Church Discipline.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] Turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 5. [0:04] First Corinthians chapter 5. [0:06] I will be frank with you and I want to be transparent with you this morning. [0:10] This is a difficult text. [0:14] This is frankly a difficult subject. [0:17] I don’t think anyone got up this morning and said,

[0:19] Man, I am so excited that we’re going to be talking about church discipline. [0:24] There’s no topic I like talking about more than that. [0:27] Really, I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t wake up this morning saying, [0:31] Oh man, they’re going to be so excited for the sermon on church discipline. [0:35] It’s not something that really makes you feel [0:38] inspired and you want to charge hell with a squirt gun or something.

[0:42] When you talk about these types of matters, [0:44] but here’s why we need to discuss it. [0:47] Number one, it’s in the Bible. [0:50] Everything in the Bible needs to be [0:53] studied, searched, saturated inside of us [0:56] for the purpose of following Jesus with our lives.

[1:00] But number two, there’s this realization that in the Christian life, [1:04] it is really a life of being and becoming. [1:09] We as believers in Jesus, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, [1:13] if you’ve trusted in him as your savior, you are saved. [1:18] You are made whole in Christ, in the eyes of God. [1:22] You are made righteous in the eyes of God.

[1:26] There’s nothing more that ever needs to be done for your relationship with God [1:30] to be made solid. He does it fully by his grace. [1:35] Calls you his child. We are his sons. [1:38] We are his daughters. We are his church. He makes us that. [1:42] And so in that sense, Christianity is about being. [1:45] It is about a state of who I am.

[1:47] It is about an identity that Jesus gives me. [1:49] But also throughout the New Testament, [1:51] we see this idea of becoming. [1:54] That as a follower of Jesus, my identity is made whole, [1:57] but I spend my entire life fleshing the reality of that out. [2:03] Understanding more and more of what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

[2:08] Coming closer and closer to my worship of him. [2:11] Repenting more and more of the sin that I find out that is inside of me [2:16] as I see more and more of his perfection. I see more and more of his righteousness. [2:20] It doesn’t make me feel that I am awesome. [2:23] What it makes me realize is how unworthy I actually am of the grace that he’s given me. [2:27] And in thankfulness and in great joy,

[2:30] I continue to leave behind more and more of the sin that besets me. [2:35] I struggle more and more with how can I give God more of myself than I already am. [2:41] That is what it means in the Christian walk that we are becoming disciples of Jesus. [2:48] That we are growing, we are maturing as disciples of Jesus. [2:55] And that is why church discipline exists. [3:00] Because we are not yet what God has for us in our lives.

[3:09] If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you will continue to grow and mature as a Christian [3:15] until the day that you die. [3:18] The final step of what in Bible study we call sanctification or being set apart, [3:26] growing holier in our lifestyle and our allegiance to Jesus is the day that we die [3:32] and we are in the presence of God Almighty. [3:36] That is the final step because it is where God makes us perfect.

[3:41] It is where we see him as he is. [3:46] It is what Paul means when he says, [3:49] not that I have already attained, but I press forward for the cause of Jesus Christ. [3:56] And so in that there are different levels that we will be at in our Christian lives. [4:02] And I want to talk a little bit about today, a church that was struggling with that reality. [4:10] Paul understands in the New Testament, and he is the one that writes the book of 1 Corinthians,

[4:15] that along the path we are people who grow. [4:18] Just as I am watching, I have a six-month-old daughter, [4:21] and it is amazing how much you forget from your first child to your second child [4:24] of what that maturing process was really like as you transition to kind of solid foods from just milk. [4:33] And you realize that things in the digestive system change dramatically in less than a week’s time. [4:40] And so the child can then chew food.

[4:43] And this morning we saw, I have a huge announcement, my daughter has a tooth, [4:47] and we are just overjoyed and she has accomplished so much. [4:51] We are having a ceremony this afternoon if anyone is interested.

[4:56] But she is maturing and that tooth will, by God’s grace, be joined by others, [5:01] and there will come a time when, I mean, there is no guarantees. [5:05] There could be dental problems that I don’t know about, hiding behind those gums. [5:11] She will continue to mature and she will move on to more solid food. [5:17] And then hopefully one day she will be able to feed herself. [5:21] She will be walking, she will be talking, she will learn to read, she will learn to write,

[5:26] she will learn to be independent. [5:28] You know, my wife constantly looks at me and she says she is growing up too fast [5:32] and I am really unemotional about too much. [5:35] And I look at her and I say, the alternative is disability, so I prefer it this way, honey. [5:40] She needs to grow.

[5:44] But the reality is that in the Christian life an analogy that Paul uses in the New Testament [5:49] is that we, when we come to Christ, are like spiritual babies. [5:55] And so he says in 1 Corinthians 3 verse 2 that he is not sending them solid food,

[6:03] but he is bringing them milk to help them to grow. [6:09] And so what I want you to understand today as we begin is that church discipline is this reality [6:14] in our lives that is not doom and gloom of formal committee meetings [6:19] where you are confronted with things. [6:20] It is the whole of our Christian life. [6:26] It is how we grow.

