Basic Christian Living: Discipleship and Discipline

Hebrews 3:1-15 Basic Christian Living (Discipleship and Discipline) Introduction: For a number of weeks we have been discussing what it means to be Christian. We’ve been doing so because we realize that so often though we claim to be Christians and Church members we often carry an unbiblical idea of what that means. So we’ve turned to the scriptures to define for us Basic Christian Living. We started by looking at what the Gospel, the church, the importance of reading studying and obeying Scripture. In our last studies we saw how the Scriptures must become the number one source of information and truth for our lives. It must become the greatest influence if we are to be formed, transformed into people who reflect God’s salvation, goodness and wholeness. So the question is - How do we see to it that this Church community fulfills this calling to live as the people of God? Some of us might think that it’s better off if we just mind our own business and do what we’re supposed to do and God will take care of the rest. That might sound ideal, but it isn’t very practical or Biblical. Scripture says that individual believers have an obligation to see one another live in the fulness of what God has for us. 1. The Call to Disciple One Another 1. All throughout the NT Christians are taught that they are to build one another up in the faith, and to hold one another accountable to follow after Jesus. There are a few names for it - accountability, fellowship, but all of it is in fact discipleship - we are discipling, encouraging, and helping one another to Christlikeness and to Gospel living. 2. “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” - Philippians 2:3-4 3. “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” -Hebrews 3:12-15 4. “Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.” - Hebrews 12:15-16 2. Why we need Discipleship/Accountability 1. These passages, and many others, stress the need to look out for one another, to take care of one another’s physical and spiritual well being. Counter formation/ sanctification is the hardest thing a human being will ever set out to do and that's why it takes God's spirit working inside us and a community of people surrounding us to accomplish the task. It's a lifetime project, but your’e not meant to do it alone. 2. I don’t think some of us realize that living in this fallen world temptation to sin, to satisfy your own desire is not something that you either struggle with or you don’t; Temptation is inevitable. Everyone struggles, everyone is tempted at some point to cash in, to satisfy their sinful desire, to be deceived by the allure of sin. Every one of us, according to Ephesians 6, is engaged in a great spiritual battle - to think that we don’t need accountability discipleship, or help is not only unbiblical, it’s delusional and foolish. You will fall - but woe to the man who has no one to pick him up when he falls….We need accountability. 1. Sometimes we have this idea of going at alone, just us and the “Holy Spirit.” Take note - the Biblical exhortation, of “exhort one another daily” is considered, by the NT writer, equivalent to the Holy Spirit speaking into your life…It is often through our brothers and sisters keeping us accountable to God’s word, that the Holy Spirit speaks to us. 3. In our attempts to safeguard our autonomy we often say things like, “well, I’m just praying about it, or, I’m waiting for God to speak to me about it.” if this is a grey area or an issue of Christian liberty that is one thing.. but you don’t need to pray about whether to stop doing what God has already called destructive and sinful God doesn’t speak one thing in his word and another to us privately… He is the same, he is consistent in all he does. Or we could say not only has God spoken to you in his Word but he is continuing to speak and affirm that Word by your community around you, that love you… 4. I think so often we don’t want church membership, discipleship, or accountability for our sin because we want to have the option to sin when we feel like it, or to leave the door open for sin in the future, we want the option to satisfy ourselves when God doesn’t satisfy our wants…. Don’t we see how twisted that is? We want all the autonomy and non of the consequences, all of the benefits with none of the discipline - to come and go as we please, date who we please without asking help and wisdom from others, hook up with someone if we feel really lonely, divorce when marriage gets hard. At the end of the day this is just another way of saying to God that we know what is best for ourselves, that we don’t need the advice, wisdom and experience of anyone else…. 5. We live in a culture in which the interests and desires of the individual take precedence over those of the family, group, or community. As a result, a high percentage of people want to achieve spiritual growth without losing their independence to a church or to any organized institution…. There is no way you will be able to grow spiritually apart from deep involvement in a community of other believers. You can’t live the Christian life without a band of Christian friends, without a family of believers in which you find your place…… 1. "Christians commonly say they want a relationship with Jesus, that they want to ‘get to know him better.’ You will never be able to do that by yourself. You must be deeply involved in the Church, in Christian community, with strong relationships of love and accountability. Only if you are part of a community of believers seeking to resemble, serve, and love Jesus will you ever get to know him and grow into his likeness.” - Tim Keller 3. Discipline is an essential part of Discipleship 1. Discipleship has two sides to it: 1. There is the positive side of encouragement and affirmation. 