A Biblical commitment to the local church includes a willingness to submit to its leaders, discipline its unrepentant, and support its mission.

Commitment To The Local Church – Pt. 2

We are in the midst of a brief little mini-series on Church Membership. We are calling this sermon series, “Commitment To The Local Church.” Yesterday, we had a wonderful time at our home, as we discussed together exactly what it means to be a “member” of The Bridge. A member is not a casual attender. A member is a person who has seen in Scripture how God wants him to relate to the church, and then makes a solemn commitment to obey the teaching of the Word of God on those matters. A “Bridge Partner” is someone who has stopped living with the church, and instead has married the church.

Many people shy away from becoming a “member” of a church because they are afraid they won’t be able to keep their commitments. You now what? You won’t be able to keep your commitments – perfectly! None of us will obey the Word of God perfectly when it comes to faithfully living out God’s Word regarding our local church. So, should that stop us from making that commitment? Let me ask those of you who are married, have you perfectly kept your wedding vows? Debbie and I wrote our vows to one another. When I go back and re-read them, I’m painfully aware that I have not kept them perfectly. So, does that mean that I never should have made a vow to Debbie in the first place? Of course not! It simply means that I’m a sinful man. In every commitment in life that we make, we realize that we need to trust in the empowering of the Spirit of God for help to fulfill our commitments and the grace of God to forgive and cleanse us where we fail. So, don’t let your fear of failure keep you from committing to The Bridge. But do allow the commitment you are making to propel you forward to greater acts of love and good deeds, as you rely upon the Holy Spirit.

Last week we began the series by pointing out that there are 5 basic commitments that comprise our membership in a local church:

1. A commitment to practice the “one anothers” with the church

2. A commitment to use your spiritual gifts for the church

3. A commitment to submit to the leaders of the church

4. A commitment to discipline the unrepentant in the church

5. A commitment to support the mission of the church

Last week we examined what the Bible teaches about the first 2 commitments. Today, we are going to focus on the last 3 commitments.

1. A Commitment To Submit To The Leaders Of The Church

There are many today who try desperately to destroy the notion that there are certain people in the local church who have been delegated authority by Christ to direct its affairs. That’s not surprising because we live in a very anti-authority age. We don’t like to submit to anyone. This same anti-authority mood has slipped into the church. Don’t believe me? Just tell people what the Bible says, that they should submit to their governmental leaders. See what happens.  Or just declare what the Bible says that wives are to submit to their own husbands as to the Lord. See what happens.  Usually there will be a quick reaction against that statement. Or just say what the Bible says that Christians are to submit to their church leaders. See what happens. Generally speaking, Christians chafe against these Biblical commands. We don’t want to submit to anyone except for Christ. Within the House Church movement today, there is a definite anti-authority spirit. We spent 8 years in a House Church, and I can testify from first hand experience that many within that movement are seeking out house churches because they don’t want leaders. There slogan is “No Leader but Christ.” And so they meet together, all “sharing”, yet no one having any more authority than any other to teach, rebuke, exhort, charge, discipline, and manage the church. Now, I don’t say these things to criticize the House Church. There are some wonderful Biblical principles that the House Church movement has discovered and implemented that were almost lost within the greater church. However, to throw out the idea of Pastors or Elders or Leaders is unBiblical, as we have already seen. Yes, it is true that every Christian is a member of the Body of Christ, and can serve and minister within the body, and should. However, not every Christian in the church has been delegated the same authority by Jesus Christ. If every Christian possessed the same authority in the church, there would be no need for Elders to oversee the church.

Well, let’s do a brief NT survey of Biblical passages which address the authority of leaders within the church:

1 Thess. 5:12-13: “We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.”

1Tim.1:3: “…remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith.”

1Tim.3:1 “if anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.”

1Tim.3:4: “…for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?”

1Tim.4:11: “Command and teach these things.”

1Tim.5:17: “Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.”

2Timothy 4:1-2: “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:  preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.”

Titus 1:9:  “He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.”

Titus 1:11, 13: “They must be silenced since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach…Therefore rebuke them sharply that they may be sound in the faith.”

Titus 2:15:  “Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority.  Let no one disregard you.”

Titus 3:8: “The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works.”

1 Peter 5:3:  “nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.

I have deliberately left out probably the most important passage dealing with submission to church leaders. It is Hebrews 13:17, and it says, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account.  Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.” Now, let’s consider that passage for a moment. We are commanded to do 2 things in reference to our leaders: submit and obey. Then we are given a reason to obey and submit:  because these leaders keep watch over your souls as those who must give an account. God has commanded Pastors to watch over and take care of certain sheep, and they will have to give an account to God for how faithful they have done that when they stand before Christ the Judge! Just as in marriage there is a command to the husband (love your wives) and another command to the wife (submit to your own husbands), so too, here there is a command to the members (submit and obey), and a command to the leaders (faithfully watch over their souls).

