Authority and church discipline are related topics that need to be discussed and understood. Although many present the “gospel” primarily as an offer of forgiveness, with little or no emphasis on the lordship of Christ, the true gospel reestablishes the authority of God’s Son, who is the risen Lord of Lords.
“Coming to Jesus” (Matthew 11:28-30) means turning from pursuing independent, self-reliant lives and placing ourselves under Jesus’ rule (yoke). Our goal is to surrender every aspect of life to the Holy Spirit. As we do this, we find rest for our souls. Living as a rebel is a hard life with no future.
Churches today are filled with people who have never understood what it means to be submitted to Jesus the Lord, perhaps because they were never told they must do so. They expect Jesus to forgive them (I have heard people say that it is his job.), provide for them, and welcome them to heaven, but they do not recognize him as their Lord of their everyday lives. They live the way they want to live, regardless of what the Bible says. Because of this unpleasant reality, I like to ask people if they are followers of Christ, rather than if they are Christians. I have had people respond that they are Christians but not followers of Christ. They understood that they were not living as they should.
Many so-called Christians today reject the Bible’s teachings, especially when it comes to morality. Jesus taught that those who call him Lord, but do not live according to his teachings, do not truly belong to him. (Matthew 7:21-23) It’s a matter of the heart, and it is all comes down to authority. Either we choose to submit to Christ’s authority or we do not. If there is nothing in us that motivates us to do so, it is doubtful we have his Spirit abiding in us.
Salvation comes is for those who confess that Jesus is Lord, not for those who merely believe he is our “personal savior.” If we believe that Jesus rose from the dead and confess his lordship over our lives, mean it, and seek to live accordingly (Romans 10:9-10), we will be forgiven and become part of God’s forever family.
Salvation does not exist outside of acknowledging Jesus’ lordship.
Church Discipline
Our churches are a proving ground for the genuineness of our choice to live under Christ’s authority.
We can say that we are under authority, but we never know until our wills are challenged by that authority. When God’s authority or will crosses ours is when the true condition of our hearts is exposed.
God has placed leaders in his local churches in whom he has invested a measure of his authority. (God’s delegated authority also resides in the home, work, school, government, etc., but we will limit this article to church government.) The biblical pattern is for the church to be governed by proven men of godly character and commitment to Christ, who are called elders. (1 Tim. 5:17, etc.) Elders have a responsibility from God to watch over the people under their care.
Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you. Hebrews 13:17 (NASB)
We all have something called the “old man” or the “flesh,” which inwardly tempts us to be rebellious and unruly. Even though Christ “disarmed” the flesh on the cross for those who believe in him (Romans 6:6), it is still there and ready to spring into action, if we make room for it. Unfortunately for us, as Jesus taught us, “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” That being the case, we all sin and need to be corrected from time to time, some of us more than others.
In every organization, there are standards of behavior. If the organization’s leaders do not uphold and enforce those standards, human nature being what it is, people begin to slide or push the boundaries. Unless we are corrected, we often will get less and less fearful of the negative consequences of sin. A great example of this is how people disobey the speed limits on the Interstate. If the Highway Patrol does not aggressively enforce the speed limit, people go faster and faster. It’s human nature, and it works this way in the church, too.
In the local church, elders have the responsibility to uphold Christ’s authority, which is clearly demarcated in the teachings of the New Testament. Certainly elders have no business micromanaging people’s affairs, but, I hope we can all agree that when church members clearly violate Christ’s teachings in an egregious fashion and refuse to repent, something must be done. If not, sin spreads its deadly contagion as others will be tempted to sin because it appears there are no consequences. Bringing correction when needed is called church discipline.
Jesus told us how to carry out church discipline in Matthew 18:15-18. The normal order is for the aggrieved party to first confront an “offender” privately. Hopefully that will be sufficient to solve the problem. Unfortunately, some of us are little slower on the uptake or a little more stubborn and need to go to stage two. This is when another person is brought into the mix as a “reinforcement.” The hope here is that the “offender” will listen to their combined testimony and repent. The third stage is to bring church leaders into the mix in order to press upon the “offender” the gravity of their sinful behavior. If this does not work either, the only thing left, according to Paul, is expulsion from the church. (1 Corinthians 5:9-13)
In my experience, it is rare that anyone has to be expelled. Usually offenders see “the handwriting on the wall” and remove themselves from the fray before it gets to that stage. There are plenty of other churches around where people can hide their sinful behavior from other church members. Many churches only want people to show up on Sunday and give. They do not really get to know their people and are consequently blind to what may be going on beneath the surface. To be fair, the flip side of the issue is that sometimes church leaders are reluctant to bring correction to recalcitrant members for fear of losing them; so, the fault lies on both sides.
The proper exercise of church discipline is needed to help people live under Christ’s benevolent rule.
We all need help from others because following Christ is not easy. Over the years, I have observed that people who are unwilling to recognize and follow the counsel of the local church’s elder team are the ones who cause trouble, leave, or, rarely, are asked to leave. If they are not confronted, it can negatively impact the entire church by bringing down morale or teaching by example that sin is no big deal.
Because the local church is an assembly of people who choose to come under Christ’s authority and recognize his delegated authority in elders, unrepentant rebels have no place there. Our inability to relate properly to the authority of local church leaders is evidence that we have not yet properly surrendered to Christ.
Paul wrote to the church at Thessalonica:
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. 2 Thessalonians 3:6 (NASB)
Concluding Thoughts
I have not covered many important aspects of the proper use of authority, which is a topic I have written about elsewhere. I take it for granted that you understand that the Bible does not endorse a heavy-handed use of authority to domineer others. The proper use of authority is always life-giving.
My final takeaway is this. Let us…
- Renew our commitment to live each day in submission to Christ and his Word, as best we can, in dependence upon God’s grace and the Holy Spirit. No one expects perfection, just an honest effort on a continuing basis.
- Voluntarily submit to the delegated authority God has placed in our lives – at home, work, school, government, and in the church. Learning to listen to and receive needed correction is a big part of life. Those who take heed are wise. (Proverbs 6:23)
- Elders in the local church should take seriously their responsibility to oversee Christ’s people and properly use their God-given servant authority for good, to help others learn to live under Christ’s benevolent rule, all the while realizing that they are “sheep” under a Shepherd, too.
One last thought…. If we do not trust our leaders enough to give them permission to speak correction into our lives when needed, we may have a personal problem or we may need to find another church where we can trust the pastoral team. Whichever is the case, I encourage each of us not to allow such a situation to persist. We should find help for ourselves or a new church.
