Gospel Giving

Honest pastors do not enjoy preaching on giving.  On Sunday, that is exactly what I did.  I preached the fourth sermon in our gospel commitments series on gospel giving.  Money and giving is a subject that the Scriptures speak about frequently.  Therefore, if we are going to submit ourselves to the authority of God's Word, we have to talk about money and giving. 

Jesus said that we cannot love God and money (Matthew 6:24).  He also said that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God (Matthew 19:24).  Paul told Timothy that elders must not be lovers of money (1 Timothy 3:3).

I find in my own heart that there is a very thin line between "wise steward" and "lover of money."  How can I be a wise steward of the resources that God has entrusted to me, yet avoid the trap of becoming a lover of money?  I think the answer is giving.

The text for the sermon was 2 Corinthians 9:6-15.

The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 9 As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.”  10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. 12 For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. 13 By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, 14 while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. 15 Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!

Paul used 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 to encourage the Corinthian church to be a part of meeting the needs of the Jerusalem church which had been greatly affected by famine.  In chapter 8 he pointed to the generosity of the Macedonian believers, despite their extreme poverty, as an example for the Corinthians.  Then the majority of chapters 8 and 9 are devoted to giving some instruction concerning generosity.  He then capped off that instruction in chapter 9 by laying out the benefits of giving.

Verse 6 of this passage is a favorite of prosperity preachers for obvious reasons.  "Sow a seed in my ministry and God will give you more money, a new car, and anything else you can imagine," they promise their congregants.  However, the rest of the passage demonstrates that this interpretation is demonstrably false.  The clear principle though is that we should be motivated to sow bountifully because there is a direct relationship between sowing and reaping.

Paul continued to tell the Corinthians that it is not enough to sow; their sowing must be done with a right heart.  Verse 7 teaches that giving with a right heart is done voluntarily, purposefully, and cheerfully.

We also see in this text that giving is enabled by God.  He is the owner of everything.  He is generous to us so that we can be generous in return (2 Corinthians 9:11).  This is exactly the opposite of what the prosperity preachers teach.

It is through this kind of generous giving that God is glorified as the hearts of those who are blessed by our giving are filled with thanksgiving to God (2 Corinthians 9:12-13).  You can imagine that the church at Jerusalem was praying for God to take care of them.  You can also imagine how their hearts would be filled with thanksgiving to God when He provided for them through the Corinthians.

The point of this passage is that the gospel drives our giving, and as a result the gospel is glorified.  Christian giving is a beautiful thing.  Blessings abound when we, because of the generosity of God toward us, are generous in return.

I concluded the sermon by asking and answering two questions:

1. Where should you give?

The passage doesn't really answer this question for us though Paul was certainly calling the Corinthian believers to give through the context of their local church.  We see several examples throughout the NT of giving happening through the local church.  We also see that it is the responsibility of the church's members to support the expenses of the church (1 Timothy 5:17).

I would encourage you to give to causes outside of the church that you are passionate about.  I would also encourage you to be cautious in that regard.  I believe that the majority of our giving should be done in the context of the local church.  This is what I do in regards to my own giving.

As believers in a local church, we covenant together as God's people.  I believe that our primary giving should be done through the local church because we need each other.  Ministry is not an individual thing.  We have been called together with other believers in our local churches to minister in the name of Christ.  We pool our resources and then use some of them in our local church and community and then send a lot of it overseas that the nations may know the name of Jesus and worship Him.

2. How much should you give?

It is difficult to address the issue of giving without talking about the tithe since so many church members have been told for so long that they are required to give 10% of their income to the church.  It is my conviction that the tithe was part of the judicial law for Theocratic Israel.  Therefore, it is no longer required of believers under the New Covenant.  We would also expect that the tithe would be mentioned more than twice in the New Testament if it were still in effect for Christians today.  Instead, both occurrences of the word "tithe" are found in the context of rebukes to the Pharisees. 

