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Hoyte Nelson's Poems/ Reflections & Biblical Essays
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Essay Christian Fellowship and Church Discipline “Let love
be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is
evil; cling to what is good. Introduction: As
I reflect back upon my life, I have been so blessed in my own family
relationships as well as my Christian family relationships: From each I have
drawn strength across the years. As we study the Bible, Christian fellowship is
nothing more that the Christian life “fleshed-out” in what we called the
“Church.” With
the above paragraph as the bases for this article, I would like to reflect upon
some of the concerns that we often encountered in the fellowship of a church
family. Because we are sinners, saved only by God’s grace, we are oftentimes
confronted with challenges that often trouble our soul. Being what we are; that
is, our lack of perfection, we often get in our own way in this Christian
journey, and we need help! This is where the local church is to minister in the
context of Christian love.
When I was in my early teens, my pastor asked me if I would lead prayer
meeting the following Wednesday night as he was to be away, and I accepted.
Well, I could not find an acceptable scripture, so I asked my Sunday School
teacher for advise; He referred to Galatians chapter six, and so it was that
this was the first passage of scripture that I ever prepared and used in a
public church gathering: It is as follows: “Brethren,
if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in
the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye
one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. For if a man think
himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every
man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and
not in another. For every man shall bear his own burden. Let him that is taught
in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. Be not
deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also
reap” (Galatians 6: 1-7, KJV). I’ve
been “camped-out” here, so to speak, now for the many years of my Christian
life; trying, by the help of the Holy Spirit, and to the best of my ability to
find guidance for me as well as others along the way. This is where the
Christian life is often tested; often the fallen brother is not the only one who
is being tested, but the church in the administering of a church policy in this
regard. Because I had a grandfather who died out of fellowship with his church,
I feel compelled to offer whatever assistance I might render in this matter. You will notice that the subject of this article has to do with problems
dealing with both brother/brother relationship as well as church discipline. I
will first consider the matter of brother/brother conflict and the church.
Mathew 18: 15-18 give us direction in this matter: “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” (Matthew 18: 15-17). Please
notice carefully the words of Jesus that He gave to this brother: That is, that
after the first and second encounter, he is to be go to the church with his
problem. Then Jesus said, “But if he neglect to hear the church, let him be to
thee as a Gentile and a tax
collector” (Matthew 18: 17b, NKJV (I
have used the KJV translation for the pronoun “thee” for emphasis:
(“You” is a more modern translation), but that is not the point. The point
is that this pronoun, “soi” in the Greek does not indicate that it is the
church that is referenced here, but it is addressed to the brother who was
seeking reconciliation. [The pronoun “thee” (you) is grammatically in the
second person, singular]. Does this mean that the church is left without
responsibility? No, only that this particular reference is not addressed to the
church. We have our instruction in the matters of church disciple in other
passages, but in this case, in my view, we are looking only at a brother/brother
relationship). We might ask, what are we to do with a gentile and a tax
collector: Simple! We are to love them back into fellowship.
We need to remember that the church today is made up of many “Babes in
Christ;” many of whom are only children or youth---especially “in the
faith”; therefore, every effort should be make to make sure that they are not
adversely harmed in the process of church discipline. This should be our grave
concern: Jesus said, “But whosoever shall offend one of these little ones
which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about
his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matthew 18:6, KJV).
It
should be remembered that the scriptures give us various deeds of public
misconduct for which church discipline should be a concern. In the Apostle
Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth, he writes, “I wrote unto you in an
epistle not to company with fornicators: Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the
covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; then
The second thing that should claim our attention is the Apostle’s
response to the first admonition wherein he said, “…Sufficient
for such a one is this punishment which was
inflicted by the majority, so that on the contrary you should rather forgive
and comfort him, otherwise such a one
might be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. Wherefore I urge you to reaffirm your
love for him” (2 Corinthians 2:1-8). [Praise the Lord]!
We should also remember that just as the Apostle Paul strongly appealed
to the church at Corinth to “put away this wicked person.” However, he also,
just at fervently called on the church to “reaffirm your love for him.” One
action by the church without the other brings only pain---not only to the
church, but also to the families concerned. I believe that God would be pleased
if in every situation, reconciliation would be the first order of concern
(Galatians chapter six). Our hearts should grieve as long as one sheep is
outside the fold. (Why did they wait so long in the case of my Grandpa, Why? |