[6:28] It is entering environments that help us to mature. [6:34] And so what Paul is doing in 1 Corinthians is he is aiding a church in their maturity [6:41] in following Jesus Christ. [6:44] But for some of us the idea of authority in Christianity that someone could tell me how to grow, [6:54] that someone could give me steps in growth, that someone could be a mentor, [7:01] or worse yet a terrible word, someone could be authoritative in my life,

[7:08] that is off limits. [7:10] That is something that we don’t want. [7:11] I will be honest, that is something that doesn’t really make me feel as good inside as the last song that we sang. [7:19] Because when I sing these songs to Jesus I feel it. [7:23] And I think that is why God created music. [7:25] Because it does something to us.

[7:29] But this is a different feeling.

[7:33] This doesn’t give me goose bumps. [7:35] This gives me a principle or a teacher that could possibly give me a demerit. [7:43] And no one enjoyed that. [7:45] But here is the reality. [7:46] Proverbs 12 verse 1 says, [7:49] Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge.

[7:54] But he who hates reproof is stupid.

[8:00] Solomon puts it pretty bluntly throughout the book of Proverbs. [8:04] So the reality is, is that at six months old, [8:08] if my daughter had the cognitive ability to totally rebel, [8:11] totally put my wife and I off, [8:13] to totally shirk us as her authority figures, [8:16] it would not be helpful for her.

[8:20] It would be to her detriment. [8:22] The reason for that is, is that at this point in her life she is unable to do for herself [8:27] what we can help her with, what we can aid her with. [8:30] And one of the most humiliating things about being a follower of Jesus [8:34] is often times admitting that we are sometimes that way spiritually. [8:40] That we are unable often times to self-feed.

[8:44] We are unable sometimes to help ourselves. [8:48] The Bible does not say, God helps those who help themselves. [8:52] Benjamin Franklin said that. [8:55] Not the Lord. [8:56] Because it is not biblical. [8:58] The reality is, is that God in His beautiful grace

[9:02] has set up a great structure and a great system [9:06] for us to grow and develop as followers of Jesus Christ. [9:09] And that is the people of the local church. [9:14] The local church is built up of relationships like we saw last week. [9:18] In which we commit to one another. [9:21] We covenant with one another.

[9:23] As the vision of Scripture tells us. [9:25] To aid each other in growing and using our gifts and abilities [9:30] to grow God’s vision for His church. [9:32] And live His mission in the culture. [9:34] And there are often times, because we are in a process of becoming. [9:39] That we need one another to help us live lives in which

[9:44] we actually in repentance of what is going to come naturally to ourselves. [9:50] Seek discipline. [9:53] Seek understanding. [9:54] Seek growth. [9:56] Seek maturity. [9:58] Because often times the most dim picture of myself

[10:02] is from my vision of me in the mirror. [10:05] The clearest vision of me is sometimes from my brothers and sisters in Christ. [10:09] We have an outside perspective. [10:12] But that brings us fear. [10:14] That scares us sometimes. [10:17] Because what if someone tells us we need to change?

[10:20] Well how dare they? [10:21] But here is the reality. [10:24] What if it is the most helpful conversation you could ever have? [10:27] And what if the change that they are telling you you need to make in your life [10:32] is that which will really mature you in following Jesus. [10:37] And is the most loving thing they could possibly do.

[10:40] I want to take a look this morning at what is really to us [10:44] going to be an extreme example of someone that needed to change. [10:49] What we see happening in the church at Corinth [10:51] is a church that none of us would want to be a member of. [10:55] Throughout this book Paul doesn’t have a great deal of positive to say about them. [10:58] And right here what he is going to unpack for us

[11:00] is kind of a Jerry Springer or Mori Povich-esque scandal [11:05] that is going on in the church. [11:08] Paul didn’t have an envelope to see who the daddy was. [11:11] But what he did have was a biblical understanding [11:15] of the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. [11:16] So look in 1 Corinthians 5 verse 1.

[11:21] It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you. [11:26] And of a kind that is not even tolerated among the pagans. [11:30] For a man has his father’s wife. [11:34] You do the math there. [11:35] Are you arrogant? [11:38] Ought you not rather to mourn?

[11:41] Let him who has done this be removed from among you. [11:44] For though absent in body I am present in spirit. [11:48] And as if present I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. [11:53] When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus [11:56] and my spirit is present with the power of our Lord Jesus [11:59] you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh.

[12:03] So that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. [12:09] Verse 5 is very important. [12:11] Your boasting is not good. [12:13] Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? [12:18] Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump. [12:23] As you really are unleavened.

[12:25] For Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed. [12:29] Let us therefore celebrate the festival. [12:31] Not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil. [12:35] But with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. [12:38] I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people. [12:42] Not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world.

