The Love That Compels Our Witness

Study Notes

Love, Discipline and Discipleship

2 Corinthians 2:6-11; Matthew 18:15-18

      Today, we will be baptizing about a dozen of our LAC family.  In baptism, those who are baptized declare 1) when they go under the water, that they are buried with Christ, their sins are washed away with their old self-directed lives being dead and 2) when they come up out of the water, that they are risen to live a new life with Jesus as their Savior and Lord.    

     As I say almost weekly, that new life in Christ does not become wholly new in a moment.  No, it is a process of growth we call discipleship.  Simply put, every one of us has been made in God’s image.  That means that there are things about us meant to reflect the very ways of God.  But, ever since sin entered the world, all of us “fall short of that glory of God” (Rom 3:23).  There are things about all of us that are not what God created them to be.  To put it bluntly, we all have sinned.  But, God loves us even while we are sinners and has found a way to forgive our sins and begin to remake us to be what he created us to be.

     One of the central issues of the New Testament is how will we are to grow to become more and more like Christ.  And, the Bible teaches that our growth in Christ is to happen within a church family.  We are to grow together until each one of us is, as Col 1:28 says, “complete in Christ.” 

     Let me show you how central we see your growth in Christ is to the reason for our existence as a church:

• “Our Mission: Following Jesus, we participate in God’s reconciling work by making disciples of all peoples and generations.”
• “Our Vision: Presenting each one complete in Christ.”

     That is to say that, if you become a part of LAC, our commitment to you is that we will seek to be a church family in which you will become complete in Christ.  And, we ask you to make the same commitment to us all – that you will be involved in the lives of LAC people until each one of us becomes complete in Christ.

     My message today is that one of the most important means God has instituted so that each of us actually will grow to become complete in Christ is what church people have called church discipline.  For many people, that term, “church discipline”, is distasteful and off-putting.  But, today, I want us all to see how important, and even beautiful, church discipline is when it is understood as being a part of God’s mission to make all things right in our lives and in our world.

Love, Discipline, and Discipleship in the 1^st Church of Corinth (2 Cor 2:5-11)

     The passage we come to today takes us to the culmination of an act of church discipline in the 1^st Church of Corinth.  Notice the moving words in 2:6-7: “The sanctions inflicted on him (i.e., a man whose sin had brought grief to all the people in that church) by the majority is sufficient.  Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.” 

     That kind of statement should be the goal of any kind of discipline that happens in any local church.  Isn’t it moving to read?  But, let me tell you – it was quite a journey to get to that end-goal.  Let’s see how it happened.  As I read through Paul’s letters to this church in Corinth, I’ve put together this case study:

     Paul had founded the Church in Corinth during his missionary travels. (See Acts 18).  http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qyG6mDQ10pg/T98qbXN-osI/AAAAAAAAHHQ/9Oiu5DP2QaY/s1600/DSC06311.JPG He not only founded but he had also faithfully pastored the new Christians in Corinth for 18 months.  After finishing his work there, he returned to his missionary ministry but got wind of Christians in Corinth hanging out with other Christians who were behaving in sexually immoral ways.  So, Paul wrote a letter to them, one that he referred to in 1 Cor 5:9, a letter that probably has been lost. In that letter, he called the church people to live lives of sexual purity.

     In spite of that letter, Paul continued to hear of ongoing problems in the church including a situation reported in 1 Cor 5 of incestuous sexual immorality that was offensive not only to Paul but also to unbelievers in Corinth.  Note this: the city of Corinth was the Las Vegas of its day, i.e., a city known for and even proud of its sexual freedom.  So, if the people in Corinth were scandalized by the incident in the church, then it was indeed serious.  But, the church didn’t seem to want to confront the man and to call him to repentance.  My guess is that he was a part of a prominent and probably affluent family in the church. Paul wrote that they were proud to have this man in their church.

     Listen to his words: “There is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s wife.  And you are proud! You should rather have gone into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this (1 Cor 5:1-2).”

