Supracultural Principle 92 - Church Discipline

BIBLICAL BASIS

There are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silences, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach-and that for the sake of dishonest gain. -Titus 1:10-11

One of Paul's primary solutions to silence false teachers was to have Titus appoint men who were opposite in terms of what they believed and how they lived. Not only would a leader need to model Christlikeness and non-materialistic motives, but he must also con­front those troublesome individuals. "He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it" (Titus 1:9).

Supracultural Principle 92

CHURCH DISCIPLINE

Leaders who teach false doctrine and manipulate people in order to pursue dishonest gain should be silenced.

Why it is difficult to practice this principle? First, we don't have the same revelatory insight and direct authority as the various apostolic leaders. For example, when Peter confronted Simon the sorcerer in Samaria about his personal-profit motives, he wasted no words in condemning his materialistic goals: "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!" (Acts 8:20). And when Paul encountered Elymas the sorcerer on the island of Cypress, he called him a "child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right" (Acts 13:10). Then with God's supernatural power, he struck this man temporarily blind (Acts 13:11).

But there's a second reason it's difficult to practice church discipline. Many leaders who are guilty of this kind of behavior are outside our realm of responsibility and accountability. Even

some of these individuals who are leading local churches are dif­ficult to control or to hold accountable, primarily because they're operating more like despots than servants of Jesus Christ and his people. They've developed around them a group of yes people who dare not question their authority.

The third reason it's difficult to practice this principle is that our legal system is so complex that even the government finds it difficult to prosecute or silence anyone. Consider, for example, the scandals surrounding televangelists.

So what can we do? Let me suggest five steps we can take to protect the church from ungodly leaders.

1. We must make sure our local churches have a system of checks and balances that make it virtually impossible for a leader to be dishonest. Furthermore, the primary leader in the church should initiate this kind of financial accounta­bility.

2. If church leaders do not and will not make financial records available for inspection and proper audits, Christians should discontinue supporting that church with contribu­tions or attendance. They should seek out a place of wor­ship that practices biblical principles of accountability.

3 Believers should not support any Christian organization in which its leaders are violating the basic principles outlined in Scripture regarding material possessions. If all Christians took these measures, we would take giant steps in silencing leaders who are "ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach-and that for the sake of dishonest gain" (Titus 1:11).

4. Christian leaders who have the authority to do so should not avoid confronting and exposing people who are violat­ing the principles of God's Word. This must be done, however, in a biblical fashion, following the guidelines outlined in Scripture (see Matthew 18:15-17; Galatians 6:1; Titus 3:10-11).

5. Believers should pray that God will protect all Christian leaders from falling into Satan's trap. Furthermore, we should do all we can to support leaders who are committed to practicing the principles outlined in Scripture.

Extracted from Dr Gene Getz’s Rich in Every Way