Growing Together: Correction

Recording. That's good. Let's give it a go.

Alright, well welcome to Sunday School. We are continuing a survey on the beauty of the body.

What does it mean to be a part of God's community?

And there is an underlying, if you haven't seen it yet, push towards the value of church membership

as identifying with and being involved in a local body.

And we've talked a little bit about how God has called us not just to himself individually,

but to himself into a community.

And so part of our identity as Christians is being a part of a body and being part of a community.

We've talked a little bit about discipleship and how we should, as members of the body,

expect to grow with one another.

We have talked, Pastor Greg talked last week about also being a part of the body in terms of serving.

Serving one another in the body of Christ, including both finding and using our gifts,

as well as thinking about how we are interconnected and interdependent in the body of Christ.

How to be the people that God wants us to be recognizing.

We both need to, we both need others in our lives and also need them in our lives.

And so thinking about, as we come to corporate gatherings, one of the things that all believers should ask is,

how am I serving my brothers and sisters?

How am I helping them in practical ways, in the ways that I've been particularly gifted or positioned to do?

So these have been some of the things we've covered.

We've got two more weeks in this class.

Today we're going to talk particularly about the role of correction in body life.

And then next week, Peter Almo is going to teach us on evangelism and thinking about how we carry out the Great Commission,

again, not just as an individual, but also corporately.

And thinking about how it is that the body being a part of a community is significant in how we do our outreach.

So that's where we've been.

That's where we're going.

Let me pray as we continue.

So, Lord, thank you for this morning and thank you for these dear friends, sisters and brothers who have joined us.

We pray that you will be with us this morning as we explore this topic.

Help us, Lord, to see the truth of your word.

Lord, not only it's truth, but it's goodness.

Lord, that we would believe and know that your plans for us as you've called us into your body are good,

even when they may be surprising or even when they may be uncomfortable for us.

Lord, be with us this morning as we look together at your word.

We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

All right.

Correction is inherent in the life of a Christian because it is at the very heart of the gospel.

The good news of Jesus Christ is that though we have sinned, though we have rebelled against God,

though we have forsaken our creator and our sustainer,

that we have chosen to go our own way,

God has reached out to us to do a work of salvation for us that we could not do for ourselves

and to call us to himself.

But that call is a call of not just believe and be saved,

but biblically to repent and believe.

And inherent in that call is a recognition that our sin is not only offensive to God,

but bad for us and bad for our world.

That it is wrong and evil in its most fundamental substantive ways.

It is contrary to God's design and plan.

And we need correction because that is our starting point ever since Adam and Eve in the fall of humanity in the Garden of Eden.

Ever since humanity rebelled against God,

we have needed correction because of the presence of sin in our lives.

And at the very heart of the gospel is to say we need this.

You guys know this, right?

Tim Keller's definition of the gospel is...

Not definition.

One of the ways that he captures the power of the gospel, let me put it that way, right?

Is that you are more sinful than you ever believed.

You are worse than you ever thought you would be.

But God's love for you is so much greater than you could ever imagine.

Right?

And so this correction is inherent in the very core of the gospel.

And so I want us to start there.

Because we live in a world today where we're uncomfortable with correction.

We live in a world where we're supposed to live and let live.

And oh yeah, every once in a while, societally, we'll hit a place where there's a tipping point.

And we think, this is terrible.

This is horrible.

And you know what?

That's right.

You know, praise God for some of the issues of sexism and racism that have been raised in our culture recently

to expose the evil of sinfulness.

That's a good thing.

But what we need to recognize is that it actually should be way more common than just a particular movement in a particular day.

And it should be common in the everyday interactions of believers in a church because we believe the gospel.

Because we know that we're sinners.

And because we ought to have the humility because of our sin to know that we don't get it all right.

And we don't even know when we don't always get it right.

And that's why we need others.

That's why we need others.

Just so you know, the handouts I've given you, one is meant to be a note page.

The other one is just a list of the texts.

And I'm sorry, I have the two-sided version.

And they're in the order that we're going to talk about them just so we're not flipping because we're kind of going to be all over Scripture a bit today.

So I just gave you that as a cheat sheet.

And I'm hoping to have some discussion at the end, but there's a lot to get through.

So we'll see how far we get.

So I want to spend just a few minutes demonstrating to you from Scripture that correction is actually something that you should expect.

Because it's in the Scriptures all over the place.

When I started looking at this, I thought, oh, this isn't hard to prove from the Scriptures.