I would argue that the picture we have of giving in the New Testament is that it should be done generously, sacrificially, and cheerfully.  For some, 10% is extremely generous and sacrificial.  For others, 10% is not very generous or sacrificial at all even though it is a lot of money.  We must decide in our hearts how much we will give, whether that is a percentage of our income or an exact amount.

I expect we all have room to grow in generosity and sacrifice.  When we consider that our motivation for giving is what Christ has first given us, it is hard to imagine that we could ever give enough.  May we grow in gospel giving that God might be glorified in our local churches, communities, and among the nations.

Gospel Justice

Sunday's sermon, the third in our Gospel Commitments series, was on gospel justice.  Why "gospel" justice?  Many evangelicals in our day, to their great credit, are interested in social justice.  Drilling wells, feeding starving kids, and combating human sex trafficking are all, along with a host of other issues, very worthy causes.

Unfortunately, what many have done is divorce the gospel from their efforts.  This sermon, on Sanctity of Human Life Sunday, was an attempt to say, "Yes!  We should be concerned with social justice."  It was also intended to provide a slight corrective.  We must not participate in injustice.  We must fight for justice.  But we must do so, not simply out of a general care for humanity; we must do so because we are propelled by the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The text for the sermon was Micah 6:6-8.

“With what shall I come before the Lord,
    and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
    with calves a year old?
7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
    with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
    the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
8 He has told you, O man, what is good;
    and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
    and to walk humbly with your God?

We saw in several places throughout Micah that God's people were involved in perpetrating injustice (Micah 2:1-2; 3:1-3, 9).  Then in Micah 6, God reminds His people of His work of redemption in their lives.  He led them out of slavery in Egypt, gave them leaders, protected them from the curse of Balak, and parted the Jordan River for them to pass through from Shittim to Gilgal (Micah 6:4-5).

God had been gracious to His people, but they responded with a lack of justice and kindness toward their fellow image bearers and a lack of humility toward God (Micah 6:8).  Micah rhetorically asks how they can make things right (Micah 6:6-7).  Will burnt offerings do the trick?  What if they offer up their firstborn?  Will that be enough to atone for their sin?  The implied answer is an emphatic, NO!

God had already revealed to His people what He required of them.  It was written in the Law given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai, the Ten Commandments.  Micah summarizes that law in verse 8.  The first four commandments deal with our relationship with God.  The final six deal with our relationship with other people.  Micah's instruction to do justice and love kindness summarizes the final six commandments, but all of this is for naught without the instruction to walk humbly with God which serves as a summary of the first four commandments.

Our world is filled with injustice.  Millions of babies have been aborted just in America since Roe vs. Wade.  Millions of people will go to bed hungry tonight.  Close to 2 million people will die of AIDS this year.  An estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked each year, and the average age for entry into street prostitution is between 12 and 14.  Human trafficking results in a global annual profit of approximately $31 billion each year.  $9.5 billion comes from the U.S.

You see, I could go on and on and on citing the injustice that abounds in our world today.  I do not cite these statistics to guilt you into action.  No, sometimes we just need to be reminded or made aware of the injustice around us.  We also need to be reminded that we have the only source of hope for a broken world, the message of Jesus Christ and Him crucified for the remission of sins for all who would repent and believe.  This gospel is for all, oppressed and oppressor alike.

We must go forth.  We must fight against the injustice of AIDS, starvation, racism, abortion, human trafficking, etc.  We must bring with us a cup of cold water, but we must not forget to do so in Jesus' name.  He is the only true and lasting source of hope.

He will one day return and right every wrong.  The prophet Micah assures us of that reality (Micah 4:6-7; 5).  Until that day, may we resolve together like the prophet Micah, that though "all the peoples walk each in the name of its god,…we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever" (Micah 4:5).

Gospel Holiness

Yesterday I continued our series on gospel commitments with a sermon from 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 on gospel holiness.  You can find the audio for the sermon here and a summary of the sermon below.

Consider the passage.

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

From this passage, I presented three requirements of gospel holiness.

