MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS TO CHURCH MEMBERS 1. GIVE THE PASTORS THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT AND DO EVERYTHING YOU CAN TO BE A SUBMISSIVE, OBEDIENT CHURCH MEMBER. The Bible uses very strong language about the church’s submission to pastoral authority. “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves...” (Heb. 13:17). Those are strong words. Unless the pastors are leading contrary to the Bible in a very clear and obvious manner, the church member must submit to them as unto God. It is like a wife unto a husband. “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord” (Eph. 5:22). Every wife knows that if she submits to her husband she is submitting to a very imperfect man, but she is not merely submitting to her husband, she is submitting to the Lord who gave her that husband. Her eyes are ultimately on Christ. Likewise, the church member does not submit merely to a man; he submits to the Lord who has established the office of the pastorate and who has put that man into the office. Too many church members think it is their duty to advise and correct the pastor in all matters if they think he is not doing his job properly, even in matters that do not pertain to scriptural error. But is wise and scriptural to let pastors be pastors. If I am not a pastor, why would God lead me in regard to how the church is operated instead of leading the pastor? 2. BE SURE THAT YOU ARE FIGHTING FOR SCRIPTURAL TRUTHS AND NOT FOR YOUR OWN PREFERENCES. If I think that something is wrong in the church, I must ask myself, “Does the Bible plainly say that this is wrong or is this merely something that I personally do not like or agree with?” Many church problems arise because of personality conflicts and self-will and the attempt to exalt personal preference and tradition to the place of Scripture. Romans 14 speaks to this issue. Here Paul is addressing those things about which the Bible does not speak in this dispensation. The two examples that he gives are dietary rules and holy days. These are things about which the New Testament faith is silent. Unlike during the Mosaic dispensation, there are no laws in the New Testament about what we are to eat (1 Tim. 4:4-5). Likewise, there are no laws in the New Testament about keeping the sabbath and about maintaining certain holy festivals and special days after the Old Testament fashion. Since the New Testament does not contain laws on these things, they are areas of Christian liberty. In such things, each believer is free to do as he pleases before the Lord, but he cannot push his preferences on others and judge others according to these things. The church member who has a problem with something in the church and disagrees with something the leaders are doing needs to ask himself if his thinking on the issue is based on clear Scripture or if it is based merely on his personal preference and human thinking. 3. GUARD YOUR HEART AND YOUR ATTITUDE. We are to speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:15). We need to have a cool head and a warm heart, not a cool heart and a warm head! When we attempt to correct others we must guard our own hearts and do so in the spirit of meekness (Gal. 6:1). 2 Timothy 2:24-25 describes the spirit in which we are to seek to correct others: “And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves.” The late evangelist Mel Rutter would say, “Be as firm as the rock in your position but as sweet as the honey from the rock in your disposition.” The difference between leaving a church over legitimate doctrinal concerns and leaving in rebellion toward pastoral authority will be evidenced in two ways, according to James 3:14-18. First, the difference will be evident in one’s attitude. Contrast the “bitter envying and strife” of verse 14 with the godly attitude described in verse 17: “peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.” Second, the difference will be evident in the fruit that issues from the situation. Contrast the fruit of verse 16 -- “envying and strife ... confusion and every evil work” -- with the fruit described in verse 18, which is “the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.” The long term consequences will demonstrate the secrets of the heart. On the one hand, those who are seeking to strengthen the church and are opposed to things that are truly ungodly and unscriptural and who leave a church on that basis alone and not because of their own self-will or carnality, will go on to serve Christ fruitfully in stronger churches. On the other hand, those who are merely striving for their own self-will and who are causing trouble in a carnal manner usually hop from church to church, causing trouble everywhere they go, losing their testimony and usually their children, often going from a strong church to a weaker church. The fact that they move to a church that is weaker doctrinally and spiritually demonstrates that the issue was not actually about truth and righteousness, but was a personality conflict or something of that sort. 4. GUARD AGAINST ALLOWING A CHURCH PROBLEM TO POISON YOUR ATTITUDE TOWARD THE CHURCH AS A DIVINE INSTITUTION. This is similar to the previous point, but it deserves a separate paragraph. It is not uncommon that for someone who discovers a serious and legitimate church problem, especially a sin or error on the part of the pastors, to become embittered against the church as a divine institution. Eventually he or she sees nothing but problems and errors in churches. Everything is wrong. We must be careful not to allow the devil to do this in our lives, and we resist this by counting the good things as well as the bad and by not forgetting that Christ is the one who established the church and made it the pillar and ground of the truth for this age (Matthew 1618; 1 Timothy 3:15). Consider Paul’s attitude toward the church at Corinth. In spite of its serious errors, he thanked the Lord for them on many points (1 Cor. 1:4-9; 2 Cor. 1:11, 14). 