1. There is the work of cultivating and stirring up devotion and love for Jesus, his people, the characteristics of God’s kingdom like - righteousness, peace, joy, justice and love, spiritual gifting and callings. We need that encouragement, on a regular basis. we need to be reminded of the unparalleled worth of Jesus and the transient state of everything in this world. Among God’s people is where we are to find this type of encouragement in our faith. 2. Listen to Paul - “And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” -Galatians 5:24-6:2 3. Let us keep in step with the Spirit- That involves: 1. A daily crucifixion of our sinful desires 2. A daily heart adoration of Christ, 3. So that the fruit of the Spirit will grow in our character 4. Paul’s exhortation is communal - it’s not “you” it’s “we”….Notice, Paul’s language is communal “we” and “us." Let “us” keep in step with the Spirit. 2. There is the negative side: correcting and rebuking 1. If we see anyone caught/stuck in transgression/sin, we are to restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness - keeping watch on ourselves, lest we also be tempted…(you are weak also, so stay humble). 2. We are to restore one another - to set things right. 3. What does that mean and look like exactly? 1. First - When Paul says, That those who are Spiritual - he means those who are living by the Spirit. He is not referring to some super spiritual group of elite Christians; he is saying to ordinary Christians: if you follow the desires of the Spirit, you will do this. This responsibility belongs to anyone who is trying to live a Christian life at all. This means that if we see or hear a brother or sister in Christ do or say something out of Character with the way of Jesus (whether that be through social media, or whatever); we are the ones to talk with them, not the leadership, not somebody else. The same people that encourage and affirm you are the ones that should also be able to correct and rebuke you. Do you have friends/brothers and sisters like this in your life? 1. It might turn out that you didn’t know it was out of character, and then you have an opportunity now to be discipled, in that moment, in what it means to follow Christ in this specific way. 2. We need Humility - We need to always beware of our own pride, sin, and frailty when correcting a sister or brother. We aren’t the judge God is. We should always speak in a way that communicates equality and empathy with other sinners. 1. Paul warns us against becoming conceited.. this is not your moment to prove your own righteousness or goodness, this is a moment to humble yourself and help your brother and sister who is struggling, just as Jesus has helped you.. 2. To become conceited means - to seek our own glory in relationships, to make it about you. The Gospel - what God has done for you in Christ (saving you by grace, forgiving and adopting you) - undermines our self glory and enables us to live as equals as “brothers and sisters.” 3. In these situations we have to beware of: 1. Conceited superiority - that would drive us to look down on them, being glad we aren’t like them, and feel righteous in ourselves. Pointing out their sins as an opportunity to make ourselves look good by comparison. 2. Envy - that would cause us to desire the life they are leading, however sinful 3. Unhealthy Acceptance Approval - “to crave their approval so much that we won’t risk pointing out their failure to live in line with the gospel.” -Keller 4. What is the aim of correction and rebuke? Restoration. To restore gently. The greek translated “restore” was a term used for setting a dislocated bone back into place. A dislocated bone is extremely painful, because it is not in its designed position or natural relationship to the other parts of the body. To put a bone back in place will inevitably cause pain, but it is healing pain. Practically then, this means we are to confront sin and destructive behavior, even when that it will be painful; but our confronting must be aiming to prompt a change of life and heart confronting someone caught in sin is a way to carry each others burden’s, but not the only way. 4. What is Church Discipline 1. In broad terms, church discipline is one part of discipleship, the part where we correct sin and point the disciple toward the better path of following Jesus. To be discipled is, among other things, to be disciplined. And a Christian is disciplined through instruction and correction. Informally, church discipline begins with a private word of correction to a brother who is sinning - like what Paul mentions in Galatians.) In more specific and formal terms, church discipline is the act of removing an individual from membership and participation in the Lord’s Table. (This is clearly taught by Jesus in Matthew 18:15-20 and Paul in 1 Corinthians 5 and 1 Thessalonians 3:14-15) 5. When should a Church practice Church Discipline? 1. The short answer is: Church discipline occurs when there is unrepentant Sin. 2. Church members need to learn the skill of how to privately, lovingly, and humbly confront sin. That being said, it doesn’t mean we rebuke one another at the slightest infraction. When you are confronting someone about sin, it is typically best to begin by asking questions, making sure you have the facts right and are giving the person the benefit of the doubt. Churches should cultivate the kinds of relationships where informal correction is invited and received - as an act of love. We don’t need to make a huge deal about correction and rebuke.. it is and should be a normal part of being a Christian - because none of us are perfect, none of us are beyond the authority of the scripture or live it out perfectly. 