[12:48] Or the greedy and swindlers or idolaters. [12:51] Since then there would be, excuse me, since then you would need to go out of the world. [12:56] But now I am writing you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother [13:02] if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed. [13:05] Or as an idolater, reviler, drunkard or swindler. [13:09] Not even to eat with such a one.

[13:12] For what have I to do with judging outsiders? [13:16] Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? [13:21] Verse 12 is a bit of a game changer for what many of us would say about people judging us.

[13:30] Verse 13. [13:31] God judges those outside. [13:34] Purge the evil person from among you. [13:39] Pray with me. [13:39] Father, you are so infinitely wise.

[13:48] Lord, you have given definition to love through the gospel of your son Jesus.

[13:56] Lord, may we be a people who embrace your definition before we rebel and embrace the one that we have made. [14:07] May today your grace become more alive to us than it was before.

[14:14] May today you aid us through your spirit in growing to be more like your son Jesus Christ. [14:21] May we worship you in spirit and in truth. [14:24] In the name of Jesus I pray. [14:26] Amen.

[14:29] First thing I want us to understand this morning is that what Paul is dealing with in this passage [14:34] is an issue of church discipline. [14:38] Paul is speaking of an individual who is in the church at Corinth [14:43] and who is having a habitual level of sin in his life. [14:49] And it is not that the church isn’t dealing with it. [14:52] At the very beginning he says, you are arrogant ought you not to mourn.

[14:57] And from that we can infer the negative or the opposite of that is actually taking place. [15:03] They are celebrating the reality of this man’s sin with his stepmother. [15:10] They are saying how wonderful the grace of God that this man continues in his sin [15:18] and is still part of God’s loving church. [15:22] So Paul looks at this and he says, no, no. [15:29] Do you not see how God is appalled?

[15:33] And he goes further and he says, even the pagans or those who are outside of the church, [15:38] those who do not believe in Jesus, those who have not chosen, [15:42] even those people would look at this and say, doesn’t seem appropriate.

[15:50] When we look at scandal, even in current culture, [15:53] you don’t have to be a follower of Jesus Christ to understand that some things are clearly wrong. [16:03] Issues of fidelity, issues of morality, [16:06] God has given a common grace to us all called a conscience,

[16:13] in which we see the sting of sin and we even if it is a person that doesn’t believe in Jesus, [16:20] the church would look and say, no, no, that’s not right. [16:24] That’s wrong. It’s a moral compass that God gives us.

[16:29] So in this church, sin is not being dealt with. [16:35] That’s why this is a tough passage. [16:38] Because it’s a very hard thing to deal with. [16:40] Because this becomes very personal. [16:43] And for in this church, this is really personal, especially to the guy doing it.

[16:49] It’s as if he’s sitting among us right here, right now, [16:53] and he is someone that is a covenant member at Village Church. [16:57] And as a pastor, I say, I have no problem with what he’s doing. [17:02] I have no problem with the fact that he is committing fornication, [17:07] and on top of that, adultery with a woman who’s actually married to his own father.

[17:14] And the church doesn’t remain silent, but there seems to be a thread of celebration [17:20] to the point where word is traveling outside of the walls of the church. [17:25] Because in this passage, he actually says, it is said of you. [17:29] This is not something that has been reported by the church to Paul, [17:32] but something that’s been reported by people outside of the church to the apostle. [17:37] So this is something that is being spread throughout the region at the time

[17:41] that this is a church that will let you come and accept you as you are. [17:47] Expect no change. Expect no fidelity to the name of Jesus. [17:51] Expect no morality of you.

[17:57] And I say, look at how beautiful the grace of God is.

[18:03] Friends, the message that Paul is really conveying here [18:08] is that church discipline is something that needs to happen [18:12] on a corporate level where this man is concerned. [18:16] He says very hard things like, put him out from among you. [18:22] In other words, Paul is saying you need to draw boundaries around what it means [18:28] to be a follower of Jesus.

[18:31] Because throughout this passage, one thread exists. [18:33] Paul refers to this man as evil. [18:35] He refers to this man as someone that should not be one of you, [18:38] but he is a man who is claiming to be a follower of Jesus Christ. [18:42] And so church discipline exists first this morning [18:45] to clarify what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.

[18:51] You say, so sin can actually reveal in a person that they are not a follower of Jesus Christ. [18:57] How can that be so? [18:59] Romans chapter 6 helps me and clarifies this for me. [19:02] Paul is dealing with a mindset inside of the Church of Rome [19:06] where the more we sin, the more we show God’s grace. [19:10] It’s like a logical thing here.

[19:11] If grace is greater than sin, then if I sin more, I make more of grace. [19:18] Therefore, let’s all be immoral. [19:21] Because that’s clearly going to make Jesus look better. [19:24] Because that’s what’s happening in the church at Corinth. [19:26] And because it was written at the church at Rome, [19:29] I assume there was a similar story going on at Rome.

[19:31] And in Romans chapter 6 he says, what then? [19:34] Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? [19:38] By no means. [19:40] The actual Greek term there is meganoito, which means God forbid that ever be a reality. [19:46] Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, [19:52] you are slaves to the one whom you obey?