If you are unwilling to submit to leaders in your local church, that is sin that you must repent of. God’s Word is clear on this subject, as we have just seen. For any church to be able to carry out its mission, there must be God-called, godly, loving leaders who cast the vision, and there must be members who are willing to follow their lead. Without this, you will have anarchy, confusion, and a church without any direction or momentum. So, those of you who are considering becoming Bridge Partners, it’s important to know that doing so means you are joyfully acknowledging your responsibility to submit to and follow the leaders God raises up here at The Bridge.

2. A Commitment To Discipline The Unrepentant In The Church

How many of you are familiar with the topic of Church Discipline? If you are new to the Christian faith you may not have ever even heard of it. However, it is a subject that the Bible speaks of a lot. The term “Church Discipline” might not be the best phrase. It sounds so ominous and negative. Jonathan Edwards referred to it as “Gospel Discipline.” You see, church discipline is when the church goes after an erring, unrepentant member in order to restore him to fellowship with Christ and His church. The purpose of church discipline is not to punish an erring member, but to restore an erring member.  In reality, a church that practices church discipline is an extremely loving church. Rather than just allow a brother or sister go down that path of sin towards destruction, they risk the rejection of man in order to do whatever it takes to bring them to repentance and fellowship with Christ.

I would venture to say that most churches in America will not practice Church Discipline because it is so painful and difficult. In many large churches you might find couples living together, people committing adultery, practicing homosexuals, drunkards and people involved in drug abuse, but they are never confronted and required to repent of these sins. In fact, I was having coffee with a local pastor a few months back, and the subject of Church Discipline came up, and I asked him how they practiced it. His reply was, “We don’t do that.” How can a Pastor just say, “We don’t do that”! Jesus commanded us to do that. To ignore what Jesus said is to defiantly disobey Jesus Christ, our Lord and Master.

So, what does the Scripture teach about Church Discipline?  Again, let’s do a brief NT survey of the most important Scriptures on this subject:

Matt. 18:15-17  “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. “But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. “If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”

Romans 16:17: “Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them.”

1 Cor. 5:1-13:  “It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife. You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst. For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present. In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler — not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES.

Galatians 6:1:  “Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.”

2 Thess. 3:6-15:  “Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you, nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you; not because we do not have the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, so that you would follow our example. For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either. For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread. But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good. If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person and do not associate with him, so that he will be put to shame. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.”

1 Tim. 1:19-20: “keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered over to Satan, so that they may be taught not to blaspheme.”

2 Tim. 2:16-18: “But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and thus they upset the faith of some.”

Titus 3:10:  “Reject a factious man after a first and second warning, knowing that such a man is perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned.”

James 5:19-20:  “My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth, and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death, and will cover a multitude of sins.”

So, let’s try to sum up what we see in these passages about Church Discipline?

1. What sins qualify for Church Discipline? Well, in Mt. 18:15-17, Jesus simply says, “If your brother sins.” There is no qualification. Now all of us sin, because we are fallen creatures. The point is not that every single time someone in the church commits a sin, we are to confront them! If we did that, we wouldn’t have time for anything else. No, the point is if we notice that our brother or sister is continuing in a pattern of sin, we must confront them. Although Jesus does not specify any particular sins in Mt. 18, does the Bible give us any specific examples of sins which require Church Discipline? Yes it does. It speaks of:

• Divisiveness

• Sexual Immorality

• Covetousness

• Idolatry

• Reviling

• Drunkenness

• Swindling

• Refusing To Work

2. What Must We Do When A Member Is Committing These Sins? Jesus said go to him in private and reprove him. Why? To make him feel embarrassed? No, to restore him. The greatest tool we have in our sanctification process next to the indwelling Holy Spirit and the Word of God is the Church! The Church is to continually be speaking into one anther’s lives about sin which we are not dealing with. Now, the reason we don’t do this more often, is probably because we are cowards. We don’t want the backlash that comes from doing our duty. Also, we realize that we are far from perfect ourselves, and so how can we confront someone else? The point is not that we are sinlessly perfect, but that we are repentant. The better we get to know each other, the more sin we will see in each other, and the more God can use us to stimulate one another to pursue holiness. Also, the more we know each other, the more we should know that our brothers and sisters love us and are only speaking into our lives because they want to help us grow toward Christ likeness. That should help to remove much of our natural defensiveness toward the loving reproofs of others.

