Discipline? Yuck!
Peter Sample
1 Corinthians • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 28:33
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· 5 viewsA father brings correction
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Last week, we discussed how a father is an example, in worldview, in action, and in conversation. We drew a correlation between fathers and spiritual leaders. How spiritual leaders should strive to be a good example in those areas as well.
Today, we are going to continue this discussion about fathers and spiritual leaders. And we are going to talk about the word that no one likes: Discipline.
Let’s hear what Paul writes:
I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children. Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me. For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.
Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you. But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod of discipline, or shall I come in love and with a gentle spirit?
Have you ever heard the phrase, when the cat is away the mice will play. Great phrase. This is how it played out in my family growing up. My parents went on weekly date nights, and left all of us kids at home with my older brother and sister in charge, when they were old enough. I was between 7 and 9. My parents bid us goodbye and walked out the door. Before they got to the car, for some strange reason, I yelled: “Let’s party!” They immediately turned around and came back.
There were certain Corinthians who thought that they could do whatever they wanted to, because Paul wasn’t going to come back. Paul, in no uncertain terms, says “Yes, I am coming back.” And then asks them a strange question:
What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod of discipline, or shall I come in love and with a gentle spirit?
The Corinthians are a Roman society, not a Greek society. Why is this important?
The figures of the emperor and the father of the family were expected to correct the communities for which they were responsible, as well as to seek their welfare. In other words, love is expressed both through gentleness and violence.
Paul is asking: In which of these two ways am I to come as a father? He doesn’t wish confrontation. But, his love shown will be based not on his mood but on the Corinthian’s response to this letter.
Paul, as a father, as a spiritual leader, is ready to bring correction.
Today, we will talk about a spiritual leader bringing correction.
Pray
A father brings correction for ungodliness
A father brings correction for ungodliness
A father brings correction for ungodliness.
Paul speaks of the arrogance of the Corinthians.
Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you. But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have.
They had an exulted idea of who they were. This arrogance, this pride, fed into the other sins that we have talked about. They were bickering and quarreling among each other. There were divisions in the body. Each thought that they had the perfect theology over and above other followers of Jesus Christ. They were so consumed with boosting their own self-image, their own understanding of right and wrong, that they were willing to disobey Christ’s commandment for unity and love, going against actual truth.
This pride caused them to indulge in other sins, which we will study as we continue through Corinthians. There was incest and other sexual immorality, which they were proud of. There were lawsuits among them. They cheated each other. There was idolatry. There was drunkeness and gluttony. I could go on, but I won’t.
Paul looked at their sins. He saw their pride. And he promised to bring correction to them.
The role of a spiritual leader is not to just stand in the front of the church and deliver a nice message. The role of a spiritual leader is to know his congregation, to spend time with them, by doing that see where growth is needed, and provide the necessary correction for that growth.
Richard Baxter was pastor of a church in Kidderminster England in the mid 1600s. He wrote a book called “the Reformed Pastor.” He talks about having a careful oversight of families. He had a rotation, meeting with each family in their homes, once every three years, because it took him that long to get through his church. His goal was to know where each family was spiritually and provide the necessary help for spiritual growth.
Every spiritual leader performs this task differently, but the goal is to know the congregation and see what is indulged in and help correct so that good spiritual growth can happen.
I do this as I interact with you on Sunday mornings and as I text you throughout the month for prayer requests. As I talk on the phone or interacting with you in the community, I am continually assessing where you are spiritually.
This task takes time. But, if a spiritual leader is not doing it, the church will fall apart and he will be judged.
Paul urged the elders in Ephesus
Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.
The author of Hebrews wrote:
Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.
This is one reason why we as a church are structured to have multiple elders. The task is too great in todays society to accomplish alone. One day, I will not be alone. We will have a few elders to help in this task of correcting ungodliness.
A father brings correction for ungodliness.
A father brings correction from sincerity
A father brings correction from sincerity
A father brings correction from sincerity.
Paul wrote:
But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.