[19:54] Either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness.

[20:04] Discipline and disciple have the same root word. [20:11] So what Paul is doing here in Romans chapter 6 is he is laying out what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. [20:17] In other words, if you spend your life in pursuit of sin, [20:21] no matter what that sin is, it’s something that you just run headlong after. [20:25] It’s something that’s habitual, something that’s continuous in your life, [20:28] something you feel zero conviction of,

[20:30] something that the Holy Spirit is not testifying to you that you should not do this. [20:34] But it’s been clearly marked out in the scriptures that this is not something that is holy according to God. [20:41] What he’s saying is there is a boundary there in that you have made yourself a slave to sin. [20:47] Whatever it is that has your allegiance in your life, [20:49] whatever it is that has your fidelity, that is the thing that is your master. [20:55] And Paul says, some of you have sin as your master,

[20:59] because it’s what you chase after, it’s what you love, [21:02] it’s what makes you satisfied, it’s what fills you up. [21:06] And in that sense, you have not been given the new life in Jesus Christ. [21:10] For if you’ve been made a slave of Jesus Christ, then he is your master.

[21:16] So the church then has the responsibility to lay down the boundaries of discipleship. [21:24] This is the easiest way to understand church discipline. [21:27] The church needed to confront this man in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 with his sin, [21:32] and call him to repentance, but they did not. [21:36] God calls the church to account for who is a follower of Jesus Christ. [21:42] That’s what church membership has at its core.

[21:47] An accounting of who is a follower of Jesus Christ. [21:50] A few weeks ago when we talked in the book of Matthew [21:53] about the reality that the church has been given the keys to the kingdom of God, [21:56] the church is to view us, the church is to account for us, [22:01] the church is to watch our actions, one another’s actions to say and proclaim, [22:06] this person has exhibited fruits as a follower of Jesus Christ.

[22:10] And what Paul is saying here in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 is that [22:13] you have put a stamp of approval on a guy whose master is sin.

[22:20] You cannot do that. It redefines everything. [22:25] So the core then that Paul is pointing them to is [22:29] that the reputation of Jesus is at stake here in this issue. [22:34] That what we as followers of Jesus approve of, [22:38] we are saying Jesus approves of. [22:41] What we as followers of Jesus do with our actions as well as our words

[22:46] are larger than ourselves. [22:50] We are making pronouncements through our lifestyles that yes, [22:54] this is what Jesus would love. [22:58] He’s saying this to the shame of the church at Corinth. [23:01] You are saying Jesus would approve of this? [23:05] So what does he tell them to do?

[23:06] He tells them to put him out from among them to drive him out of the church.

[23:15] Wow. It doesn’t seem very loving. [23:18] It doesn’t feel very good. [23:21] How can we say we are a loving church if we were to treat someone like this [23:26] and judge them with that level of authority? [23:30] Is it really what Jesus would do? [23:32] How could that be loving?

[23:35] Without the relationships of the people in the church, [23:38] here’s my ultimate question. [23:39] How is this guy going to repent? [23:43] Because isn’t it with the furthered relationships that repentance would come? [23:49] Let’s think about that. [23:51] Church discipline clarifies then what love is.

[23:56] 1 John 3, 16 reminds us that love is defined by the gospel of Jesus. [24:00] But there seems to be more than one definition of love floating around. [24:07] Much of the current culture would even define the gospel as the reality [24:12] that we have sinned against the holy God and Jesus came to die for us [24:16] so that we could be forgiven and that he is unconditionally accepting of us after that. [24:22] If you just believe, unconditional love means that there is never any expectation

[24:28] of change or obedience. [24:30] He takes you as you are and you stay that way. [24:35] That’s what real love is. [24:38] No judgment.

[24:41] No authority. [24:43] No expectation.

[24:47] The problem with that is that the actual gospel goes further. [24:54] What we actually have in the gospel is that Jesus came and died for our sin [24:58] to forgive us completely with unconditional acceptance through our belief. [25:04] That same faith in belief that saves us though brings about a life of continual repentance from sin [25:13] through faith and the belief that obeying God is better than sin. [25:20] A loving God, now catch this, a loving God will not leave us in the same sin that separated us from him.

[25:32] But through his grace he empowers us by changing us and giving us a desire to follow him. [25:43] When we flesh out the reality of the gospel, it’s this realization and this old adage [25:49] that Jesus loves us so much that he accepts us where we are, but he loves us too much to leave us that way.

[26:02] That he gives us through his strength and the Holy Spirit that he gives us the ability to grow. [26:10] The hope of change. [26:14] The reality that there is better life available through obeying God’s word. [26:22] Much of our problem with church discipline is that we have a faulty definition of what unconditional love actually is in our lives. [26:31] There is probably a thread within the church at that time that they are making much of grace because of how accepting they are. [26:41] That’s the reality that verse 6 gives us when it says, your boasting is not good.