Gospel holiness requires a right view of God.

Our understanding of every doctrine is wrapped up in our understanding of God.  If we are to understand the nature of Scripture, we must understand God, the author of Scripture.  If we are to understand man, we must understand his Creator and the One in Whose image he is made, God.  We could go on and on.

In order to pursue gospel holiness, we need a right view of the holiness, justice, wrath, and love of God.  None of these attributes should be pitted against the others as the most important, but should be recognized as fitting together to form the unity that is our God.

The holiness of God is seen very clearly in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11.  Paul says that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God.  This also shows us that God requires holiness from us and punishes unrighteousness.  These are important truths that necessarily affect our pursuit of gospel holiness.

Gospel holiness requires a right view of sin.

Just as it is essential for us to view God rightly, it is also important for us to view sin rightly.  We must learn to view sin the way that God views sin.

We can look at sin in two different ways.  In one sense sin can refer to specific acts of sin, as it does in this passage where Paul lists several specific sins.  We should also recognize that this list of sins in 1 Corinthians 6 is not exhaustive.  Paul could have gone on and on and would have eventually gotten to your pet sin.  We are all unrighteous before God because of our sin.

Sin can also refer to the sin nature that we have all inherited from Adam (Romans 5:12).  This isn't emphasized in this passage but is very clearly taught throughout Scripture.

There are certainly some other things that we need to know about sin as well.  Sin is deceptive.  Paul says, "Do not be deceived."  We are easily deceived by the lies of the enemy.  We must beware.  We also like to hide our sin from others.  The problem is that sin festers in the darkness.  It must be brought to the light and revealed so that it can be fought against.

Sin is also far-reaching.  Your sin problem is much greater than you ever thought that it was.  You have been so affected by the Fall that you are able to sin at times without even recognizing that you have sinned.  We must cry out to God in repentance, seeking His forgiveness, as David does in Psalm 139.

It should also be noted that gospel holiness is countercultural.  In recent days this was made evident by the response to the comments made by one of America's bearded heroes, Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson.  You must be aware of the fact that you will be silenced and maligned for speaking the truth of Scripture.

But let's not camp out on homosexuality too long.   Paul includes homosexuality in a whole list of sinful behaviors.   Our culture is out of control in so many areas.  Divorce rates continue to skyrocket.  Pornography is an epidemic.  Our greed is sickening.  And the list goes on and on.

There is no doubt that this makes the pursuit of gospel holiness difficult.  Do not be deceived.  However, I think it also makes the pursuit of gospel holiness stand out.  Do not think that the gospel will not advance because sin abounds.  For Paul says that where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more (Romans 5:20).

We have an opportunity to live out gospel holiness for a watching world by standing firm on sin.  We must not compromise on sin, because it is the very gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ that is at stake.  That includes some of the more visible sins like fornication and homosexuality, but it also includes heart sins like pride and greed.

Let's also be clear that the problem is not just sin.  The problem is that we are sinners.  Paul says, "And such were some of you."  It is possible for us to focus our attention so much on sin itself that we allow ourselves to forget that we, and everyone else, are sinners.   All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).  There is none righteous, no not one (Romans 3:10).

So what is our right response to sin?  We must repent.  Not only do we repent at conversion but we must continually practice repentance in our lives.  We must do war with our sin.  We must view sin as God views sin and fight against it with every fiber of our being.

This is hard, but there is help and hope.

Gospel holiness requires the work of God.

Paul says that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God.  This means that we have a problem because we are all the unrighteous.  But be reminded that there is victory over sin through Jesus Christ.

Consider verse eleven again.

And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

There is an initial, continual, and final victory over sin through Jesus Christ.  Those who are in Christ have been washed, sanctified, and justified.  We were once characterized by the sins that Paul lists in verses 9-10, but we no longer are.  God has done a great work in our lives and He continues to do that great work.  We must depend upon Him to continue that work as we actively fight against sin.