3. Paul and Jesus both give us a formula of what to do with extreme cases of unrepentant sin. This is what we would categorize as Formal Church Discipline from an entire congregation is reserved for sins of such significance that the church no longer feels able to affirm a person’s profession of faith. The person continues to call themselves a christian and a Jesus representative, but his or her words are no longer believable because of the character of their lives and the nature of the sin… 1. Church discipline doesn’t happen because of trite differences or because something someone does gets under our skin.. this is something that a whole congregation affirms because of the teaching of scripture on the issue and the nature of the sin. 4. Formal church discipline is for outward, serious and unrepentant sin. 1. Outward - seen or heard. 2. Serious - sin that would question someone’s identity with and devotion to Jesus 3. Unrepentant - The person involved has been confronted with God’s commands in scripture, but he or she refuses to let go of the sin. From all appearances, the person prizes their sin more than Jesus. 6. How is a person under church discipline to be interacted with by members of the Church? 1. Always with Love and humility. Interactions should not be characterized by casualness but by deliberate conversations about repentance - focusing on their life being out of line with the Gospel… About their presence in the community being missed 2. Family members should continue to fulfill family obligations - Don’t kick your kids out, and cut family out of your life (Eph 6:1-3; 1 Tim 5:8; 1 Peter 3:1-2) 3. When a church decides to restore a repentant individual to its fellowship and the Lord’s Table, there should not be any talk of probation or second class citizenship. The Church should publicly pronounce its forgiveness, affirm its love for the repentant individual, and celebrate. 7. What is the purpose of Church Discipline? 1. Discipline aims to expose sin. Sin, the Bible says, is like cancer, it loves to hide and spread. Discipline exposes the cancer so that it might be cut out quickly. 1. Sin is not spurned by Christians because we are some how above it and we cannot understand how it has any appeal. Or because God is going to strike us with lightning if we commit these things, and He doesn’t want anyone to have a good time. Not even, but because it is so appealing, yet unsatisfying, promising yet destructive, pulling us away from true fulfillment and wholeness found in God alone and is counter productive to God’s kingdom. Because these styles of behavior lead directly, as a matter of necessity, into corruption, decay and death and away from Life and specifically life in the the new creation - They are to be avoided at all cost. 2. Discipline aims to save. Churches pursue discipline when they see a member taking a path toward death, and none of their pleading and arm waving causes the person to turn around. It’s the device of last resort. Paul says, that when we formally discipline a church member by removing, it is an act of “handing them over to satan for the destruction of their flesh, in order that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.” Restoration and salvation is the ultimate goal. 1. “Church discipline is not a group of ‘pious policemen’ out to catch a criminal. Rather, it is a group of brokenhearted brothers and sisters seeking to restore and erring member of the family.” (Warren Wiersbe) 3. Discipline aims to protect the Church. Just as Cancer spreads from one cell to another, so sin quickly spreads from one person to another.. 4. Discipline aims to present a good witness for Jesus. To show a disctinction between the people of God and the people of this world. Church discipline, strange to say, is actually good for non-Christians to see, because it helps to preserve the distinctiveness of God’s people. remember Christianity is not just another religion, it’s a new way to be human. Churches are to be salt and light to the surrounding world. 1. In the end Church discipline is doing nothing more or less than declaring - You’re not choosing Jesus, so you must not be with Jesus. The underlying purpose in every act of Church discipline must be love - love for the individual, love for the church, love for the watching world, love for Christ. God, after all, “disciplines the ones he loves”; and “he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” (Hebrews 12:6) 2. Church discipline is for the sake of the individual, the Church, Jesus, and the reputation of the Gospel. Conclusion: I cannot emphasize enough how much we need discipleship, community and accountability in our Christian walk. I also cannot emphasize enough that “Church discipline” is not a holy crusade. The church is a place where sinner’s find refuge. It is to welcome sinners, and yet it is a place where sinner’s are to find mercy and grace, faith and repentance, healing and restoration. Yet the Church should never preserve or protect sin! That would be to dishonor our glorious Savior! The Church is to shine, through word and deed, the glorious goodness of our savior.. so let us confess our sins, knowing that he is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.. and let us walk in the light, as he is light, that we might have fellowship with one another and that his blood might cleanse us from all sin! All this to say - If you feel stuck in sin, we are not here to expose it, in order to kick you out. We want to help!!! Our sin needs to be exposed so it doesn’t destroy our lives, it needs to be exposed so we can be healed. Don’t try and go it alone. Get help, encouragement, support, correction, etc, from other brothers and sisters. Connect with people who will stir up affections for Jesus and his kingdom. Get Prayer - specifically this morning and continually