Discipline Part 2

I can promise you that when I set out to teach on church discipline. I did not Envision 3 weeks of it. But here we are week 3 and we're finally going to finish this chapter in 1st Corinthians 5 and will we're going to do instead of reading that whole section of a kind of hunker down and verse 9 and it says this I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people not at all. Meaning the sexually immoral of this world are the greedy and swindlers or idolaters since then you would need to go out of the world, but I'm writing to you not to associate with anyone who Bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual morality or greed or is my daughter a regular drunkard or swindler not even to eat with such a one for what have I to do with judging Outsiders. Is it not those inside the church hymn you are to judge. God judges those outside. Purge the evil from among you so if you kind of popped in today what we've been doing over the last two weeks has been building a foundation for why Paul is writing this section of this letter to the church at Corinth and what they have amongst them is a Christian somebody who has received Jesus Proclaim Jesus Praise Jesus as a part of their community that gathers in the name of Jesus and yet this person is acting operating and living in a way that is very contrary to the new nature that has been given to them and it's not that oh, no I send it's that hallelujah praise Jesus what you keep sending this way because he's cool with it. It's something so grotesque Paul Road earlier. That's not even the pagans are allowing for this. And so what has to happen, it's some sort of Correction needs to come their way and Ackman of discipline needs to be brought down on this man for his own well-being and what you need to know this morning is when you hear about this idea of discipline, it's actually very loving caring kind thing of the churches to do for this man. Look at the father or the mother who never disciplines their child that ain't going well for either of them if it Think about the boss who never corrects you and whatever it is that you're to be doing. You won't flourish. But there is someone who tends to be consumed with their own lives not creating a space for somebody else to do better correction is necessary for growth discipline. In this instance for this church is absolutely necessary. Not only for the man that they are to discipline but even for the church itself, but we have to remember to get into this this morning Paul is not saying discipline and harshness or an abusive Miss because that's wrong. In fact, we can go to other sections like Galatians where it says to restore your brother in a spirit of gentleness you need to be able to as Ephesians says speak the truth in love, so he's not saying go after them in efforts of retaliation, but he's saying something has to be done in order for this man to really come around. What we see in this section of scripture is that it is absolutely inconsistent to consistently walk against the Lord to celebrate it to be the exception and I say what I am doing is okay what you think about this for a moment? It is inconsistent to consistently say I'm going to persist and celebrate in this sin. I'm going to act an offering the way were you the community have to just simply Embrace and accept that this is who I am in the way it's going to be and if we're going to do this life together in a Christian Community. You must absolutely embraced what I'm participating in this is where this has gotten to think about it. This church is celebrating the sexual immorality of this brother in their church. It's inconsistent to consistently Walk against the Lord in that way. What is consistent? Is that Christians sin? Right. Nobody in here would walk in and say a plus. We got it down past everything. I'm doing great. Nothing's ever wrong. So what Paul is not saying that he doesn't set up the lofty expectations that if you are a follower of Jesus all of a sudden, you won't hurt one another you won't respond wrong to each other you won't sin against God and some facet form or way he saying I absolutely Embrace a space for that Christians are going to fail. We're going to wrong one another hurt one another We understand that. but we're not going to consistently persist in a manner what it brought to our attention and then begin to celebrate exalted and say look what we can do and last week we looked at this word in here and it's a little bit above it says that were to walk in sincerity and truth and what that implied was in the Christian Community with one another we're going to walk in openness and honesty Redeemer I crave this for our church I crave at our church As We Gather is not a show on Sunday or a spectacle to behold what is a group of people who are tightly knitted to one another who encourage each other to invest into one another which then allows for us to walk in openness and honesty with one another to be real in the sense that when I fail it's okay for not only you to approach me or for me to approach you for the to have opened just an honest conversation about the areas in which we wrong with her beat one another or maybe we're consistently living in a way where we say God your ways aren't that great. My ways are much better. So I'm going to continue to walk in them and some dear brother comes alongside me and says Brett if you continue to go down that road it's going to bring destruction and Devastation to you and to the light around you it is not good. We of all people as followers of Jesus are ones who can actually say we're not okay, and that's okay.