That we just choose to believe that we just choose to not want this to be true is our problem.

So Proverbs 3.12.

For the Lord reproves him whom he loves as a father the son in whom he delights.

And this is actually the verse that's quoted right in Hebrews 12 as the writer of the Hebrews is exhorting the Hebrew Christians to persevere and to recognize that part of the suffering and the trials they're facing is the Lord's discipline in their life to bring them back to him.

So Hebrews 12.

And so these verses, again, Old Testament and New Testament,

we see that these verses point us to the reality that God loves us too much, just like a loving parent loves their children enough to not let them just do whatever they want, whether it's good or bad.

But a parent will discipline their kid for their growth and understanding of righteousness and understanding of what is good and right in the world.

So God does that.

He exposes our sinfulness and calls us out of it in his disciplining work in our lives.

And he does it because he loves us.

And he does it because it has a good effect in our lives.

It produces.

You see what it produces in the Hebrews 12 passage?

It produces a sharing in his holiness and a peaceful fruit of righteousness.

Gosh, isn't that what we long for in our lives?

But recognize that part of what the scriptures are saying is discipline.

The discipline of the Lord is something that we should expect in our lives to be able to produce this kind of fruit.

So it's not only from the Lord, right?

But 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17, well-known verse about the word of God.

All scripture is breathed out for God and profitable to encourage us and make us feel better about ourselves and to show us how good God is.

Oh, no.

Wait, let's read the verse.

For teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness that the man of God, generically, that the follower of God, those who are God's, may be complete, equipped for every good work.

This is what God has given us his word for.

And it's going to correct us, which inherently says there are times when we're wrong and we need to be, we need something different than what we have and what we bring to the table.

It's not only the Lord and not only the word, but it's also your leaders.

In 2 Timothy 4, Paul's exhortation to Timothy, who was a church leader in Ephesus, was preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching.

And then again, in Titus, this is in the list of the qualifications for an elder.

He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and be able to rebuke those who contradict it.

So we should expect correction from the Lord.

We should expect correction from the word of God.

We should expect correction from our church leadership.

And then we should expect it from one another.

Right?

So I just threw in a couple of verses.

You know, the Proverbs 1, whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.

I just love the verse.

I had to put it in there because it's just because we don't like to be known as stupid, but often we are in this area.

And it's rare that the Bible uses that word.

So I just thought that's.

But just to recognize that that in Proverbs, we are exhorted to recognize this.

Galatians 6.1.

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in the spirit of gentleness.

Right?

The recognition of restoring means there's something to be restored from.

There's an inherent correction in that.

And then 2 Thessalonians 3.14 and 15, which is a verse that actually I've spent more time on in preparing for this because I haven't seen it before and thought about it quite.

Right?

If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person and have nothing to do with him that he may be ashamed.

Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.

There's so much in there.

And I'm going to come back to it when we talk about the dynamics of correction and how it works.

But recognize how strongly, how strongly deviants from the clear teachings of scripture.

Here it's in the context of the apostles' teaching.

Right?

The apostle Paul is saying, I'm writing to you this church.

And if you reject this, you are rejecting the word of God.

Right?

And we always have to be careful because we are not Paul and we don't write inspired scripture.

But we do have the scriptures.

And when we go to one another, that is actually the basis upon which we can go to one another.

Not, I think you're doing wrong because, well, I think you're doing wrong.

But I think you're doing wrong because the word of God, let me show you, let me help you see what is in there.

And let me, not on my authority, but on the authority of scripture, call you to turn from it.

Let me warn you about the danger of the sin in your life that I'm exposing and bringing correction to.

This is not a typical thing.

Right?

We are uncomfortable with this.

I just want to acknowledge that.

And, you know, some of us, you know, if you were here last week and Greg was talking about spiritual gifts,

some of you are going to have the gifts of mercy and the gifts of compassion and love and, well, let me reframe that.

Not compassion and love because I think correction is compassionate and loving too.

You may have the gift of mercy and this may be really hard for you.

Some of you may have the gift of discernment or the gift of prophecy.

And this is actually way too easy for you.

In that you have a clear sense of what's going on wrong with everyone around you most of the time and wondering, how much do I say?

Okay.

So in light of that, 1 Timothy 5.1 is an interesting insight.

Timothy exhorts, or Paul exhorts Timothy, do not rebuke an older man, but encourage him as you would a father and younger men as brothers.

It's just an interesting recognition that the dynamics of our relationships are important about the tone that we can take.