     But, they didn’t do it.  In fact, my guess, when I read the whole of 2 Corinthians, is that this man and his family started an uprising against the Apostle Paul and his leadership because Paul asked the church to discipline him.  So, Paul made a visit to the church, one that he called a “painful visit” (2:1) and afterward wrote another letter to them that he admitted was severe.  And, at last, they had confronted the man and called him to repentance.  Apparently, he had repented.  The church had administered some kind of discipline – to which the man had responded.  By the time we get to 2 Cor 2:6-11, Paul said that the time for forgiveness and restoration had come.  I love the three phrases: “forgive him”, “comfort him”, and “reaffirm your love for him” (2:7-8).

      With that example -- as well as with Mt 18:15-18 and Gal 6:1-4 that we read earlier -- in your minds, let me summarize a few truths that I think are important for us as a church family at LAC about church discipline:

1. The Goal Must be Clear: Loving Restoration to God’s Family and Renewed Growth in Christ

     One thing that should permeate the culture of our church is the vision statement I showed you earlier, i.e., that we want each one of us to become complete in Christ.  For this to happen, I’m convinced that all of us need to think about our church relationships as “discipling relationships.”  By that, I mean that we should always be seeking to help one another grow in our walks with Jesus.  You see, we can influence one another’s spiritual lives not only in that battles we all have against sin but also in our encouragement of each other, teaching one another, praying with one another and sharing one another’s burdens.

     In short, genuine disciples of Jesus should, in their church involvement, be involved in one another’s lives in ways that help each one of us to grow spiritually. Because of that, when, in Mt 18:15, Jesus spoke of believers going personally to fellow believers to call them away from sin, he was referring to something that should not be unusual in church.  No, this should happen in many ways in a church family – even when the sin isn’t as serious as what happened in Corinth.  What I’m saying is that our Christian friendships and small group gatherings should constantly be settings of what Proverbs calls “iron sharpening of iron.”

     In churches that have embraced the fact that we should all be helping one another to grow in Christ, church discipline goes on all the time in helpful, informal, everyday ways. When that happens, then when the more formal processes of church discipline become necessary, they are much less likely to be ignored altogether or to be carried out too harshly. Why? – because the church will already have a positive way of looking at our relationships in church, i.e., that following Jesus requires correction, prayer, and obedience to God’s Word.

     So, when a person in church walks away from the Lord or gives evidence of ungodly behavior, it should be a normal part of church life that church friends or your entire small group would say, “There is something in your life we need to talk to you about” and then call you back to the Lord’s way. 

     So, the goal of church discipline is never punitive.  As Gal 6:1 states so clearly, “Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently.”  What we see in 2 Cor 2:5-11 is an example of that happening.

2. The Importance Must be Acknowledged: God’s Glory and Our Growth

     In my estimation, the main negative effect of ignoring church discipline it defames God’s name when we ignore sin or when we act ungraciously to one who has sinned.  When the world sees us ignoring sins or dealing harshly with one another, the world will look at us and say, “Their so-called God can’t change anything!”

     But, almost as serious as that is how ignoring sinful ways in a church harms everyone in the church.  That’s what Paul was getting at in 2 Cor 2:5: If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you to some extent.

     John Donne wrote, “No man is an island.  Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.”  That is true of all humanity. But, in a church, it is more directly the case because we are in one family with one Father. Like a biological family, in our church family, it is impossible for there to be unfaithfulness, deception, or strife between any two individuals that does not begin to spread and touch others as well. I have been in churches where feuds had developed years before – and, years later, one group of people would still not speak to another. As a result of that, the whole church had been paralyzed spiritually; and the church’s impact had ground to a halt.  And, of course, the person involved in sin just continues down that sinful path.     All this is to say that the practice of us knowing one another and loving each other well enough that we keep turning one another away from sin and back to God is – well, it’s central to what a church should be.