All other sorts of communities religious community specifically of the rules and regulations in which you must measure up to in order to be accepted to achieve and be approved our got approved us on the cross. Our God accepted us because of what he has done not because of what we have done and then allows for us to have this open-air in which we can express and talk about that. I don't always have it all together.

Can I share that with somebody they can come alongside of me and they can serve me in that place transparency is what makes Christian Community distinctive. Absolutely is and it's so hard to push against this because what we tend to do is live up as we notice last week in a cover-up culture. We're constantly don't want anybody to know the wrong happened. We make sure that everything gets put back in order and made right and try to cover up anything has happened here. We see that we can be open honest real with one. Another Paul is not too much of a realist to actually believe it wouldn't be problems in the church. He's not in a place where he goes. Yep. The church should be sinless anybody that since it's boom kick them out. They're gone. We don't need a we don't want them to be like us key is not in that mode our mentalities, but he's looking at a situation in which they have this man who is saying God cool with this and you guys are celebrating it except units and you seem to be okay as well. Now, what are we going to do with the rest of the section and 1st Corinthians? Where they deal with this man specifically last week, we talked in-depth on Matthew 18, and if you've never gone through Matthew 18 or heard Matthew 18. I highly recommend you listen to that this process on how when your brother or sister sins against you. How do you go an approach them and talk about issues with them? How do you handle conflict in the world? Because there is going to be conflict there's conflict or one or two are gathered. It's just part of life. And so Jesus gave his incredible word on how to handle conflict now. I spent a lot of time and there's a man. His name is Jonathan Leeman, he writes for nine marks Ministries and he cut this short little handbook on church discipline and it's been sort of the handbook. I would say many of the people that I talked with and spend time with they go to when it comes to church discipline. Jonathan Leeman tries to make this case that end. 1st Corinthians, they've already played out Matthew 18 with this man therefore there at this stage where they're telling it to the church. I'm not quite ready to make that jump yet for a lot of reasons. First of all, there's a lot of speculation on whether or not they've even gone to this brother, but they have this problem in this community and it has to be addressed. Why do they have the right to address it how much grounds can they even talk to this man? And there's three things that Lehman points out that I strongly do you agree with that we have before us today. This man's skin. Was incredibly outward. It says there that everybody knows it. We have to have eyes or ears to know if it's actually out there to know if it's visible this man in this church that he was a part of the Embrace and accepted number to it was incredibly serious. Can we know that love covers a multitude of sins and if we really know God what we deserve and God kept that record in that track. I don't think any of us would be getting out of bed. Today just wouldn't go well for us.