There still can be appropriate correction between any two people in the body of Christ.

But there's a contextual sensitivity that I think Paul is exposing here that I think just points to a gentleness and a thinking about appropriateness and aptness.

You know, if I, as a 48-year-old man, I'm sitting with, you know, a 24-year-old guy who's coming in and telling me about his life, I might have a position, a particular kind of relationship in that context to speak with a certain kind of freedom or directness.

If I'm talking to a 65-year-old man who's walked with the Lord for 40 years, I might take a different tack.

It doesn't mean I'm not going to address it, but I might think about how to do it aptly.

And there are times when, at the end of the day, I'm saying, there's still correction happening.

But it was interesting.

And then I just want to remind us, 1 Peter 4.8,

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

Right?

One of the dangers of starting to talk about correction is that we swing from the one pendulum where we live on, which is tolerance.

How dare you speak in my life?

You don't know me.

I can't, you know, you can't tell me what to do.

You know, who died and made you king?

Like, sort of, all the ways in which our culture resists this at all.

And we swing to the other end.

And we think, I am now the holiness police in my body.

I am now, in this church, going to enforce righteousness and purity in all ways, everywhere.

And thankfully, the scriptures help us to see, no, that's not actually.

That's not actually what we're supposed to do.

That there are lots of sin that can be covered over in love.

Offenses against us.

And covered over doesn't mean completely ignoring it.

What it does mean is recognizing the context of this person's life, thinking through, being compassionate in their content, in the things that they're facing and going through, recognizing strengths and weaknesses.

A sharp word from one person might require rebuke.

The same word coming from someone else might need to be received with a little bit more patience and grace.

We need to recognize that there's a human element here of relationship that we need to be very careful about in terms of how we do this.

And yet, part of what we're saying is correction is meant to be a normal part of the Christian life.

It is what God is doing with us.

It's what God's word is doing with us.

It is what our leaders are meant to be doing for us.

And it's what, in fact, we are called to be doing for one another.

Hey, brother.

Hey, sister.

I see this in your life.

Am I seeing it right?

Is that really what's going on?

Is that really what you want to be doing?

Let's look at this passage together.

I don't think the Lord is pleased with this behavior.

Don't do this.

Turn away.

Pointing people to the gospel to say,

If you feel stuck in sin, let me help you out of it.

If you are hardened in your sin, let me warn you about the foolishness and destructiveness of it.

If you're struggling with sin, let me bear your burden with you.

But to engage with one another along those lines.

At the deep risk of being self-promoting.

I preached a sermon back in June on correction in our series on Proverbs.

I'm pretty sure it's on the website.

And there's a lot more there about practical advice about how to go about this.

And some of the how to give correction, how to receive correction, how not to receive correction.

Proverbs had a lot to say about how we don't receive correction well.

And just exposing that.

So I'm just going to, rather than spending the rest of our time there,

I actually want to shift into the corporate dimension and deal with what is typically talked about in terms of church discipline.

But I want you to see that it's meant to be a part of our everyday life.

And when we get to this sort of corporate expression of it,

it's the end result of what should be and what God has called us to be as an ongoing dynamic in our everyday lives.

This is why it's good to have other believers in our life, by the way.

This is why the beauty of the bodies that we have other people close enough to our lives,

people who are behind the curtain of our performance facade, our Sunday morning,

don't I look good, which we all bring to the table.

And, you know, shoot, I get it.

We don't want to air all of our dirty laundry all the time.

But the reality is that we need people in the body of Christ who are behind the curtain,

who see us as we really are and who are able to help us.

And this is part of how God has designed us.

So then as we move into the corporate part, there are a couple of key passages.

You guys are probably familiar with this.

But this is what happens when, as sin takes root and embeds itself in a particular person's life,

how being a part of the body of Christ, how God has designed us to come around such a person

and to help them in that context.

The first passage that is well known is Matthew 18.

Does someone want to read that for me so I can take a breath?

Peter, thank you.

If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.

If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.

But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you

that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.

If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church.

And if he refuses to listen to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

Okay.

So, this is one of those passages that helps us think through.

And part of what I want you to see is what I was just describing about the everyday life of the church

and how correction would be a normal part.

This is what Jesus is exhorting us to in the step one and even in step two.

It's, hey, if you see your brother in sin, go and talk to him.

You know?

Please don't come tell the pastor, hey, Joe's sinning and I think you need to go fix it.

It's really unhelpful.

Go to your brother and say, hey, brother, what is this?