[26:50] So Paul gives us there this presupposition that they are bragging about this sin.

[26:59] In the clarity of love, oftentimes it’s very hard for us to understand this level of love. [27:08] But I think the example that he gives us of unleavened bread here helps us understand. [27:13] Every week at communion we use unleavened crackers or matzah crackers for communion. [27:20] What that is, is that this is basically a flat bread that is made without any type of leavening agent. [27:26] I don’t know if you’ve ever made bread. I’ve watched it done on TV. [27:30] I would never do it willingly as long as they sell it in stores.

[27:35] But I did a little research this week and my wife actually does this too. [27:42] I’m so thankful for her because I’d starve. [27:45] And you’re like, you don’t look like you would. I would! [27:49] That’s enough.

[27:53] But yeast is this very small little matter that you put inside of the dough. [27:59] And you actually, when you put yeast into dough and when you put any other type of leavening agent in, [28:06] it actually changes, my understanding is, the chemical compound of what’s happening. [28:11] And all of a sudden it goes from flat to a balloon. [28:14] And it pumps right up and it becomes really delicious actually. [28:18] But that’s not helpful in this analogy at all.

[28:23] Maybe with gluttony it would be a helpful analogy. [28:26] But the reality is, is what Paul’s point is, and when he says a little leaven leavens the entire lump, [28:32] is that what they think that they’re doing is this very small matter of accepting this one guy with this one issue. [28:38] And there’s going to be this temptation throughout our lives to not want to deal with sin. [28:43] Even our own sin. [28:44] Because we’re like, that’s just a little thing that I do every once in a while.

[28:48] This is a small piece of disobedience. [28:51] Look at all the good that I do. [28:52] But I just have this little area over in the corner, over in the shadows that I don’t want to deal with. [28:57] And I know that my best friend, I know that my wife, I know that my husband, I know that the ushers, [29:02] I know that my community group leader, I know that this person in my community group is dealing with this thing. [29:06] But it’s such a small matter that I don’t want to deal with, I don’t want to confront it.

[29:10] What Paul’s saying is that one little piece of leaven changes everything.

[29:19] And so what Paul is saying about the Church of Corinth here, he’s saying you don’t understand. [29:23] You are redefining the entire Gospel.

[29:29] You’re changing everything. [29:31] You’re changing the meaning of the cross. [29:33] You’re changing the meaning of the resurrection. [29:35] You’re changing the meaning of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. [29:38] And you must end your filthy boasting of this, because this is to your shame. [29:47] That you would redefine what God has said.

[29:51] And sometimes when we struggle to see the love of confrontation, the love of certain pieces of discipline, [29:59] what we’re actually saying is, God, my definition of love is better than yours. [30:05] I’ve got this figured out. I’ve got this. [30:09] So what we have then quickly is three ways that dealing with discipline in this situation and beyond is actually loving. [30:20] The first one is that church discipline is formative in following Jesus. [30:25] There’s two types of discipline.

[30:27] The first one I want to talk about is formative discipline. [30:30] Formative discipline is everything that happens in our relationship with Jesus. [30:35] All of the Christian life is formed through disciplines. [30:39] We saturate our mind with the truth of the Gospel to believe when we pray, study the Scripture, obey its commands, [30:46] when we spread the Gospel, all of those types of things. [30:49] Those are actually disciplines that form who we are as followers of Jesus Christ.

[30:55] Hebrews chapter 6 verse 12 says, for the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son whom he receives. [31:06] Have you ever wondered what that means?

[31:09] Here’s a piece of what I think this means. [31:13] This is sometimes the discernment to flee temptation or to obey or make a sacrifice for the Gospel [31:21] when even our natural desires don’t want to. [31:26] It is also the conviction of sin brought on by the Holy Spirit when repentance is needed. [31:31] The benchmark of being a follower of Jesus is the discipline that God gives us. [31:39] Without it there is no evidence that you have actually been changed by God to be one of his followers.

[31:46] So what he’s saying in Hebrews chapter 12 there is if there is no conviction of sin in your life,

[31:52] if there is no urge to flee from temptation when you know it’s a sin,

[32:00] if there is no urge to be obedient to anything that God commands,

[32:06] if there is no feeling of I want to sacrifice to make the name of Jesus greater, [32:12] if there is no spark of desire to follow Jesus in your life, [32:16] well Paul is saying there that the discipline of God is not on you and you may not be a follower of Jesus. [32:26] Because the Lord disciplines the one whom he loves.

[32:32] And the only mark of love of God in your life right now in this very moment [32:38] is that he is bringing about the conviction that you need to become a follower of Jesus today.

[32:47] The church also creates environments and relationships of discipline. [32:54] Every environment that we even have here at Village Church is formative discipline in your growth. [32:58] Everything we do is discipline. The Sunday morning worship experience. [33:01] This is a discipline for your joy, for your good, for your growth as a follower of Jesus Christ. [33:09] When you go together in village groups, when you come together with one another to study the word, [33:14] understand that it’s for your good, that it’s for your growth.

