Although many present the “gospel” primarily as an offer of forgiveness, with little or no emphasis on the necessity of repenting from going our own way in willful rebellion against God, the true gospel is mainly about reestablishing the authority of God’s Son, the Messianic King of Israel and the Lord of Lords.

“Coming to Jesus” (Matthew 11:28-30) means turning from living independent, self-reliant lives and coming under Jesus’ rule (yoke) and surrendering every aspect of life to the Holy Spirit. When we do this, we find rest. Living as a rebel is a hard life with no future.

Churches today are filled with people who have never truly 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 practically recognize him as their Lord. They live the way they want to live, regardless of what the Bible says.

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 about authority. Either we want 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.

Forgiveness is a happy by-product for those who confess that he is Lord, mean it, and live accordingly. (Romans 10:9-10) it is not something that stands alone, independent from acknowledging Jesus’ lordship.

Church Discipline

Our churches are a proving ground for the genuineness of our willingness to live in subjection to Christ’s authority.

Anyone can say they 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, over time, we all need to be corrected from time to time when we err and sin – some of us more than others.

In every organization, there have to be 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, to see what they can get away with.

We tend to press the boundaries, and, unless we are corrected, we 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 a major way, and  refuse to repent, something must be done. This 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 Cor. 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 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 is 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; so, the fault lies on both sides.

My point is this: 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 in a local church. Our inability to come under, in the right way, the authority of local church leaders, is proof 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 I am not endorsing a heavy handed use of authority to browbeat or domineer others. That is wrong. Nevertheless, unless Christ’s true servant authority is properly upheld in the church and in our lives as individuals, we are in danger of being very deceived by sin and put at risk of incurring God’s discipline in our lives.

My counsel is this. Let us…

1. Renew our commitment to live each day in submission to Christ, 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.
2. Take seriously the application of God’s truth found in the Bible, particularly in the New Testament, to our everyday lives.
3. 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)
4. 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.