Held Accountable

Held Accountable 　 Matthew 18:15-20 New King James Version (NKJV) 15 "Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ 17 And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. 18 "Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 "Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them." 　 It is written, that as Christians we are not to judge the world. Our Lord and Savior told us so in Matthew 7:1-3 (1 "Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?) So, we are not to judge the world, since to do that, we would be playing God ourselves. Remember Jesus will return to do that as the Apostle Pete told us in 1 Peter 4:5-6 5 They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this reason the gospel was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. So, what is Jesus telling us in Matthew chapter 18? It sounds like He is telling us to judge each other doesn't it? Well, yes, He is telling us that. As Christian brothers and sisters, we're not to judge the world around us, but we are to hold each other accountable for our words and our actions as disciples of Christ! As a church we are to hold members of the body responsible for their actions and discipline them if nesscessary. The scriptures show us that there are three steps to the process of church discipline. It begins on a personal level, then a private level, and then a corporate level. First of all, let's take a look at the personal level. Let's say you have a friend who is active in the church. They may be in a leadership position such as a praise team or choir leader, a Sunday school teacher, or maybe a youth leader. What happens if you witness this person doing something questionable for a church member to be out doing or something obviously contradictory to Christian living. Remember now that this person is your brother or sister in the Lord, a representative of the body of Christ, and a child of God. How do you handle this? Well, here in the book of Matthew, Jesus tells us that we are to go to them privately and speak to them about it. We are to go directly to them in a non-malicious or vindictive manner and tell them what we have witnessed. We most certainly are not to go spreading rumors and gossip to others that could hurt this individual, their family, and the church. We are to confront them firmly, but kindly about that issue. All we can do is state the facts of the matter and tell them that we feel that their actions are wrong. We should back it up with scripture if possible. Then it is in their hands. If they are receptive to the discussion, admit their fault, and take steps to correct the situation or stop doing whatever they are doing, the matter may be layed to rest. What happens if they aren't receptive and maybe even lash out at you? That brings us to the next step in church discipline, which is the private level. Since talking one on one with your brother or sister has not worked out, you should quietly two trustworthy witnesses from your church to address the issue. These should be two brothers or sisters that you know cn handle such matters in confidence and handle the matter discretely. These persons should share honest concern for this brother or sister, but preferrably church elders or maybe even deacons or the pastor. After finding your witnesses, you need to inform them of everything that has taken place and the failure of your attemp to reach out to the church member. If the witnesses are in agreement that this is a matter that must be addressed, then you must have another conversation with the your friend. Your witnesses could possibly not agree with you on the matter and the situation may have to play itself out and be revealed of it's own accord, which happens often and is usually more hurtful to all involved. If your witnesses do agree and you have the second meeting with your friend, one of two things could happen. First the situation could be resolved, which is what we should be praying for. The alternative is that they will still resist being confronted about the issue by their peers and the issue is forced to the mext step of church discipline. That brings us to corporate discipline before the church. When I say that, I don't mean that the person is brought before the entire congregation and embarrassed. It means that they most likely are brought before a disciplinary board or possibly the church administrative board. We never want to see anything go this far, but it does happen. When someone is a representative of our church, they must be held accountable for their actions. They must be held subject to the rules of their church and more importantly to biblical teaching. The actions of one church member can hurt the entire congregation in the public eye. Remember that when we proclaim ourselves as Christians, the world will have their eyes on us and will scrutinize us very critically. When one of the members of the body of Christ is out of line with Christian living, we must confront them lovingly, but when they are unrepenant and refuse church discipline, they must be asked to leave the church for a time, just as Jesus taught us to do. If they see the error of their ways, we are to welcome them back with open arms. Sadly, some people never come back into fellowship with us. We hope this never happens. I know that this sermon isn't a very uplifting message, but it is necessary. Jesus told us that whatever we bind on earth, He will bind in heaven. If we take care of His church and His flock on earth we will reap the rewards in heaven. If we are bad stewards and do not discipline those who bring shame and pain to His church, we are jsut as bad as those who don't preach on the dangers of sin. We will have done a greivious disservice to His church and t o His people. We will reap the rewards of these actions before our creator as well. Remember also that this doesn't have to be on the level of a full church either. Many of us have small groups of Christian family that are part of our lives. We must hold each other accountable in the groups as well. In fact this is where we MUST begin holding each other accountable. Also remember this my friends. Hold each other responsible with conviction and with love. God bless you my friends, Pete.