[33:17] Even in those awkward moments when you would rather be watching ESPN, [33:21] but you’re in that group and someone’s sharing a prayer request, that’s for your good. [33:26] It’s for your joy. It’s to grow you. It’s to mature you. [33:30] It’s to help you love people. And above all, it’s to help you love the Lord. [33:34] When you serve, when you come early, when you stay late, when you change diapers, [33:39] when you greet people, when you take them to their seat, that is for joy.

[33:44] That is a formative discipline in your life.

[33:49] Down to when you get together with your friends from church to have coffee, [33:55] to have accountability, to study the word together. [33:58] That’s formative discipline. Friends, formative discipline needs to take place in your life for you to grow. [34:05] If there is no formative discipline in your life, corrective discipline will not make any sense to you.

[34:14] Hebrews chapter 10, verse 25 says, [34:17] Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works. [34:24] Ephesians 4.29 says, Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, [34:28] but only such as is good for building up as fits the occasion that it may give grace to those who hear. [34:36] Part of this growing in relationship with one another is to help each other with sin.

[34:43] And I think that’s when our relationships inside of the church and formative discipline take a dirty turn. [34:48] When someone would have the audacity to actually confront us with sin. [34:51] Even if it’s someone we’ve been close to for years. [34:55] That they would have the audacity, man I’ve noticed this about you. [34:59] Maybe that’s something we should deal with. [35:02] Who do you think you are? You’re not perfect.

[35:05] I love how that’s our first go to. [35:07] It’s like, well yeah, that’s kind of the point.

[35:13] That’s formative discipline, friends. That’s why God gives us one another. [35:17] He didn’t give us one another just so we could get coffee and talk about the game.

[35:23] He didn’t give us discipline just so we could meet at Capitol Hill House to talk about the latest fashion. [35:29] He didn’t give us discipline just so we could get together with people and talk about our commonalities.

[35:36] And our dogs at the dog park. [35:39] He gave us discipline so that we could have an agenda in our relationships that’s bigger than ourselves. [35:43] And that agenda is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[35:50] No one loved this man in 1 Corinthians 5 enough to tell him he needed to repent.

[35:58] Church discipline works best when we know how to give and receive correction. [36:04] We need to love each other enough to develop relationships that serve to help us grow. [36:09] And I understand that that takes time to develop those types of relationships. [36:12] But if you never have the intentionality to start building those types of relationships, you’ll never have those types of relationships. [36:18] I’m not saying tomorrow if you go to coffee with me I’m going to give you five sins to stop.

[36:24] But it may eventually get there. I don’t know. [36:28] But we need to leave our lives open to that type of discipline in our lives. [36:31] Church discipline is corrective in following Jesus. [36:34] Look in verses 9-13. [36:36] I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people. [36:41] Not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world or the greedy and swindlers or idolaters.

[36:45] Since then you would need to go out of this world. [36:47] But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he’s guilty of sexual immorality or greed. [36:53] Or as an idolater, reviler, drunkard or swindler not even to eat with such a one. [36:57] For what have I to do with judging outsiders? [37:00] Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? [37:04] That rubs me the wrong way.

[37:09] Because what he is saying here is that the beneficial aspect of being a follower of Jesus Christ is that there are relationships inside of the church where people will love us enough to help us stop rebelling against God.

[37:27] And that sometimes that will get specific. [37:29] Sometimes it will feel like someone is heaping burning coals on top of my head. [37:34] Sometimes it will feel like I am being judged. [37:37] But I always must weigh that type of judgment with number one the reality that Jesus has taken all judgment. [37:43] And it is not condemning if I am actually a follower of Jesus. [37:47] And that number two maybe someone has my best interest at heart that they want me to become a more proficient and mature follower of Jesus Christ in my life for my joy.

[38:02] In this instance though Jesus instructs, excuse me, look at Matthew chapter 18 verses 15 through 17. [38:08] I got ahead of myself. [38:09] If your brother sins against you go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. [38:13] If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. [38:16] But if he does not listen take one or two others along with you. [38:19] That every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.

[38:23] If he refuses to listen to them tell it to the church. [38:25] And if he refuses to listen even to the church let him be to you as a gentile and tax collector. [38:31] Paul reiterates some of what Jesus says here. [38:33] When you treat someone as a gentile or a tax collector. [38:36] What you are doing is you are treating them as one that does not believe the gospel. [38:40] You are treating them as one who is not a child of God and needs to become a child of God.

[38:45] Jesus instructs for corrective discipline to begin with the relationship. [38:50] The goal is for the sin to affect as few people as possible. [38:54] So what Jesus is doing here is laying guard rails. [38:58] He is laying boundaries. [38:59] He is saying here is what it means to help one another. [39:03] You do not get 12 people together to bum rush someone.

[39:09] He is assuming, here is the thing. [39:11] He is assuming that there are close knit relationships inside of the church. [39:19] Jesus is crazy. [39:20] Does that actually happen? [39:21] By God’s grace I hope it does.