5. KEEP YOUR EYES FOCUSED ON CHRIST RATHER THAN ON MEN IN THIS WORLD. “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2). Some believers are said to carry permanent “spiritual scars” because of being in churches that are led by pastors that abuse their authority. Others leave church altogether and use this as their excuse. The problem in such cases is that such folk have their eyes and their trust more on men than on Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus will never disappoint us, but men will always disappoint us in one way or the other. Pastors are only imperfect men at their best. They make mistakes. They sin. They can be selfish and partial and shortsighted. 6. PRAY FOR YOUR PASTORS AND OTHER CHURCH LEADERS. Prayer does two things. It brings change, because God answers and works through it; and it also helps keep my heart tender toward those for whom I am interceding. 7. DON’T FORGET THAT THERE IS NO PERFECT CHURCH. Even the first churches established by the apostles were very imperfect. The church at Corinth was carnal and was characterized by division, fornication, lawsuits, drunkenness during the Lord’s supper, misuse of spiritual gifts, and false teachers. Most of the seven churches mentioned in Revelation 2-3 had serious problems. In the church at Philippi, two women were at odds with each other and had to be corrected (Phil. 4:2). Peter’s hypocrisy had to be rebuked publicly by Paul (Gal. 2:11-14). This is not an excuse to ignore problems and errors. Each of these matters was reproved. I mention these things only to remind us that churches are not perfect, because they are made up of very imperfect sinners saved by grace; and we must keep this in mind as we deal with church problems. If you leave a church over doctrinal or moral issues, you should have a better church to move to, or you will only be moving “from the frying pan into the fire.” 8. LEARN TO EXERCISE KEEN SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT, DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN THE IMPORTANT AND THE LESS IMPORTANT. In Matthew 23:23, the Lord Jesus Christ taught that not all things in the Bible are of equal importance. “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” Some biblical teachings are “weightier” than others. Everything in the Bible has some importance, but everything is not of equal importance. Not every issue is an issue of separation and not every issue is important enough to leave a church over. Knowing the difference between the two requires a thorough knowledge of God’s Word and keen spiritual discernment. This is the lesson of the following verses: “And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another” (Romans 15:14). “For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Heb. 5:12-14). Such discernment requires spiritual maturity, which comes only through diligent study and through exercise of the senses to discern good and evil. Paul told the church at Rome that the reason they were able to admonish one another was because they were filled with goodness and knowledge (Rom. 15:14). As we mature in Christ and in our knowledge of the Scriptures and in godliness, we are able to correct others and to be a blessing to the church. It is a sad fact that many who attempt to “straighten out” perceived problems are weak in Bible knowledge and carnal in their Christian living, and as a result they cause more harm than good. 9. IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM OR QUESTION, GO DIRECTLY TO THE PASTORS OR TO THE PEOPLE INVOLVED. Oftentimes we discover that our perception of a matter is wrong or that the information we received was wrong or that we did not have all of the information. By discussing it directly with those concerned right at the beginning, we can avoid “making a mountain out of a molehill” and causing strife over nothing. 10. REMEMBER THAT PASTORS HAVE GREATER AUTHORITY AND GREATER RESPONSIBILITY IN THE CHURCH. This means that they must make decisions that the average church member does not make and that they will answer to God for those decisions. There is a time to leave a church over things that are seriously wrong, but we must also learn to put many things into the hands of the Lord and do what He has told us to do, which is to submit to the church leadership and be a blessing and be fruitful. Don’t confuse your job with that of the pastor. As a non-pastor, you don’t have the authority of the pastor nor do you have the work of the pastor (visiting the sick, burying dead, being on call for any need, watching for souls, the care of the church, bearing the brunt of the devil’s attack against the church). You also do not have the responsibility of the pastor. He will give account for more (James 3:1). This has helped me many times when I have not agreed with some decision that the pastors have made. I have laid the matter before the Lord and told the Lord that though I do not agree with this decision, it is not my decision to make and I will leave the matter in His hands and do my part to be a blessing to His church. 11. DON’T LET ANYTHING DRIVE YOU AWAY FROM CHURCH. There are occasions when we are forced to leave a certain church over serious doctrinal and moral issues, but we must not allow anything to keep us out of church altogether. Jesus Christ established the church (Matt. 16:18), and there are more than 100 references to the church in the New Testament. Most of the New Testament was written directly to churches, such as the church at Ephesus and the church at Philippi. The book of Revelation is written to seven churches in Asia Minor (Rev. 2-3). The book of Acts is the account of the planting and multiplication of the first churches. The Pastoral Epistles are about church work. Even those epistles which are not written directly to churches always have the assembly in mind. The book of Hebrews, for example, contains strong statements about the church (Heb. 10:25; 13:7, 17). The book of James mentions the church elders (Jam. 5:14). The epistle of 1 Peter addresses the elders (1 Pet. 5:1-4). This demonstrates the importance of the church in the eyes of God, and each believer must be diligent to have the same zeal for the New Testament assembly in his own Christian life. It is easy to criticize a church, but I need to ask, “What am I doing to make the church successful and fruitful for the Lord’s glory?” I should also ask, “If the whole church were like me, what would the church be?” Some people criticize everything but they do not add anything of significance on the positive side. That is wrong and destructive to the work of the Lord.
Posted on: Mon, 02 Sep 2013 22:37:32 +0000
Trending Topics
© 2015