But here we see that this man is serious. But the pagans they don't even do it. Then the third thing is he's on repentance. This is Keith this morning. It's not that he has this sin. It's that he has the sin and he's not willing to repent from it or turn from it. It's not the expectation that he never should have had this in osm expectancy that Christians are going to fan but it's that he continues to walk against the grain of what God would actually have formed and they are encouraging him in it there for Paul jumps to this conclusion, and he says you need to take Swift action because I've already judged Actors if my presence is there with you God is with you in this he doesn't outline Matthew 18 and it is as because of what's going on at the structure to the body of Christ. We need to handle this immediately about what they're going through in first Timothy 1:20 Paul wrote to Timothy and he said among whom are harmonious and Alexander who I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme. In Corinth, we have the issue of sexual immorality. Harripaul is writing. He says there's a problem there. Are these men who are blaspheming the name of God later on as I speak false. Doctrine was probably eight years ago now and I have the opportunity to fill in for my brother has his associate pastor and I preach the sermon and afterwards we have barbecue and I was hanging around inside the building for a little bit too kind of talk with people and meet some new people and this guy came up to me and you have this big white bushy beard and it's just crazy hair and he goes Pastor. I want to meet you. Okay, like I'm Brett start there and we begin to talk and chat and he turns to some places in Scripture. And it goes what's the scripture talking about? And I said well that's talking about the Satan and he doesn't what's this one talking about that one's talking about Jesus and he went back and forth. And finally he looked at me and he pointed me to a passage were talked about the hands of Jesus being pierced and he goes pastor. I'm Jesus. What and he goes? I'm also Aiden and he goes Satan is Jesus and at that point I was I was shocked. I was like a twenty-three-year-old quivering in my boots that this weird dude is going to do something harmful in there's this guy is named Aaron big guy. I just Aaron get over here, bro. I'm trying to deal with a situation. Jesus has shown up and we need to handle this correctly. Well, this man was not invited back to church. Why? Blaspheming that is false doctrine that is a guy who wanted to stir up controversy and trouble in Titus 3:10 for a person who stirs up to Vision after warning him. Once than twice have nothing more to do with him knowing such a person is warp and sinful. He is self-condemned back in that day. Maybe you guys were if you're around central, Oregon, there's a big Messianic movement that was moving through and making some Rumblings and you had these Messianic Jews who love Jesus serve Jesus Praise Jesus absolutely, but they're holding to the feast in the festivals and they're participating in that juice aspect of the faith when Amanda got involved in that so heavily that he said not only do we do we need to do these things. You shouldn't do these things, but we have to do these things and he began to spread that around our church. So we had to go in talk to this man should look we love you. We care about you. We want you here, but we fully disagree with what you're sharing and if you're going to continue to share that we're going to have to ask you to not come back. Because we don't like him. No because we care for the body says we talked about church discipline. This is a really great place for our church was six years old. We haven't had a lot of these issues here, but we need to do what we talked about that formative discipline for me to discipline is teaching and training. So when something does arise and does happen, we all understand because Paul is not asking a few select on the leadership team to discipline. This man is talking to the entire church and he saying this is what you all need to do. This is what you all need to participate in and be a part and there are times when discipline happens in 2nd Thessalonians, 3:14 through 15. If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter take note of that person have nothing to do with him a day. Maybe a he may be ashamed do not regard him as an enemy but warned him as a brother. Bible and discipline still warn him as a brother understand that he is a brother but don't allow this person to participate in that disobedient and then let people know that if that's happening how were actually to respond to that. So we have this premise the question then becomes for our churches when when when and how do we go about this? It's when a professing follower of Jesus that belongs that caused. This churchome is entangled ensnared and unrepentant sin and are willing to address she's willing to address it or work on it. That's when we have to get involved first and foremost. This person must be a professing believer. Now one of the worst things about Western Evangelical Christianity is you become a Christian and most Circles by raising your hand at the end of worship. Right? I did it. I believe him or you come to the front of the room and you come down to an altar and if that happened to you, I don't want to minimize that because something real and a transaction can happen there but we're so quick to say that's it. That's your in your God. See you later. And you just kind of go out into the world and there's no discipleship. Nobody spending time with you. Nobody's Point into you and really were looking at it going was that just an emotional movement of your heart or is there