This means that victory over sin is not limited to one particular sin.  There is victory over all sin for those who would repent and believe on the Lord Jesus.  This includes pornography, greed, homosexuality, pride, idolatry, drunkenness, etc., etc., etc. 

Whatever your struggle, there is hope in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.  You can say with Paul, "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?  Thanks be to God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 7:24-25).

I'll conclude by challenging you in the same way that I did my congregation yesterday.  Identify two areas of sin in your life.  Repent and seek to live out gospel holiness in those areas as you depend upon the work of the Spirit in your life.

Gospel Proclamation

Yesterday I began a series of sermons in our church that I am calling "Gospel Commitments."  The hope is to guide our focus as a church as we move into 2014.  You can find the audio from the first sermon here.

I intend use this series to present five gospel commitments.  Yesterday's sermon was on gospel proclamation.  Over the next four Sundays, we will tackle gospel holiness, gospel justice, gospel giving, and gospel unity.  I will attempt to write a blog post each Monday giving an overview of the sermon from the previous day.

In talking about gospel proclamation we looked at 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5.  Consider Paul's instruction to his son in the faith, Timothy, in that passage.

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 4 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

I have considered this passage many times before.  However, I have often considered the end of chapter three by itself, and the beginning of chapter four by itself.  Chapter and verse divisions are helpful, but it is very easy for us to allow these divisions to cloud our exegesis as I have been guilty of doing in the past with this passage.

It should be clear that Paul's instruction to Timothy regarding the nature of Scripture in chapter three leads naturally into his instruction to preach the Word.  Therefore, my sermon presented three requirements of gospel proclamation:

1) Gospel proclamation requires a commitment to the Bible (2 Timothy 3:14-17).

2) Gospel proclamation requires speaking the truth of the Bible (2 Timothy 4:1-2).

3) Gospel proclamation requires a willingness to allow the Bible to offend (2 Timothy 4:3-5).

This passage makes it very clear that the Bible is the very Word of God.  Paul says that it is "breathed out by God" (vs. 16).  We must understand that the Bible has God for its author.  Once we understand that truth, we are able to recognize the clear implications of this reality. 

If God wrote a book, and God does not make mistakes, then we must conclude that this book is without error.  We must also conclude that this book has authority in our lives as it comes from God, our Creator.  Paul speaks of this authority when He says that the Scriptures are useful for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness (vs. 16).

Paul is also clear in this passage that Bible is the instrument of true saving faith.  He writes here that the sacred writings are able to make one wise for salvation (vs. 15).  He also says in his letter to the Romans that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ (Romans 10:17).

This all leads naturally into Paul's instruction to "preach the Word" (vs. 2).  Paul does not tell Timothy to preach on the current events or the latest psychology.  He tells Timothy to "preach the Word."  Why?  Because it is the very Word of God.  Because it is able to make one wise for salvation.  Because the Bible has authority in our lives.  God has spoken, and therefore, we must speak.

The final point is likely a bit controversial.  But notice how it is worded.  I did not say, "Gospel proclamation requires using the Bible to offend."  No, I said, "Gospel proclamation requires a willingness to allow the Bible to offend.  Paul explains this requirement in verses three and four when he says that people will not endure sound teaching, they will accumulate teachers to scratch their itching ears, and they will turn from truth into myths (vs. 3-4).

Much of this neglect of truth was probably already going on at the time, and Paul seems to indicate that it would only increase.  This is what we continue to witness in our own culture.  People are busy saying that wrong is right in the areas of abortion, homosexuality, adultery, fornication, pornography, and much more.  People are busy saying that right is wrong as well.  If you support protecting the life of the unborn you must hate women.  If you stand for the family you must be a bigot.  Unfortunately, because many who claim the name of Christ have long forsaken the authority of the Bible, this is true of them as well.

We must be reminded that the gospel is an offense.  The gospel begins with the message that there is a God who created everything for His glory.  That message is offensive in a culture that teaches us to watch out for ourselves.  We are told that the greatest good in life is to be happy.  Lies!  God has told us that we were created by Him for His glory.  That is offensive.

