Always Lead with Teaching?
Jonathan, I appreciate your recent post on the need to lead with teaching before implementing corrective discipline in a local church. Generally speaking, I think that's good counsel.
But I wonder if it might not be a little too "text book." Here's what I mean. Suppose a pastor lands in a church where obvious unrepentant sin is taking place. And let's assume it's of the 1 Cor. 5 variety, known public and egregious sin like a man sleeping with his father's wife, something not even pagans would do. Your perhaps new to the church and/or the church has not historically practiced discipline. In such a situation, brothers, how would this general rule apply? In other words, what would teaching look like and should/should not/how should a pastor and congregation respond to the situation?
How does one strike a balance between caring for the congregation as a whole by teaching and improving their understanding, responding to the particular spiritual concern of the unrepentant sinner, and the cause of Christ in the eyes of both non-believers who scoff and believers who mourn over such sin?
I was new to a church, a recently called pastor, and a woman married just a month or so before my arrival began pursuing an extra-marital affair. While we, the elders and I began the process of Matt. 18 confrontation, she continued in her sin. I was forced to interrupt a series on John's gospel and preach three sermons; one on repetance, one on forgiveness; and the final on the process of restoration (from Matthew 18). The "application" of the final sermon was explaining to the congregation what had been taking place, our motive for confronting her sin, and the necessity of their joining us in our efforts to save her marriage and restore her to her husband.
Given the gravity and publicity of her sin it was necessary to move quickly, humanly speaking, as this had been a churched injured by splits, errant theology, and other issues.
In a manner of speaking, we did teach for change in the three sermon series leading up to public discipline. However, it was necessitated by a grievous public sin.
Posted by: Keith Crosby | Aug 29, 2007 11:00:47 AM