not a strong conviction that Jesus is Lord that Jesus is King because when Jesus is Lord, Jesus is King erratically reorders Our Lives. It allows for us to recognize even when we You wrong and there's a loving father we can come too if we can repair squeaky confessed and we can be open we can be honest. We also know that we belong to the body of Christ, but something has happened in that moments all too often though. We look at a hand raised and it never see the person again and we're like, let's discipline homeboy for what he's doing but good after it was follow the scriptures. I heard he's out there in the city sending let's deal with him cuz he raised his hand in our church. We ought to know if somebody's actually a professing. How do you do that? Extra time with each other in the community. We could care for one another where to live life with one another. We have to have conversation. We have to get to know one another in order to even begin to do with being outlined here for each and everyone of us this really changes how we approach discipline actually put it into its right perspective. For example the Super Bowl today, right? Yeah, you guys don't care. We're not a Super Bowl shirt. I heard okay. So nobody's Yahoo! And I mean most you probably going to go out and fish or shoutout new sheds or whatever it is that you like to do in the country. I get it. All right, but it is today. If you came up to me and said Brett, I'm kicking you out of the NFL I could care less. I feel like I'm not in the NFL. So it doesn't matter if you kick me out of the NFL. In fact, I don't have to follow any of their policies are curfews the night before any of that stuff that goes on because I am not actually part of it. You're not kicking me out of anything because I don't belong to a tall here is saying if they're up. Brother if there a Believer than this is how we handle this. But if they're not a professing Believer, if you're like, we're going to church discipline either like to see you think you finally you're not going to bother me try to bring you to church anymore. Thank goodness. I send my way out of that situation. I'm gone. Look when it comes to this. He says they must be they must be a believer when we approached them. What does it mean if you're not a believer of Jesus and your friend talk to me to church this morning? I promise you something afterwards would it hurt may have been like, oh my goodness. They're still talking about discipline. I cannot even believe that you're not a follower of Jesus. You have one one massive serious problem. I need to be redeemed. You need to know this guy that loves you that pursues you that cares about you. You need to know that there is a body here at this church who will love and care for you and wants to get involved in your life and engage with you. If you want to come alongside and serve one another we want to care for you deeply you need the good news of Jesus. You need the gospel and then walking in here like I knew a judging judge judge. I heard the Miranda Lambert song. They always judge them crazy Christians everything else and it's just going through your head and I knew they talk about something like this today. I'm not talking to you today right now. On this area discipline what you need to hear and see is that you have an aching broken heart that can only be satisfied filled and made whole in Jesus Christ what you need to know that yes, we will accept love and care no matter what place you were in right now, but you also need to hear and know right now because you might turn me out later is that all paws asking this man to do is to repent of what he's and and be welcomed back into the community that is caring for him that is a place in which he belongs and fit and is growing in Christ. Jesus say, I understand he walk in here today and there's a perception. If you don't know Jesus in the perception is this my life probably doesn't look as good as theirs. I could tell you a secret I've hung out with a lot of these people and I promise you their lives look a lot like your life their backgrounds look a lot like your background their problems their past issues their sin. It looks a lot like yours what happened. Has gotten into their hearts into their life and he has changed them in his growing them get transformed them. You don't get to watch Jimmy here and think they don't know me they have live like me because I can Venture I go out on a limb and I would say there is somebody in here who hasn't walked exactly what you want, but they suffered the pain of the loss. They suffered the fruits of their own sin and Devastation, there's backgrounds in which we'd rather not talk about but they understand their love and they're forgiving and that is the hope of Jesus that I give to you today. That is the hope of Jesus that you need to bring into your own life. Turn on believer. We desperately wants you here and you can go down the list of things like they're going to judge me because I'm in a relationship and I shouldn't be and I'm living with them and sleeping with him and we want to come alongside of you and help you walk in that figures out. I'm terrified of it become a Christian and have to go home and tell the person you're kind of supports this lifestyle for me that serve in Jesus now and I don't know where I'm going to go where the church we want to care for you. I can't tell you exactly how and what it'll look like we want to Rally around you and I love you relentlessly. You want to pursue you how God would pursue you but for the believer If you're in here in New I can I get it on that I'm going to say now know why has God has done something in your life and made you knew any calling you to walk live and serve him so disciplined