And again, do it with humility, do it with graciousness, do it with love.

But go and talk to them.

But it's also interesting that the scriptures here, and Jesus recognizes our weakness.

He knows our sinful hearts.

And that one of the first things, you see it in the Garden of Eden, one of the first things we do when we're caught in our sin

is we deflect and blame, shift, and somehow try to deny that we have a problem.

Right?

And so Jesus says, if you go to your brother, and obviously this is brother and sister, just so we're all clear.

If we go to our brother, sister, and Christ, and we correct them, and they receive it, what does it say?

You've gained him.

You've restored him into fellowship.

You've recognized, man, we are together in this pursuit of Christ and of living a life for his glory.

And as this person is turning from sin to Christ, you've gained a brother.

What a wonderful blessing.

What a wonderful thing.

Right?

But then Jesus is so wise to recognize, but if he doesn't, you don't say, oh, well, I tried.

That's enough.

Say no.

Bring someone else.

Not to gang up on him.

Not to increase or heap on shame.

But bring someone, hopefully the most appropriate person, someone who's close, someone who knows, that sort of thing, if at all possible.

Bring someone else.

Bring someone else.

So that the other person who you're bringing correction to doesn't think, oh, this is just Jeff's opinion.

Jeff thinks this is a terrible thing.

And, you know, I disagree with him.

So, forget that.

You know, you bring someone else and Jeff and Daniel are coming to me and I'm like, oh, that's not just Jeff's thing.

I thought Jeff didn't like me, but I guess he does.

And Daniel likes me too.

But they're both saying the same thing.

Right?

There's a weightiness to bringing others in.

It goes all the way back to Deuteronomy.

And Deuteronomy 19 talks about establishing something by more than one witness, by two witnesses.

And it's wisdom so that we don't fall into witch hunts and fall into, again, taking on the mantle of I alone will be the sole enforcer of all holiness and righteousness in our body.

Which is not helpful.

Right?

But it is recognizing that when two come, there's a weightiness to it.

And, again, Jesus is so gracious to recognize if he refuses to listen to them, then tell it to the church.

And that is bring it to the body.

Bring it to the larger community and expose.

Because one of the things that sin loves to do is to hide.

We love to hide our sin.

And part of the purpose of exposing it, just like in a wound when there is infection and it's festering under, part of what you do is you open it up and you expose it so that there may be healing.

The exposure in the larger body is not for the purpose of heaping shame on someone, but it is for their healing.

Although, really interestingly, did you see, look back up to 2 Thessalonians 3.

So striking.

Take note of that person, have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed.

I don't know if you've done any reading about shame and righteousness, shame and truth, and how the Western culture for hundreds of years has been about righteousness and about sort of being right or wrong and that sort of thing.

And how sort of typically culturally in the Eastern, in other cultures, non-Western cultures, shame has been a much larger dynamic of culture.

And one of the things that I think is very interesting today is that our culture is shifting and is a weird mix of truth and honor, shame and unrighteousness or condemnation.

And it's a fascinating dynamic for us to recognize.

But I read 2 Thessalonians 3 and my first response was, wow, it's actually, the Bible is saying that someone who is being publicly, their sin is to such a degree that it's being publicly, brought publicly to the church.

They actually ought to be ashamed of their sin.

That's actually part of the purpose of this.

And I had this cultural reaction of, whoa, I never want to bring shame on someone.

That's always a bad thing.

And interestingly, the Bible says, no, actually, sin is something to be ashamed of.

Not to be buried by.

You're not meant to be buried by that shame.

You're not meant to be crushed by the condemnation that often comes with that feeling of shame.

But to recognize that sin is shameful.

It denies the glory of God.

It's destructive in our lives and in the lives of others.

We ought to be ashamed of it.

And when we expose it, there is some of that.

And we ought not to, as much as we don't want that to be our spirit of wanting to shame someone,

we want to recognize that a loving exposure of sin may bring shame to the one who's being exposed.

Now, I just want to say, we need to do this very carefully because our hearts are so wicked.

We love to sit in the judge, jury, and executioner seat.

And if we are loving someone and they're not responding, it's easy for us to get frustrated.

And it's easy for us to somehow want to, it becomes a battle to win or it becomes a battle to prevail that your view is right.

There's so many ways in which we can do this poorly.

And so we want to be on guard against that.

But not to the degree that we don't do it.

If you're a member here, you know that we do this in our congregational meetings.

There have been times when we have brought people to the church to say,

this is someone who we want to bring to your attention.