3. What Must We Do If The Erring Brother Doesn’t Listen To Us?  Jesus said we must take one or two others along and go talk to the brother again. The extra witnesses will confirm whether the person is continuing in sin and whether he is willing to turn from it. This small group of two or three brothers must again speak to the erring believer, urging him to repent of this practice.

4. What Must We Do If He Won’t Listen to the 2 or 3?  Jesus said that they must tell it to the church. At this point, the whole church must go after the erring brother, urging him to repent of the sin and be restored. They may meet with him personally, call him, email him, or write him a note. Obviously, at this point the whole church is praying fervently for the brother’s restoration. These first 3 steps may take an extended period of time.

5. What Must We Do If He Won’t Listen To The Church?  Jesus said we must treat him like a Jew would have treated a Gentile or Tax Collector in the 1st century. How was that? They would have nothing to do with him? They certainly wouldn’t eat with him or fellowship with him. That’s what Paul meant in 1 Cor. 5 when he told the Corinthians they must not not associate, even eat, with any so-called brother who is continuing in sin. At this point the church excommunicates this brother. He is no longer welcome in any of the gatherings of the church. It is at this point in Church Discipline, where things sometimes break down. There are always some people in the Church, who just won’t bring themselves to do what Jesus said to do. Instead of refusing to associate with the unrepentant brother or sister, they continue to get together with them and fellowship with them, and share meals with them. I have seen this first hand. In the church I pastored in the 1990s in Milpitas, we had a Church Discipline situation where there was a person who was being divisive, and would not stop. It finally ended up before the whole church. The leaders drafted a letter to send to this person, but there were a few people who would not sign the letter. They continued to meet with and talk to the erring brother. Do you see what happens when the whole church will not act in unity? It weakens the witness of the whole church.

Becoming a Bridge Partner means you are committing to act in unity under the leadership of this local church to restore a brother or sister who is in sin. Are you willing to make that commitment?

3. A Commitment To Support The Mission Of The Church

Jesus has already told us what our mission is to be. He said in Mt. 28:18-20 that we are to make disciples of all the nations, and we are to teach these disciples to do everything He commanded, chief of which is to make disciples. So at The Bridge, we have summed up our Mission like this, “Our Mission is to glorify God by making disciples who make disciples.”

A Bridge Partner is someone who agrees with that Mission, and is willing to do what they can to support the Church as it fulfills that Mission. So, what does that mean on a practical level for you as a member?

• It means that you will be involved in making disciples who make disciples. Probably the best and first place to start in that process is by committing to a Bridge Group. A Bridge Group is a missional community, which exists to identify a particular people in need of the gospel, and then radically reorient their lives so that they can begin to make disciples within that group of people. At the present time we have identified the people at the Rancho Terrace Apartments as that group that we are seeking to reach. In the future, undoubtedly, we will move on to other groups in different locations. Our missional communities will pray, plan, and strategize as to how they can make disciples together in that particular people group.

• It means that you will be involved in some way with getting the gospel to the lost, whether that means sharing Christ with your co-workers or family, or neighbors, or doing contact evangelism out on the street, or opening your home to have lost people over for an evangelistic bible study, or handing out tracts or teaching the gospel to our kids. There’s all kinds of ways we can be involved with proclaiming Christ to lost people.

• It will also mean that you will pray about opportunities to be involved in the actual discipleship process with others; either mentoring a newer believer, or being mentored by a more mature believer.

• It will mean that you are willing to give financially so that this church can fulfill its Mission. Every church needs money to do what King Jesus has commanded us to do. We need money to rent this chapel to hold our Sunday gatherings. We need money to buy Bibles, and tracts to give away. We need money to support native missionaries overseas. We need money to help the poor. We need money to hold outreach events. Becoming a Bridge Partner means that you are “all in”. You are willing to devote your time, money, and gifts to fulfill the Mission Jesus has called us to. Every Sunday after church, I’ll open our Agape Box, and usually there is absolutely nothing in it! I asked Judy the other day how many people regularly give. She told me there are four people. Folks, that is really horrible. I’m completely aware that there are many of you who don’t have much. However, you are only cheating yourself out of a blessing, by not giving at all. Paul told the Philippians that he wanted the profit that would increase to their account by their giving. Giving should be part of our total worship of the Lord. You are only depriving yourself by not giving. Proverbs 3:9-10. Even if you have to start by giving just a few dollars a month, give something as worship to Jesus Christ.

So that’s what a Bridge Partner is. He is someone who is committed to obeying the Word of God when it comes to his involvement in this local church.

So now what? Go through the Bridge Partners process and complete it by making a serious, formal commitment to The Bridge, and then seek to live out that commitment by the power of the Holy Spirit. Let’s join together in unity, as one body, to be about our Master’s business together!

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