring about repentance, but there are human instruments whom He will use.
For those who would seek to brand Watermark as less than compassionate, we have to recognize that the Church should be loving to all, but, and this is important, we should always stress that a relationship with Jesus involves bringing one's life into conformity. Yes, we come to God just as we are, but He does not intend to leave us there - if we refuse to grow or even refuse to obey, there should be consequences, and lack of fellowship with the church is one of them.
The problem has come when churches have made one activity that the Bible clearly calls sin - homosexuality - "acceptable"; in fact, for many, it is no longer a sin from which one should repent, but a matter of identity that someone should embrace. It is singled out today as a badge of honor, in direct contradiction to Biblical teaching on the matter. One could say that the church is being intolerant here, but it is certainly not compassion to see a person violating God's principles and not take steps to provide the remedy, the way to a right relationship with Him.
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