happens when somebody is a Believer, not only that they must be associated with this church. That's really important, Kansas Church in causes Church home. Not the person and wish that were going to enact or have to if it ever happens church discipline. I'm not going to go to the 15 Church of down the street from us that we fight for parking with like one of your members are pretty naughty I heard about it. I can't discipline them when I get to discipline them. We are going to discipline those in our number three pretty quickly the person must knowingly the defiant and Disobedience for a couple weeks ago. I shared with you and I just kept saying this really horrible word as a nine-year-old, but I had no idea that was a really bad word and my friend corrected me and said I just don't want you to get you know, a whooping from your dad because he called him that when he's disciplining you that wouldn't go well I didn't get any of those. Did I dad? Define spanking stir-fry. All right, you heard it from him. So so here's the deal. You must knowingly defiance. We shouldn't publicly discipline a person for Spiritual immaturity. Your new Christian in here and you're hearing this and you like shoot like I just straight-up didn't know that that the word said that you don't have to be fearful. We get to talk this through help you grow and humility patient love and kindness infect Paul says in 1st Thessalonians, 5:14. We urge you Brethren admonish the unruly encourage the faint-hearted help the weak be patient with everyone. That's really different when somebody comes to us or in our community groups and they go I need help. I need help the humble. Christian is not looking at 1st Corinthians 5 the same way the non humble Define Christian is looking at and if you're not a Christian, we obviously look at it and very very differently. This calls for discernment. Absolutely. This is where the analogy of childbearing and raising children really helps a three year old is acting like a three-year-old. I'm not going to discipline them for being a three-year-old now we're going to have some form of talks. We're going to help in that area. But but if they are being rebellious They're being defiant. Indiscipline going to look very different in that situation. Isn't it number for the person must be disobeying clear commands a scripture not the ones that we thought were in the Bible that cleanliness is Next to Godliness wrong book friends. All right there for my office. Sometimes looks like it looks all right doesn't mean I've got here on Godly because of that. It's okay. Here's the deal must be close to your commands. Not that I have a personal Vendetta against somebody I'd like to go after them. I'd like to cause a problem. There must be something clear inscription on a personal conviction. You know can't be like why I saw Johnny and he went to the high school dance and he was getting down like that. They don't talk about the dance here. Okay in the scriptures and understand that we kind of want to put parameters around certain things to make sure other things didn't happen has to be clear and in the scriptures. Redeemers Church correction and discipline. It's done best not in isolation not impulsive lie and not with a sense of superiority. We cannot have a hint of that in a soap. What do we do what happens at our church as situations, our way will strive to do all things according to the process of restoration first and foremost. I will confront individuals. Plead with them will pray for them and ask for them to repent and change their ways. We not only leadership. But those that is necessary to be involved will involve ourselves in a mess of Church Life. You can look around at this church. We're not big by any means me see the same faces weekend and week out you need to begin to make a commitment that you can engage in. The mess of one another's lives are not going to run from it or be fearful of it, but we want to be involved in helping restore one another and when necessary we will take appropriate action working through things biblically. What does that look like? The process should involve just use people as possible when the process moves Beyond one or several people leaders are going to lead in that process the length of the process depends on how long it takes to establish that the person is actually out of line on repentance, but they're in the wrong and a persisting in it individual should receive the benefit of the doubt until evidence shows otherwise and leaders should involve and instruct the congregation as is appropriate. Why do I show this morning? The sun community group and I heard about other community group with this very situation has gone so wrong. What people have been hurt or people who work Christians are put under discipline or people who weren't doing things wrong or put under discipline are ostracized and put out of their community and there was really no ground for the Wii when it was established a guideline for what this looks like in our church and let me close out with just a few scenarios.

When I was 23 and pastoring as a youth pastor Dan of the fellowship at Bend I got brought along and some of the other situations and there was a situation in which a man was taking money. The people in the church to start a business. He wasn't starting a business. He was paying off past debts. I'm going to got brought to our attention. This is called extortion and it got brought to our attention. They wanted to handle this biblically having gone to him then. They said we need to get you involved and I'll never forget showing up on this guy's doorstep and we looked and the garage is open and it emptied. There's a U-Haul locked up and they are getting ready to skip out of town.