We have told it to the church for your prayers, for your encouragement, so that you can come around them.

Again, the goal of this, you see it all the way through the map,

the goal of this is that you may win him back or her back,

that you would turn this person back to wholehearted following of the Lord and obedience.

You're calling them to repent of their sin and return to the gospel that they believe.

You know, again, the second Thessalonians passage,

don't regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.

This is what we're doing.

We're saying, don't do this, don't continue.

Because at the end of the day, if you do not turn, this is the last step in the process, verses 17.

At the end, if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

Now, what does that mean?

What that means, the best understanding of it, I believe,

is to read that as saying,

your profession of faith has been so compromised by your behavior and your unwillingness

to take hold of the gospel in repenting from that sin and seeking to change

that we no longer have confidence that you are a Christian.

That's a weighty thing to say.

We are not declaring ultimate, you are not a Christian.

We don't have that power.

But we are saying, the profession of faith that you have, we can no longer,

we can no longer affirm.

And as we talk about membership in this church,

becoming a member is covenanting together to pursue following Christ together.

And if someone comes to a point where they say,

no, I love sin more than I love Christ.

And if we have been patient, and if we have been persistent,

and if we have been loving, and if we have been helpful,

and there has been due process along the way,

and we bring this to, and we get to this point,

we say, we still love this person,

but we can no longer treat them as a believer.

We can no longer fellowship with them.

And that's really hard for us.

It's really hard for us.

It's hard for us because it's public,

and because it affects every nature of our lives.

Every aspect of our lives and our relationship with this person.

I want to go on and look at the other verses quickly.

Titus 3.10,

Warn a divisive person once, then warn him a second time.

After that, have nothing to do with him.

This is the second time we've seen this phrase,

have nothing to do with him.

Then when we get into the 2 Corinthians 5 passage,

it's a long passage,

but I want you to see that it is a,

well, let me read it so we can look at it together.

The 1 Corinthians 5.

Obviously, there is a kind of sin going on

that was publicly known in the church.

He says,

It's actually reported to you that there is sexual immorality among you,

and the kind that is not even tolerated among the pagans.

For a man has his father's wife,

and you are arrogant.

Ought you not rather to mourn?

Let him who has done this be removed from among you.

For though I am absent in the body,

I am present in spirit.

As if present,

I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing.

When you are assembled in the name,

there's a random B in there,

assembled in the name of Lord Jesus,

and my spirit is present,

with the power of our Lord Jesus,

you are to deliver this man to Satan

for the destruction of the flesh,

so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

Then 6 through 8 is using an imagery

to talk about cleaning out the leaven.

It's a whole Old Testament passage about purity,

and the purity of God's people

that literally had to do with leaven in the bread,

but it was a symbol of their spiritual purity,

and their wholehearted obedience to the Lord.

But it's very clear,

you've got to clean it out.

You can't tolerate the leaven,

because it's going to destroy what you have.

And then he goes on in 9,

I wrote to you in my letter

not to associate with sexually immoral people,

not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world,

or the greedier swindlers or idolaters,

since then you need to go out of this world.

But I am writing to you

not to associate with anyone

who bears the name of brother,

if he is guilty of sexual immorality

or greed or an idolater,

or reviler,

or drunkard,

or swindler,

not even to eat with such a one.

For what do I have to do

with judging outsiders?

Is it not those inside the church

whom you are to judge?

God judges those outside,

purge the evil one,

evil person from among you.

So there's a lot here,

but part of what I want you to hear

is the weight that Paul brings.

This sin is public.

It is being tolerated by the congregation.

It is clearly wrong,

so clearly wrong

that even the culture recognizes it,

although that's not the standard.

That's not why it's wrong.

We don't let the culture dictate

what's a disciplinable offense,

but we recognize that

he's saying,

even people who don't know God

know how wrong this is.

Gosh, how much should you who do know God

understand how wrong this is?

Some of the other distinctions

that he makes here,

I'm not talking about judging the world

for being sinful people.

We know that.

That's not my,

in fact, there's 13.

God will do that.

God is the judge.

But for those of us

in the body of Christ,

for those who name the name of Christ,

we actually are to

exercise discernment,

to judge,

to make decisions.

Judging is a strong word,

right?

And all we can think of

is Matthew 7, 1.

Judge not lest you be judged,

right?

That just comes to our mind.

We're like,

well, how can I do that?

Well, interestingly,

all right,

you've got to put Jesus' words

in context.