3. The Difficulty Must Be Anticipated: Other Kingdoms Will Fight It

     When you read about how it was for them in Corinth and how long it took for them to deal with one man, then you should be able to appreciate why effective church discipline has always been hard for every church.  I mean, we don’t even have an Apostle around to help us!  What makes it so hard?  I think of a few things:

• Our own weakness – We think, “Who am I to speak a word of correction to someone else? What if he says, “You’re worse than I am.”  Well, let’s own the fact that we all will need correction in our lives.  But, that fact should not take away our love for that other person.  We have to love enough to say, “I really love you – but I think that what you are doing is harming your life with God…”
• Our tendency to think, “Let someone else do it.” Our busy-ness that says, “I have too many other things to do so I hope he self-corrects.”
• The challenge of acting with both law and grace; both justice and love. If we’re too harsh, people will say, “Where is grace in this church?”  If we’re too lenient or if we ignore the problem, they will say, “This church doesn’t care about holiness.” 

     And, of course, our own anger about what another person in the church has done may keep us from wanting to engage in church discipline in the way the Bible calls us to it.  Paul says in 2 Cor 2:11 that even Satan plots so that a person’s repentance and restoration to fellowship in church will not happen.

     I will simply say now that those kinds of challenges are formidable – but they should not keep us from stepping into a person’s life out of love and calling him or her to return to godliness.  Scripture calls us to do so – and, when we do, to trust God’s Spirit to lead us to whatever next step we should take. 

     It was hard in Corinth.  But, what we read about in our text today is how beautiful the ending of a long journey in biblically-directed church discipline can be.  And, if we engage in it with the love of Christ in our hearts and the Spirit of God guiding, we will see the same kind of beautiful restoration times here at LAC too.

4. The Biblical Process Must Be Followed: Faithful confrontation – until forgiveness is offered and received and Satan is thwarted.

     I’m not going to give you a lecture about the process a church should take when a public sinful matter rises to the level that the one in Corinth did.  Let me tell you simply how any correction process must begin and end. 

     The first step, as both Jesus and Paul clearly indicate, is to begin with a faithful personal confrontation.  Jesus said, “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you (Mt 18:15a).  More often than not, that is enough.  Now, you may not be aware of it -- because this kind of thing is not publicized -- but that is happening all the time in this congregation.  Then, if a one-to one visit doesn’t work, keep the matter as small as you can.  Take a trusted Christian friend with you – then perhaps your small group (if you have one).  Usually, as Jesus went on to say, what should happen, happens, i.e., “If they listen to you, you have won them back (Mt 18:15b).”

     Note this for sure:  We are not to go to one another about those matters where we merely feel irritated that someone is doing something in a different way than we would do it. We are to go only in those areas the Word of God has already said are clearly wrong.  And, don’t go quickly to your Ministry Council of your pastors and ask them to exert their authority.  The time for that may come – but it will be only after all other steps have been taken.  The objective of discipline is not to win an argument or to inflict punishment, but the ultimate restoration of a brother or sister in Christ.

     The ending of a discipline process is as important as the beginning:  True believers are to be ready – even anxious -- to forgive when the one who did wrong confesses that what he did was wrong.  I’ve found that true repentance is always accompanied by sorrow, i.e., by owning up to the hurt that the sin caused.  When that happens, true Jesus-followers who have received personally the forgiveness of Christ must be ready to instantly forgive such a one.

     Paul spoke in our passage today of forgiving, comforting and reaffirming our love for the one who seeks forgiveness.  Doing that usually leads to a process of restoring the individual to full participation in the church, a process led by the spiritual leadership of a church.

     Let me leave you with a few personal and pastoral words.  You need to have close Christian friends – or a godly and grace-filled small group in church – so that you can be involved in this kind of “iron sharpening iron” way of becoming complete in Christ.  I’m not talking about Christian friends who don’t care how you live or who live in ways just like the world lives. I’m talking about Christian friends who want to grow in their faith.  Then, be willing to speak into their lives when you see things that are not Christlike.  Say, I love you.  You know that, don’t you?  So, I’ve got to tell you about what I’m seeing in your life…”.

     And, be open to your friends speaking into your life too.  Don’t be defensive.  Receive their words and counsel.  If you do, we will all see happening what Paul said should happen in a Christian’s life, i.e., we will all “make progress in life and doctrine” (1 Tim 4:15-16) until each of us is complete in Christ and we live --

To God’s glory.