What are we do? There's a guy that we spent a lot of time with his brother there Brothers. And we look at this and go we can't discipline. This guy is not even our church anymore. He's out of here. So we look at them. And it's this look you have to handle this guy now as a gentile and a tax collector go read 1st Corinthians 6 say not to bring up these lawsuits and grievances one another and in fact, it's possible for you to even eat it yourself, but if not, if not, you got to go about this differently. You got to treat this differently. We can definitely warn whoever this guy goes next. Because we care about each other. We want to protect one another. You need to hear that in the church. What happens if a person attends another church, you don't get to go Rogue on an acting 1st Corinthians 5? It's a family member or somebody else. You've gone to them. You brought it up. You've done Matthew 18 if it's good and safe to be near that maybe you can have a restoration. If it's some sort of outward serious unrepentant sent you can go to the leadership of their church if necessary. But if they don't really even go to a church then what do I do? How do I handle that situation out evangelize like crazy to them sharing the gospel with them in the good news of Jesus what you mean? I would pursue them. How about if my spouse is actually under a church discipline situation or my aunt and my grandma are my uncle are my brother and we have a kid's birthday party. Can they come over and a birthday cake that says not even eat with such as one is anybody ever read that and went what what is going on there? What are the guidelines in that? We made a great point. He said you have to be a family eat talk and hopefully she the repentance he then said you have to distinguish the creation and common Grace institution of marriage in the Redemptive and special Grace institution of the local church. You still have mutual responsibilities to the family and to your children. And so what he's saying in this is you've got these obligations and somehow You have to spend time with them live with them encouraged them without recognizing the Christian character. That should go along with them. That's how we handle this whole idea of eating together now eating together today. It's fast food plot down get up. I mean, sometimes the kids are done before you even sit down. That's just how eating goes at times back. Then it was disunity in a bond sharing life together with lost a little bit of that in our culture today be great to restore and bring some of that back the church. They not only celebrated the Eucharist. The love Feast was part of that where they would share a meal together and made sure the Eucharist that is communion with one another was intimate Fellowship that bonded these Christians together and they said that is what were excluding you from not something that a non-believer would show up to So I personally believe if there's ever a time and is church discipline in our church. The person is welcome to come into any Gathering that are non believer be welcome to come into but we say cuz we do open communion. We would ask you not to participate in that and then any of what would be more considered the intimate Gatherings of the church with save those are the things that were keeping you from? Hope that makes sense to you guys. Today is a very teaching formative kind of day for us and we can't just ignore this because we come under God's Authority and we're not about his authority. And so when we look at this the final thing I wanted to look at it consider is if we all have sinned. How do I know if I'm being consistent with my Christianity under that? and it's like you just wake up like pre-trial I'd appreciate you know, what beyond the truth on some other issues to make myself look good. I get right down to it. I'm probably greedy at times. How do I know that I am consistent in my Christianity the final question I leave you with this is one that is so printed this issue of church discipline as well. Keep consistently repent and accept the grace of God is giving you not repenting to get saved and saved and born again and again and again and again that doesn't happen. Spoon your follower of Jesus you understand the welcomeness that he brings to our hearts and our lives do we see ourselves as we talked about honored failures Justified Spinners that were yes Saints and we also problems in our lives. Your sin is a given I don't celebrate it. I'm pleased decreasing in our lives and we're asking God for that forgiveness. That's what he extends even in this chapter were going to put the man out and host if he comes back at this week. I want invite you to the tables you messed up this week. I would invite you to worship and sing praise with us. I Want You To Worship this gracious kind loving God here this morning because he's been so good to us as Prime. Workout. Thank you for your love and generosity and kindness. Thank you for giving instruction on how to handle things as serious as this. Laying it out for us. So we don't have to second-guess it or be confused about it. I think you for the body of Christ specifically the body here at redeemers what you're doing and knitting us together and growing us with one another we say thank you for the community that is surrounded by Christ that we have growth a tennis allow for us to dig into one of those lies and encourage each other and go before this morning Jesus name hymn.