Do not think that you are

in the position of sitting

in ultimate judgment

on other people's lives.

That's what Jesus is saying.

But there's a much more nuanced

view of this,

and this is where you see it

most clearly.

As brothers and sisters,

we actually are to

think about

and lovingly

recognize

and evaluate

what's going on

in the lives of those

around us

whom we love,

who are part of our body.

We are actually

to judge them.

And when it's clear,

and when it's sustained,

and when it's unrepentant,

the consequences

are serious.

We are to put them out.

He says,

to deliver them over to Satan,

which I think means

we are removing them

from the normal means of grace

within the church,

and as a member

of the body of Christ,

we are delivering them

over to the world,

to the domain

outside the church,

in hopes that

they may see

how barren

the world

apart from Christ

really is.

So that they may see

the foolishness

of continuing in sin.

So that they may turn back

and be restored.

So that they're,

though in their body

they may reap

the consequences

of their sin,

their spirit

will be renewed

as they are removed

for a time

from

the fellowship

of believers.

And they may come back

in humility

and in repentance.

recognize that...

Yes, Jeff.

I just wondered

if maybe

you could

talk a little bit

about the language

in

verse 11

when

Paul says

if anyone is guilty

of

at

Patsy

Patsy

just because

I think that needs

a little clarification

because if we

think about

the Sermon on the Mount

and Jesus taking

great pains

to

communicate

how we're all

guilty of these things

so

we're all

in which

we need

some

clarification.

Yes.

Yes.

No.

I

completely

agree.

And

there's

anything in my notes

that I'm going to say

and I...

Yes.

So here's

where

in the history

of the church

as we have thought

and as people

have talked about

how do you

seek to do this?

Right?

Paul just kind of

gives a litany

of things

and says

well if you do

these things

you're out.

Right?

That's our first

reaction

in that.

And then you

take Jesus

and you overlay

that into the heart

and you think

whoa man

like well shoot

aren't we all

then

disciplinable

and cast out

because we know

the dynamics

of our heart

even if we don't

cherish it

even if we don't

act on it

we recognize

like wow

like there but

for the grace

of God

yo I

I am a sinner

who will continue

to have

hatred and anger

and lust

in my heart

at times.

Right?

So the Christian

life is not

one of

perfect

perfection

or of

perfect obedience

the Christian

life is one

of growth

and righteousness

and growth

and righteousness

includes

the ongoing

recognition

of

our sinfulness

a confession

of it

as sin

a repentance

from it

which is a

choosing to

turn away

from it

rather than

cherishing it

and a pursuit

of righteousness

growing in

those things

we talk about

progressive

sanctification

right?

