Have Nothing To Do With Them

This morning, I was reading the book of Titus. For those of you not familiar with the Bible, that's where the book of Titus is found. Titus is a short book (three chapters), but it's got a lot of really good stuff in it.

Well, today, as I was reading, I was challenged to re-think how I view church discipline. For years, I've talked about how I think church discipline is something we need to recapture. We've gotten away from taking a stand and calling each other out. The other day, a friend and I were talking about how the modern church has done a really good job at building fellowship and community among the believers. But, we've done a pretty lousy job with discipline. We've done a pretty lousy job with accountability. It seems like people don't get called out on their actions unless they've done something horribly wrong that is going to be noticed in public. For example, in the United Methodist Church in Indiana, a pastor is currently on trial for sexual harassment. Now, I definitely think he should be in his current situation. But, what about the pastors that are gluttons, adulterers, and so on? What do we do we these men and women? I know a UM pastor that had recently gone through a divorce. Rather than having the pastor take a sabbatical to get counseling and in the right place spiritually, the pastor was appointed to a larger church in another town. He was given a fresh start. Now, does that seem right? I don't know all of the details...but, it just seems a bit odd. And what about all these pastors we see that are obvious gluttons? The Book of Discipline spells out that ordained ministers in the UMC should be committed to living a healthy lifestyle...keeping themselves in shape. Hmmm...Well, it's obviously hard to listen to a pastor give a sermon on self-control when they are stuffing Twinkies down their throat every three minutes. Anyway, that's not really what I wanted to rant about.

I really wanted to address church discipline on the local church level...within the congregation. I think Emily has helped me start to think about how we approach people. She gets strong convictions about the need to call people out. Usually, I encourage to just stay quiet because of my position in the church and not wanting to cause problems. Sometimes I tell her to share her feelings with the senior pastor or staff parish chairperson so they can address the issue. But, I think I should just encourage her to confront people...in love, of course. Why this sudden shift? Well, as I was reading Titus 3 today, I came across some verses that reminded me of why we need to hold one another accountable and why we need to sometimes excuse people from the fellowship.

"Warn divisive people once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them. You may be sure that such people are warped and sinful; they are self-condemned." Titus 3:10-11

Divisive people can be like a cancer to the body of believers. Divisive people drive a wedge in the midst of the ministry that can cause people to stumble or even fall away from the faith. These verses give us a great guideline...Give the person two chances and then they are out. There are other New Testament passages that talk about confronting person once individually. Then, if nothing happens, take two or three people. It still nothing changes, the issue should be brought before the church. And, if that doesn't lead to change, the person is expelled from the community. This seems like it would help deal with the issues a lot better than confronting people over and over and over with no consequences. The truth is, sometimes people need to be asked to leave and find another community of faith that might be a better fit for them. It can be beneficial for the church and the individual.

I know this seems harsh. But, if a church is to be faithful and to continue moving forward, it needs to deal with the issues. I believe divisive people can stunt the growth of the church. In fact, I believe that it is nearly impossible for a church to grow, spiritually and numerically, as long as divisive people are allowed to continue on without any kind of repercussions for their divisiveness.

Okay, I know I'm just really ranting here. But, I think that's a good time. Sometimes we read a passage of Scripture that brings to light some situations and gives us a fresh view. And, sometimes with that fresh view we find freedom...Freedom to actually carry out the Scripture and live the life that has been set before us.