Chinese Study Notes

    催逼我們去作見證的愛

  5:10-6:2林後 5：10-6：2

      我們今天一開始就來看使徒保羅所寫的這段經文：“我們如果癲狂，是為了神；如果清醒，是為了你們。實際上，基督的愛催逼著我們”（林後5：13-14a）。

     是什麼讓一些人覺得另一些人所做的事太瘋狂？也許他們就是瘋狂；也許因為他們認識並經歷了一些改變他們生命的事。這樣看來，那些所謂的瘋狂並非如所說。你覺得呢？

     本週末，我們要看到，當人（甚至是教會的人）稱保羅癲狂時，他是如何回應的？其實，在保羅的社會，他實際上是一個受過最好教育，並可能是一個最有影響力的人，也許會被選作年輕人中的一個成功的典範；但他把這些拋在後面，去逐城傳福音。為此他被人拒絕、鞭打甚至監禁。然而，他對那些說他癲狂的人：“如果你們經歷了我所經歷的，就知道我不是癲狂，因為你們也會選擇我的道路”。

      保羅在林後5章說，哥林多教會有人認為他癲狂了，其中一個原因是說他講話太大膽粗魯。從字裡行間，我們仿佛聽到他們在說：“保羅太固執己見了，總是要把他對耶穌的信仰強加於人，他就像一個人背著一塊白板遊走，上面寫著‘信耶穌或者下地獄！’他咄咄逼人，讓我們教會的人無所適從！”

     我確信他們指責保羅的詞彙就是保羅在11節使用的“勸導人”。這詞在希臘文是很強的，甚至包括強迫、推打。使徒行傳18章保羅在哥林多第一次佈道被控告時，對方用的也是這個詞，指責保羅逼迫人信耶穌，致使保羅在該城受虐待。

      保羅在今天的經文裡說：也許這是事實，也許我極力要人信主，但我要告訴你為什麼，這是因為1）我所知道的耶穌；2）我所經歷的耶穌；3）神要我如此行！”正是這些驅使了保羅。那麼，他是怎麼說的？

動機#1:  我所知道的 -- 因為我們大家都必須站在基督的審判台前，好使每個人都為自己藉著身體所做的，或善或惡，領受回報。既然如此，我們因為知道敬畏主，就勸導人。我們在神面前是顯明的，但我希望在你們的良心裡，也是顯明的  (5:10-11).
      保羅在這裡說，我們跟隨耶穌的人是知道我們今天的生活與神有關；事實上，每一個人最後都要站在神的面前為自己的行為負責。這是一個重要概念的，儘管有人爭論“我們大家都必須站在基督的審判台前”到底是指信徒還是每一個人。我不想進入其中，我認為他說的是每一個人，而保羅知道其實大家都沒有做好見神的準備。不管怎樣，保羅在20節說，每個人都要與神和好，每個人都需要與神有正確的關係。
      因此這裡就是說所有人，即我們知道的每個人！“每個人都為自己藉著身體所做的，或善或惡，領受回報”（5：10b）。所以站在神審判台前的不只是我們這裡的一群，聖經說：每一個人！
      要明白這話的意義，需要瞭解“審判台”，這對哥林多人有特別的含義。在那裡，當人被審判的時候，他們要去一個公共地方，坐在所謂“高臺”上，這檯子在今天的哥林多廢墟中還存在。我多次去過哥林多，就在那“高臺”旁講道。當時的庭審規定，只有一個人可以坐在其上，也只有那人可以回答提問。
      所以有一天你我都要面對神，交代清楚我們今天的生活。我們要獨自站在那裡，為我們的行為負責。而對我們信徒而言，我們要告訴神我們是怎樣傳耶穌福音的。

      此事何等重大。關鍵是：我們知道人並非永遠有機會歸向神。所以，當耶穌再來時，我們都要交帳。想想看，如果時鐘明天停擺，那就是世界末日，每一個人都要站在神的面前；那時，你是否想起該給誰打電話，發微信或是該去登門傳福音？是否想到應該修補什麼關係？