This is real

in the Christian

life

we are to

grow towards

godliness

we should

expect to

do that

but it does

not mean

perfection

but what it

does mean

is when we

fail

we admit it

we recognize

it

we go to

the cross

to find

the forgiveness

that we

desperately

need

and we also

go to the cross

to find the

power

to forsake

sin

and to

pursue

righteousness

and

when we

bring things

to this

level

right

sins

that

reach

the

corporate

level

of

discipline

are outward

are serious

and are

unrepentant

okay

I stole

this from

Jonathan

Lehman

he has a

book over

on the

bookstall

called

Church

Discipline

it's a

great little

book

it's got a

great summary

of all

these

things

but as

we think

about

these

so

outward

I can't

sit in

judgment

of someone

else's

heart

I can

say

I've

heard

you

say

these

words

I can

say

I've

seen

you

do

these

things

I've

seen

you

express

these

attitudes

I

cannot

tell

you

what

is

in

your

heart

but I

can't

ask

you

what's

in

your

heart

and

if

you

tell

me

no

I

won't

give

up

this

immoral

relationship

because

realize

that

Colossians

3

tells

you

that

Jesus

is

your

life

and

they

say

I

know

but

I

want

this

more

than

more

than

Jesus

then

I'm

not

judging

them

on

what

I

think

is

in

their

heart

I

am

now

making

a

judgment

based

on

what

they

have

told

me

about

what

their

position

is

Jeff

are

you

I

genuinely

did

not

ask

this

question

so

that

I'm

sure

you

did

but

you're

an

elder

so

speak

please

I

appreciate

it

obviously

as we

sin as

Christians

and as

we

confess

our

sin

the

guilt

of

sin

is

on

sin

and

so

in

a sense

we're

not

guilty

of

that

we're

not

paying

at least

for the

guilt

of

that

sin

but

if

we

stand

in

the

sin

and

we're

confronted

by

our

church

family

in

this

case

and

we

say

no

you're

wrong

and I

stand

in

I

think

that

helps

me

make

sense

of

this

language

here

which

of course

is a

translation

anyway

so

who

knows

but

I

think

in that

sense

we have

to say

okay

if you're

not

repenting

and you're

not taking

this

to Jesus

then

it's

on you

and that's

a bad

place

to be

right

on you

and so

we're

going to

have to

eventually

disassociate

ourselves

with you

in that

case

right

the tricky

part of

that is

we have

to be

very

careful

about

our

definition

of

sanctification

here

because

for a

true

believer

our

confession

is not

the

our

repentance

is not

the basis

of our

forgiveness

it's the

work of

Christ

it's the

basis

of our

forgiveness

but an

ongoing

denial

of that

forgiveness

an ongoing

forsaking

of what

Christ has

done in

freeing us

from sin

brings us

to a point

where we

think I

don't know

how you

can say

that you

believe the

gospel

and still

cling to

this

sin

and that's

where

right

so I

want to

nuance

it

but yes

I think

that's

right

that's

a helpful

picture

I want to

get through

just two

more things

and then we

can open

this up

one is

I want to

just talk

briefly about

what's the

purpose of

this

right

we've already

talked about

it some

the primary

purpose of

correction

is to

bring

is

restoration

the primary

purpose of

this is so

that someone

would see

their sin

and return

to Christ

and be

restored

to the

fellowship

of the

saints

and be

brought

in

the second

purpose

is that

there is

a sense

of warning

to the

church

there is

a public

display

of

this

behavior

these

attitudes

this

forsaking

of Christ

is not

acceptable

this is

not

what it

looks like

and that's

a warning

to believers

there is

a protection

of the purity

of the church

there is

a sense

of

you may

not

continue

in this

we may

remove

you from

our church

membership

because we

as a body

have been

called

to be

witnesses

for Christ

and when

you behave

in that

way

you deny

Christ

and therefore

we cannot

we need to

protect

the witness

of the church

and ultimately

it's for the

glory of

God's name

we all

know how

much

we are

suffering

the evangelical

church

in America

is suffering

from those

who claim

the name

of evangelical

and yet

are completely

unrighteous

publicly

and unrepentantly

about their

behavior

right

now the

world does

not have a

place for

restoration

they don't

know how

to like

it's either

condemnation

or

hypocrisy

that like

there's no

there's not

a lot of

room for

a healthy

process

but recognize

how much

the name

of Christ

suffers

in America

because

of the

unrepentant

sin

of their

of the

leaders

the other

thing I just

wanted to

say is

okay what

do we

what do we

mean when

we get to

the end

when we're

saying

have nothing

to do

with them

do not

even eat

with them

treat them

as a tax

collector

or a

sinner

what does

that actually

mean

and again

part of

what I

part of

what I

wanted you

see first

of all

part of

what we're

saying when

we're saying

that is

I can no

longer interact

with you

as someone

who shares

the fellowship

of Christ

with me

because your

behavior and

your resistance

to response

and to change

makes me think

that it

draws enough

question that

I cannot

I can no

longer

what does

that actually

practically look

like

well

it would

look like a

couple of

things in our

church

we would

remove you

from places

of service

you may

no longer

do stuff

right

members come

and we expect

you to serve

and we're

going to

remove you

from those

things

it certainly

means you

may not

take communion

we will

instruct you

to not

take communion

because

again if we

go to

first Corinthians

11 if

anyone eats

or drinks

in this

in an

unworthy

manner

there's

actually a

very clear

instruction

there

but here

do not

even eat

with them

some have

taken that

to mean

you can't

take the

Lord's

supper

I think

it means

more than

that