The gospel continues with the message that God's good creation rebelled against Him, creating enmity between God and man.  We are all sinners and have fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).  Because we are sinners, we deserve God's punishment, eternal death (Romans 6:23).  That is not a popular message either.

The gospel also teaches us that there is only one way to be reconciled to God and that is through Jesus Christ, the slain Lamb of God.  Wait, what?  Blood must be shed for the forgiveness of sin?  There is only one way to God and that is through Jesus Christ?  Offensive, no doubt!  Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:18 that the gospel is folly to those who are perishing, but that it is the power of God to those of us who are being saved.

There is no doubt that believers in the Lord Jesus Christ must be dedicated to gospel proclamation.  We must be dedicated to gospel proclamation in our homes, churches, the workplace, and wherever else we may go.  We have been called out by God as ministers of reconciliation proclaiming the message, be reconciled to God!

How can you grow in your commitment to gospel proclamation?

The "War on Christmas"

Well, Christmas has come and gone.  I had a great day with my family yesterday and trust you did as well.

I intended to get this post written and up on the blog before Christmas, but as you can tell, that didn't happen.  I figured I better get it done today as my window of opportunity is vanishing with many using today or the weekend to take down their Christmas decorations.

With Christmas over, I guess we will be spared the typical media reports of a war on Christmas for another year.  I have to tell you that I get so tired of hearing these reports.  Conservative news show hosts spend the days leading up to Christmas stirring up Christians over a supposed war on Christmas.

If you go to the American Family Association's website, you can find their "Naughty or Nice List."  On that list they group stores into three categories: 1) those that are supportive of Christmas, 2) those that are neutral on Christmas, 3) and those that are against Christmas. 

They base the list on the advertisements put out by the store and whether they say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays."  That way, by using their list, you can know which stores to shop at this Christmas and which stores to avoid.

Maybe I am not supposed to say this, but it doesn't bother me a bit that pagan store owners would instruct their employees to tell shoppers "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas."  In fact, maybe it is a good thing.  I think maybe it draws attention to the fact that Christmas is a Christian holiday and not just about Santa Claus and gifts.

Fox News has even had Santa Claus himself on their morning show to defend Christmas.  I can't help but ask if this is really helpful.  What are we defending?

I think we all need to be reminded that we, if not careful, are sometimes guilty of getting wrapped up in everything other than God during this time of year.  I would even suggest that in getting wrapped up in the "War on Christmas," we may really be defending an idol rather than our Creator.

On December 15, I preached an advent sermon from Genesis 1:1-5.  You can find it here.  Genesis 1 may seem like a strange place to go for an advent sermon, and in some ways it is.  However, I think we all need to be reminded that everything, not only Christmas, is all about God.

For it is God Who created everything for His glory.  It is God Who became flesh and dwelt among us that we might be reconciled to our Creator.  It is God Who is worthy of all of our worship forevermore.

May God set our affections on Him this holiday season and on into the New Year!  Happy Holidays!

Let No One Despise Your Youth

1 Timothy 4:12 is right up there with Jeremiah 29:11 and Philippians 4:13 among the most misused verses in Scripture.  All three are often found on coffee mugs, bumper stickers, and Christian t-shirts.

You can find the words of 1 Timothy 4:12 plastered on church youth rooms everywhere.

1 Timothy 4:12

Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

The interesting thing is that when I hear the verse recited, it is often apart from the second part of the verse.  Everyone loves the first part.  It is so encouraging.  "Let no one despise you for your youth!"  What a great motto!

The attitude of many when reciting this verse is, "Don't look down on me because I am young."  Often it is not the person's age that is causing them to be looked down on but their actions.

Unfortunately, many forget the second part of the verse.  No one wants to be looked down on.  No one wants to be ignored or thought less of because of their age.  But very few want to live their lives as examples for others.

