Honest To God

Dr. David E. Carlson wrote an intriguing article in the mid 70’s that was delivered at the Research in Mental Health and Religions Behavior Conference in 1976. It was title, “Jesus’ Style of Relating: The Search for a Biblical View of Counseling”. His goal for this article was to “Bridge the gap between carrying helping professions and dedicated to communicating with those in the church who are threatened by [mental health care professions].” This was a daunting task then and a battle that is still being fought today.

In the 1970’s the Southern Baptist were regaining their strength after a long season on interdenominational quarrels. Not only were they struggling to find their identity (again) theologically, they fought against each other over differing views of methodology. The way they related to people and the input they received from the Mental Healthcare professionals was only a small slice of the overall controversy they were facing. However, it was this type of conversing over the hard topics of methodology and theology that was happening, not only among the Southern Baptist, but the Church as a whole as they tried to care for people completely by staying true to their convictions unswervingly.

Dr. Carlson addresses this problem well in his article, and I am sure it was received as vital words in a time of turmoil when he first delivered it. Nonetheless, we are still struggling with these same types of decisions today. Evangelicals are still trying to find how they relate to culture and how much input they allow secular scientific study to speaking into the methods we hold so tight to when doing what the Church has been asked to do.

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God has laid out a clear mandate and plan the universal church to call people to repentance because He cares for the souls of men and their reconciliation unto Himself. Many people over the years of church history have avoided the commands to discipline people for the sake of repentance. Some church congregations have made excuses as to why not to perform church discipline, claiming that it is unloving to do so, the biblical expectation is not defined, or in fear of getting sued by the disciplined member.

Nonetheless, the Scriptures are clear that church discipline is an important part of edification for the Saints within the Church. Because the Bible is the infallible, inerrant and the authoritative Word of God, it should be our sincere desire to apply the teachings of the Bible as it relates to church discipline to the individuals within our church. The attitude of those administering Church should be Christ-like and God glorifying. By all means possible, the example of humility, grace, justice and holiness should be exemplified, as Christ displayed in His work to restore sinners while on earth. 

The primary biblical reasons for church discipline are to restore the straying member to Christ and to the church (1 Corinthians 5:5; 1 Timothy 1:20; 2 Timothy 2:25; Matthew 18:15) as well as maintain the public testimony for Christ that the church upholds (Romans 2:24; 1 Corinthians 5:6). There are many types of offenses that could constitute an occasion for someone to be disciplined. In its simplest form, the standard should be that the church should discipline any unrepentant offense against another believer. This could include, but is not limited to, things such as murder, adultery, gossip, embezzlement, insubordination to church eldership, and many other sins that would cause disturbance within the body of Christ.

Many Scripture verses such as Luke 17:3-4 and Pauline passages make it clear that we are to discipline as a church. However, Matthew 18:15-20 gives us the clearest explanation of how we are to exercise church discipline over a brother or sister in Christ who is acting in willful and unrepentant sin. In the following outline I will summarize the three steps that are to be fulfilled according to Matthew 18, concluding with the final result of dismissal from fellowship. This process should make it clear as to how we should continue to pursue the unrepentant person for the sake of restoration. It is important to note that each step is only necessary if the person continues to refuse the correction of the church and does not acknowledge his or her own wrongdoing before God. Continue Reading…

picture from www.herdingontheweb.com

I recently looked up the word, “Shepherd” in the dictionary. This is what I found:

shepherd |ˈ sh epərd| |ˈʃɛpərd| |ˈʃɛpəd| noun
A person who tends and rears sheep.
Figurative a member of the clergy who provides spiritual care and guidance for a congregation.

The task we are called to as pastors and elders is not a simple one. Anytime one person is charged to care for another by “tending” to them, a large dose of humility, selflessness, kindness, gentleness and wisdom is required.

• Humility because we must remember who it is that has asked them to care for His most prized possessions.
• Selflessness because we may have to pick out flees, shovel poop (figuratively, of course) and sacrifice all self-importance as you care for someone more than yourself.
• Kindness because everyone has baggage and many may see you as a terrifying hand of authority rather than a caring brother in Christ.
• And finally wisdom, which only comes from God, because knowing how to care for anyone (including yourself) requires that you see them and their needs the way God does and meet his expectations for and their preferences last.

In these characteristics and others, we tend to the flock by giving “spiritual care and guidance” in hopes they will have a deeper walk with God.

Establishing the core values for an organization are vital to its success.

Over the last few years I’ve seen churches thrive because their essential elements to existence were known and supported by all those in the church. While there or are other churches that have struggled and even failed because they did not know their core values, or they compromised on them, I am grateful to have learned from the churches where I have served about the importance of core values being always apparent, celebrated and held high.

This weekend I took a minute to film this video backstage on my phone before I went out to preach on Creekside’s core values – or ‘Fingerprints” as we call them. Sorry the audio is not the great, and my hair is weird – but hopefully this will personalize this post and you can see my passion behind these things:

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Photo Courtesy of iStockphoto.com, © yenwen, File #9443785

Practical Steps for Anger and Conflict Resolution:

• Focus on what I can do to correct it
• Strive to understand the other person’s perspective
• Encourage open discussion, allow both parties to express their feelings
• First admit that I am part of the problem
• Recognize I cannot do anything to change the other person (only Christ can)
• Unpack on my thoughts about the issue and examine them biblically
• Find out what my spouse is feeling and try to understand
• Try to understand and capture the facts on paper
• Be willing to change my behavior after comparing my actions against biblical principles
• Listen to the other person describe what they think I should change about my behavior
• Use proper words, tone of voice and body language in all I say to everyone involved
• Take time to point out the things I appreciate (even in the midst of disagreement)
• be grateful for the different perspective that other person has and try to learn from that difference
• Write down specific and repeatable and attainable ways I can better serve others in the future from what I’ve learned in this situation
• Commit to solve the root cause of the immediate conflict permanently before moving forward

(Adapted from Steve Freeburne)

Other Helpful Resources:
The Christian Counselor’s Manual, Jay Adams, Page 348-367
The Heart of Anger, Lou Priolo