[39:25] But you must have formative discipline in your life for that to happen.

[39:31] What he is saying is go to that person because you love them. [39:36] When they will not repent maybe you need to get an elder. [39:40] Maybe you need to get your village group leader. [39:42] Maybe you need to get another friend. [39:44] It is not abundantly clear there. [39:46] But then in love go.

[39:48] Just talk to them about it.

[39:51] And when they will not repent, when they will not obey.

[40:00] After a period of time you have to really wonder are they a follower of Jesus at all.

[40:06] In Matthew chapter 18 he gives us three steps. [40:09] In 1 Corinthians 5 he gives them one. [40:11] What is the difference? [40:13] What is the difference? [40:15] First of all in 1 Corinthians 5 the unrepentance in his life has shown that he does not believe the gospel. [40:22] And that this sin has grown to such a level of them glorying in it that everyone in the church already know about it.

[40:30] I think maybe sometimes we have this fear of some type of church meeting where people are ushered up on stage in their dirty laundry fleshed out. [40:41] I am not saying there is never a time and place for that but what I am saying is that is not the New Testament in the worm.

[40:49] Jesus’ vision of church discipline is just friends helping one another privately.

[40:57] Jesus’ vision of church discipline is people that are close enough to trust one another’s judgment.

[41:04] The people are close enough to one another that when I say something to James about his life our worship leader. [41:10] I pick him because he is a really good friend of mine. [41:13] He knows I love him. [41:15] When he says something to me even though I am way more rebellious than he is. [41:20] I know James loves me. [41:24] He does not have my shame in his vision but my joy.

[41:32] But ultimately in issues such as 1 Corinthians chapter 5 it has become such a widespread thing that as a church it must be discussed.

[41:42] Titus chapter 3 verse 10 actually gives us another vision when church discipline becomes disunity. [41:48] When there is a snake in the church or a wolf trying to hurt God’s people. [41:54] Trying to spread false teaching. [41:56] Trying to gossip about one another. [41:58] He tells us just warn them and then put them out from among you.

[42:03] What he is doing is he is giving us ways in which to measure the fruit of people’s lives. [42:07] He is saying that inside of the church you will be judging.

[42:18] He says put them out from among you.

[42:21] Finally church discipline always has restoration as the goal.

[42:27] You say man they seem really mean to that guy. [42:30] 1 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 5 clears that up for me. [42:34] You have to rewind to verse 5. [42:36] You are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh. [42:40] You are like good night.

[42:45] It does not get much harsher than that. [42:48] Go to hell.

[42:53] Thankfully there is a comma.

[42:58] I do not know if it was there. It was not there in the Greek but it is in English.

[43:03] So that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. [43:08] Does not seem like a contradictory statement. [43:12] Here is what he is saying.

[43:15] He is saying what you are doing by not dealing with this person’s sin and not dealing with the reality that they have no conviction in their lives. [43:22] That the Holy Spirit is not even informing them. [43:25] A formative conviction for discipline in their life. [43:29] What you are dealing with is someone that does not know Jesus. [43:32] It would be really unloving of you to allow someone to believe a lie. [43:39] If that lie will sign their condemnation to hell for eternity.

[43:45] That is not in any way loving. [43:49] What he is saying is if you confront him and say. [43:53] Dude you are not following Jesus. This is sin and he will not repent. [44:00] You have to say then you are not a follower of Jesus. [44:02] You can no longer be a member of the church. [44:06] Please we cannot have you redefining the gospel.

[44:12] Because then he moves from someone that is struggling in sin to a false teacher. [44:18] What Paul is saying is the only hope of his repentance is if you discipline him. [44:25] The only hope is if you confront him so harshly with the truth. [44:29] That the Holy Spirit will deal with him as he is realizing that an entire church is saying no.

[44:40] That is the only loving thing you can do. [44:42] But your hope by doing it is not vengeance.

[44:47] He is saying your hope and your prayer is that through this God will redeem him.

[44:56] But he is saying this is what we have to realize about discipline in the church. [45:02] Trust God.

[45:05] You obey and as you obey, obey and trust God with it. [45:13] Because he is wiser than we are. [45:17] Galatians chapter 6 verse 1. Brothers if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. [45:25] Keep watch on yourselves lest you be tempted. [45:28] Gospel discipline requires love and proper motive. [45:32] Am I saying church discipline could never go wrong?

[45:35] No it could go very wrong. I have seen it go very wrong.

[45:41] But the reality is that God has given us his word to help us from going there. [45:45] What he is saying is you need to have a vision and such a love for a person that you are aiding them in their repentance. [45:53] You are hopeful in their repentance. [45:55] But you need to be careful to keep yourself from sin as well. [45:58] What he is saying there is two things. [45:59] First, don’t think you can’t be tempted with exactly the same thing.

[46:06] Never put yourself in a position of someone that can’t sin. [46:11] Then he is saying number two, check your motive. [46:15] Why do you want to discipline this person?