Paul was not writing a youth group curriculum when he penned these words, though the verse is not without application for teenagers.  He was addressing his son in the faith, Timothy.  Timothy was a young leader in the church at Ephesus.  He was likely in his thirties when Paul wrote this letter.

Paul wanted to encourage Timothy not to allow his age to be a hindrance to his ministry in Ephesus.  God had called Timothy to lead His people there.  If God did not consider Timothy's age to be a problem, Timothy shouldn't consider it to be a problem either.

But how was Timothy to assert his leadership?  What would it look for him not to allow anyone to despise his youth?  Does this mean Timothy was to stand up and say, "I am the leader here and you will do what I say"?  I don't think so.

Paul tells Timothy to be an example to the believers in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity.  The church at Ephesus had a responsibility to submit to the leadership of their young pastor.  However, Timothy also had a responsibility to earn the respect of those older than him by being an example to the believers.  He was to lead by example.

The words of Paul in this verse are extremely relevant for me.  God has seen fit to call me to pastor his people at Drakes Branch Baptist Church at a very young age.  I read the words of Paul in the first part of 1 Timothy 4:12, "Let no one despise your youth," and I know they are for me.  But how do I do that?  How do I lead people who are older than I am?  I am to do this in the same way Paul instructed Timothy in the second part of the verse, by being an example in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity.

That isn't easy.  It is much easier to say, "I am the leader, now follow me," than it is to give people a reason to follow.  May we all recognize that we are leaders of someone.  May we all lead by example in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity.

Local Church Autonomy and Church Discipline

This post is a continuation of a previous post on local church autonomy.  That post can be found here. 

I recently completed a four sermon series on church membership.  The first two sermons in the series dealt with Matthew 16 and 18 respectively.  You can find them here and here.

In Matthew 16, Jesus promises to give Peter the keys of the kingdom.  By extension, the keys are given to the other apostles, and by further extension they are given to the church.  We know that we can extend Jesus' statement in Matthew 16 to the church because of Matthew 18 where Jesus, in referring to the church, uses the same phrase that is found in Matthew 16, "whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

How does the church exercise the keys of the kingdom?  By binding and loosing.  How does the church bind and loose?  I would submit that the primary ways the church binds and looses are through church membership and church discipline.  In fact, it is church discipline that Jesus deals with very clearly in Matthew 18.

Jesus lays out four steps for church discipline in this passage.  Steps one and two of church discipline can be carried out among fellow believers without the influence of the church body as a whole.  However, steps three and four necessitate the involvement of the church as a whole.  You cannot tell it to the church without getting the church involved.  Neither can you remove a person from the fellowship of the church without the church getting involved.

Sadly, church discipline is a biblical practice that has been neglected in most Baptist churches in America for a long time.  Curiously, these same churches hold firmly to the doctrine of local church autonomy.

In what ways is the church autonomous?  I would submit that one of the primary ways that the church exercises its autonomy is through church discipline.  Church membership is all about our commitment to one another.  We are responsible for each other.  The writer of Hebrews says that we are to "stir up one another to love and good works" (Hebrews 10:24). 

There is something special about the relationship between two members of the same local church.  It seems that the difference in relationship between two members of the same local church and two fellow believers who are not members of the same local church is related to church discipline.  I can exercise formal church discipline over a member of my local church in a way that I simply cannot with a fellow believer of another local church.

I would further suggest that this is one of the primary ways in which the church is autonomous.  There is no board outside the local church that has this kind of responsibility for the lives of the people in the church.  This responsibility belongs to the local church.  It is through practicing biblical church discipline that the local church exercises her autonomy.

Local church autonomy and church discipline are two very important and interconnected doctrines that must be preserved if the church is to fulfill her mission in the world.

I am indebted to Jonathan Leeman of 9Marks for the excellent thinking and writing that he has done on church membership and church discipline.  Some of the ideas found here have certainly been developed in my mind by reading his works.  I heartily recommend the little books Church Membership and Church Discipline.