What Paul is saying is fascinating. He acknowledges that the arrogant Corinthians are saying some pretty strong stuff in their pride. They are boasting about their intellect, about their spirituality, about their freedom to do unspeakably bad stuff. Paul is going to arrive, and before he says anything, he is going to see if these arrogant people’s actions are in-line with their words.
And, the Corinthians knew that they were acting like little kids. They talked big, but their talk was not backed up by their walk.
You have probably interacted with people who were like this. They talked big and spiritual, but they didn’t act that way.
I remember interacting with another pastor, who talked very spiritual. Then, I sat next to him at a high school football game, and he was swearing up a storm.
Religion cannot be only in words. Religion must be shown powerful by a changed life.
Paul was going to arrive, in the face of the Corinthian’s ungodliness, and back up his “talk” with power, with deeds that would reveal their sin and God’s holiness.
A spiritual leader must bring correction from sincerity. He must not merely speak the truth, but he must live it.
James says:
Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.
Our lives must be in line with what we say.
This is why Scripture places such a high standard on who will be an elder.
Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.
An elder is charged with bringing correction to the ungodliness around him. If he has not practiced correct oversight on himself, he cannot bring that oversight to others.
It is sad and demoralizing when men of God are known as hypocrites.
You know that I am a sinner. I am not perfect. But, hopefully, you see in me a man who understands his need of grace, who constantly repents and pursues holiness, by the grace of Jesus Christ.
As a spiritual leader shows the power of God’s grace through a changed life, he is able to lead those around him in the path of that changed life.
A father bring correction for ungodliness
A father brings correction from sincerity
A father brings correction out of love
A father brings correction out of love
A father brings correction out of love
We already discussed the last verse during the introduction to this sermon, but let’s touch it again.
What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod of discipline, or shall I come in love and with a gentle spirit?
Paul is not saying that the choice is either the rod of discipline or love. Correction is to flow out of love.
This is the example that God gives.
My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline,
and do not resent his rebuke,
because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
as a father the son he delights in.
Later in Proverbs, Solomon applies God’s discipline to humanity.
Whoever spares the rod hates their children,
but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them.
I was disciplined a lot when I was a kid. My parents did not beat me, but they did strategically, in moderation, convince me that I did wrong through the proper use of a plastic spoon.
They always explained to me what I did that was wrong, and they applied God’s Word to the situation. After the necessary count was completed, they would hug me, tell me that this hurt them more than it hurt me (which at the time I thought was a blatant lie), and then they would tell me that they loved me.
I distinctly remember one day getting the guts to say what I always thought: if you loved me, you wouldn’t do this.
I was a stubborn kid. After a long time, I finally grew up and I realized that they disciplined me because they loved me. I would probably be in jail right now if they had not disciplined me.
There are some people, parents and spiritual leaders, who bring correction out of anger or revenge. That is against the character of God and is sin.
A spiritual leader’s heart should break when he sees those he loves sinning against God.
Paul opened his heart to the Galatians:
My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you!
Paul’s love for his churches caused him to spiritual and emotional pain to the point of feeling like he was going through spiritual and emotional labor, yearning for his flock to know, love, and reflect Christ.
When a spiritual leader’s heart breaks out of love for his people, he is in the correct mindset to bring correction.
Then, he is removed from the picture, even if the ungodliness was against him. He is able to show those around him the holiness of God and call them to repentance and a striving for that holiness.
A father brings correction for ungodliness
A father brings correction from sincerity
A father brings correction out of love
How does this correction happen, especially in a church family? That is another discussion. We will talk about that when we dive into 1 Corinthians 5.
The role of a father, the role of a spiritual leader, is to show Christ through our actions.
Jesus set the perfect example when he lived on this earth. He showed what it meant to live a life that reflected our Father in Heaven. He showed what it meant to love. He showed what it meant to stand for truth in the face of a world of hate.
He showed correction of ungodliness, as he told countless people: go and sin no more.
Today, we celebrate his life and his death.
Body of the Lord which was broken to earn our salvation
Blood of the Lord which was spilled to strengthen us to be an example for Him