[46:20] Is it because you think you are the morality police?

[46:25] Is it because you are nosy? [46:28] Is it because you want to be up in everybody’s business?

[46:32] Or is it because you actually love them?

[46:36] Because I will be frank with you, if you take church discipline the wrong way, you could be the one that gets disciplined next.

[46:43] Hey, remember that thing you were doing there? [46:45] Yeah, no.

[46:50] The goal is always the treasuring of the gospel. [46:54] Jesus and Paul do not give us a vision of condemnation.

[47:01] They give us a vision of hopeful repentance. [47:05] He is not saying that when somebody comes into church discipline, they are put out of the church. [47:09] He is not saying that when you pass by them in Wal-Mart, you quickly leave the chef boy or the aisle.

[47:16] He is not saying that when you see them in a restaurant, you quickly go to the other one. [47:21] What he is saying is keep the gospel the gospel. [47:24] He is saying treat them as a gentile or a tax collector. [47:27] When he says in 1 Corinthians chapter 5, don’t even share a meal with them. [47:30] What he is saying is don’t do anything that could give this person the idea that their life is right in Christ. [47:37] What he is saying is that through the rest of your life, you pursue them with the gospel because they need it.

[47:47] When you run into them, love them with the gospel. [47:50] Confront them with error.

[47:54] But that is what love is.

[47:59] Hope is always grace. [48:02] By God’s grace, those who need corrective discipline will repent. [48:07] But we must be willing to trust God enough to obey him. [48:12] Jesus is the only hope. [48:14] And God knows the best way to get a person there. [48:18] But we must trust him for it.

[48:21] We must do what it takes to get people to the redemptive blood of Jesus. [48:25] The only way to do that though is for us to see why we need his forgiveness so much. [48:32] I believe the only people truly capable of enacting proper church discipline are people who know how big of sinners they are. [48:42] People who know how much the forgiveness that Jesus gives us cost God. [48:48] Are people who know that but for the grace of God, we would be in the absolute same boat.

[48:58] Church discipline is something that should cause mourning. [49:00] It’s a heavy subject.

[49:04] But the reality is, guys,

[49:09] when he says in Galatians chapter 6 to restore them with love, gentleness,

[49:19] what he’s saying is we’re not taskmasters beating people over the head with the Bible.

[49:25] What he’s saying is that we have a really crummy definition of what it means to be friends with people.

[49:32] This is more about being skin deep.

[49:36] This is about real life. [49:39] This is about commitment to God’s church. [49:42] This is about commitment to the gospel of Jesus.

[49:47] Ultimately, this is about trusting God more than I trust myself. [49:51] As the band comes up, I want to remind us

[49:59] that when we enter into covenant relationships with one another, which inside the gospel there’s no other kind, [50:08] we have to understand what’s at stake. [50:11] That is that the gospel redefines my entire reality. [50:17] The gospel leaves nothing untouched.

[50:22] And when he says, who am I to judge people outside of the church? [50:25] I’m going to judge people inside of the church. [50:27] What he’s saying there is that people outside of the church do not have the gospel. [50:32] And the reason that we are seeking clarity inside of the church is so that they can be reached with the real gospel.

[50:40] That’s what he’s saying. [50:42] That’s why we urge you to serve. [50:44] That’s why we urge you into groups. [50:47] That’s why we urge you to fidelity and faithfulness to one local church [50:51] so that you can have real relationships that will lead redemption to be furthered in your life and help you with maturity. [51:01] Colossians chapter 1, 28, Paul says that I warn everyone so that I can urge them to be mature in Christ.

[51:14] The Holy Spirit wants that.

[51:19] The Holy Spirit is urging you towards it today.

[51:24] The marker that he gives us as a church is the body and blood of Jesus. [51:29] This metaphor, this symbol of proclaiming the gospel to one another. [51:35] And when we do this today, when you eat the bread, when you drink the cup, [51:39] if you’re a follower of Jesus, the six tables around the room are open. [51:42] But the reality is that when you do it, what you’re proclaiming to one another [51:49] is that I don’t accept that sin is a constant reality.

[51:54] While I may be struggling with sin, there is a struggle.

[52:00] The church at Corinth, they just ceased to struggle.

[52:10] Jesus has forgiven you fully.

[52:14] When you come to the table, you come to proclaim to everyone that you treasure Jesus above all. [52:23] If you’re in here and you’re struggling, you’re saying, I don’t have that conviction.

[52:28] I don’t desire it, but I think I need it. [52:32] Today can be the defining day for your life that you become a follower of Jesus Christ. [52:37] He died for your sins 2,000 years ago and only makes one proclamation to you. [52:44] He says, trust me.

[52:48] I’d love to pray with you. I’d love to clear any questions you might have up. [52:53] I’ll be right over here during the time of communion.

[52:57] But if you’re a follower of Jesus, these tables are open.

[53:01] Come proclaim the gospel.