but it

certainly

means that

you should

not

if the

church

is saying

your behavior

is of

such a state

that we

cannot confirm

your profession

of faith

you shouldn't

take communion

just like an

unbeliever

shouldn't take

communion

because it

is an

expression of

faith in

Christ

and taking

hold of

the repentance

and taking

hold of

the work

of Christ

for our

salvation

it means

that our

relationships

need to

change

it does

not mean

that we

have to

completely

shun

them

and never

speak to

them on

the street

but it

also means

we don't

just hang

out with

them

and have

a casual

beer on

Sunday

afternoon

and watch

the football

game

or you

know

have play

dates

and ignore

these things

it doesn't

mean that we

don't have

interaction

but when we

have interaction

with these

with these

those who

have been

who are under

this discipline

who have been

removed

the whole

basis of our

relationship

needs to

change so

that we

look at

them and

we say

will you

turn from

your sin

will you

come back

to Christ

I love

you

please

come back

to Christ

it may

involve

in our

church

a restriction

from being

a part of

a small

group

it may

involve

a restriction

from coming

to corporate

worship

those are

discernment

issues that

we would

probably apply

on a case

by case

basis

because at

one level

we want

these people

coming

to hear

the word

of God

so that

there's an

urging to

repent

but there's

also

a pretty

significant

you know

with small

groups

small groups

are meant

in our

church

primarily

for the

gathering

of believers

it's not

exclusively so

but that's

primary

whereas our

corporate

worship service

we want

other people

to come

so that

would be

a case

by case

application

that we

would probably

work through

but we

but it's a

possibility

and part

of it

is that

the whole

goal of

this

is to

help

this

fallen

brother

or sister

recognize

the gravity

of their

sin

if we

have gotten

here

there have

already

been many

conversations

please

turn back

please

don't

continue

in this

please

see how

great

a salvation

Christ

has done

for you

please

don't

trample

that

and leave

it behind

and forsake

it for

this

and when

we've had

all those

conversations

we are now

bringing the

weight

and it

is going

to be

uncomfortable

and it

is going

to potentially

provoke

shame

and they

will

you know

again

go back

to Hebrews

12

no discipline

feels good

at the

time

it will

hurt

and people

will feel

hurt by

it

and unfortunately

there's been

enough abuse

of church

discipline

that there's

a whole

bunch of

people running

around

having been

treated

terribly

by churches

that haven't

gone through

a patient

loving process

but there are

also people

going around

with a chip

on their

shoulders

saying

my church

didn't

didn't

handle me

well

when I

was in

complete

rebellion

and sin

against

God

and they

think that

and they're

still carrying

a grudge

against the

church

because of

it

and we

need to

recognize

that it's

a complex

thing out

there

but we

ought not

to be

afraid

of continuing

to seek

to embrace

the pattern

of correction

in the

church

one quote

from a

commentator

in light

of this

there could

be

this is

what it

looks like

there could

be no

question

that is

of course

you would

do these

things

it would

be no

question

of speaking

to such

a person

in the

street

or of

excluding

the normal

courtesies

due to

acquaintances

but

not

to friends

associates

or to

close

colleagues

the

the language

of

first

corinthians

and the

language

of treating

them as

tax collectors

and sinners

is significant

enough

that

there's a

there's a

there's a

real shift

that should

happen

in relationships

this is

very

counter

cultural

this is

very

uncomfortable

for us

it does

mean that

we look

at our

friends

and we

say

the most

important

thing

about

you

the most

important

thing

about

you

is your

relationship

with

Christ

and no

matter

how much

I love

you

in all

the other

ways

I can't

just

overlook

that

and enjoy

the rest

of you

because I

love you

too much

process

should go

we've already

talked about

this

carefully

should go

personally

we should

never

assume

that

Matthew

18

can be

carried

out

over

Twitter

or

text

message

or even

over the

phone

if at all

possible

it should

be done

discreetly

as much

as possible

until it

gets to

a public

level

it should

be done

with

discernment

it should

be done

deliberately

there are

times when

it needs

to go

quickly

there are

times when

it needs

to go

slowly

but it

should not

be done

rashly

I guess

is how

I would

say

all right

Peter

one thought

I don't

believe that

there's a

conflict

there

I think

context

is very

important

in

scripture

and

a mix

of

followers

and believers

and unbelievers

and seekers

and people

what's this

all about

and he's

speaking

largely about

man's

relationship

to God

and that

separation

that exists

between man

and God

which is

hugely important

and should

obviously inform

our understanding

of the gospel

and inform

our understanding

of our

relationship

to Christ

and to God

but if

we're then

going to

compare it

to what

Paul is

saying

to the

Corinthian

church

it is

I want

to just

remind

I think

it's hugely

different

that Paul

is specifically

talking

to a

known

consistent

sin

so I

just wouldn't

want people

to walk

away

thinking

there's

some sort

of

contradiction

there

and expectation

yeah

yeah

no in fact

the best way

to see it

is that

1 Corinthians

5

picks up

right at

the end

of the

Matthew

18

process

that they're

they actually

are complementary

but

you can't

you can't

overlay them

completely

because they're

at different

stages of the

process

and in a

different

yeah

Matt

one last

comment

and even