     所以，分享福音不是基督徒的愛好，而是搶救行動，就像敦克爾克戰役把英軍從德軍手中搶救回來。我們知道福音是每個人的好消息。這就是為什麼保羅要“勸導”人。既然知道這原因，你會去向人分享福音麼？

      我們來看第二個動機，這是一個美好的真理，震撼的真理，就是在審判台前我們要面對的那一位，他愛我們，甚至為我們而死。

動機#2:  我們所經歷的 (5:12‑17) 基督的愛催逼我們，因為我們知道他是為眾人死了。 

      要明白這一點，需要瞭解保羅曾坦承（15節）他過去是為自己而活。他堅決否認他需要別人的代死，他需要別人在信仰上為他做什麼，因為若是有一人敬虔，那就是他自己！這種自我為義的想法讓他成為一個消滅基督徒運動的頭目。但有一天，當他要去大馬色殺害信徒時，他在路上遇到了耶穌（參徒9）。

      從那天以後，保羅變了一個人。他承認自己內心的黑暗，承認自己的錯誤行為，他稱自己為“罪魁”；但最驚人的生命改變則是他遇見耶穌的時候，他遇到了既認識自己的一切還仍然愛自己的主。他認識到他拒絕的耶穌為他而死，使他獲得新生。

     這就是我們可以經歷到的奇妙的愛，保羅在5：14-15節說：“基督替所有的人死了，好讓那些活著的人不再為自己活，卻為替他們死而復活的基督而活”。保羅說所有經歷過耶穌愛的人都不會再以自我為中心，如史蒂夫歌中所唱：“我們被一個偉大的愛的力量所得著”。

      你要記得，經歷耶穌的愛不只是保羅一人的特權；耶穌不只是愛宣教士和牧師；聖經不斷地清楚宣告：耶穌為每個人而死！不管你過去如何，不管你的年齡、種族、國籍，耶穌愛每一個世人！

      保羅還說：“這就是我恨鐵不成鋼要人信主的原因，耶穌愛我，也愛每一個人，這愛催逼著我。”他在16-17節說：我已經遇到了耶穌，就不再照人的標準看待他；他不只是一個拉比，一個要來的受膏者，他是神的兒子，是救世主；他為所有人而死---而這經歷改變了我的生命。“

     我告訴你：一個最有效的方法來判斷你是否真正經歷了耶穌的愛，就是你像保羅，以一種新眼光看人。我上周看了一個關於羅傑先生的紀錄片，他就是愛鄰如己的人，他說：“我常為一件事憤怒，就是當我看到有人在貶損他人！”每個人在神的眼中都是特殊的，我們應當也如此看人，保羅說：“從今以後，我們不按人的標準看任何人了…因此，如果有人在基督裡，他就是新造的人；舊的已經過去，看哪，新的已經來臨”（5：16-17）。

     我們若相信這話，就不再看用負面、世人慣用的悲觀方式看我們周圍的人（包括與我們非常不同的人）；也不再只看人的瑕疵。我們相信任何經歷耶穌愛的人，都會成為新造的人。

      我們一會兒有聖餐，讓我們懷著感恩的心紀念耶穌為我們死。難道我們不能像保羅一樣，或者可以再加一句：“耶穌不只為我，也為所有人死！” 基督的愛難道不是改變我們的眼光去看周圍的人，讓我們得以看見：當基督進入他們的心，他們就是新造的人。神拯救我們不是用人間愛的力量而是神的愛，以致我們只能說：看，這麼多人來到教會，是因為基督的愛! 一旦我們經歷到這愛，就會流溢到其他蒙恩的人。這就是保羅竭力傳福音的第二個動機----就算只有這一個動機，我覺得也足夠了，是不是？但是聖經還說了第三個： 

動機#3: 我們被要求去做 (5:18‑6:2).神要我們去傳與神和好的消息。

     5：18-6：2是如此重要，以致我們真應該用許多周來講。在這裡，保羅濃縮了福音的使命，神要我們去傳給別人，今天我只是談幾個核心的事。

* 誰開啟的 -- "這一切都是出於神 (5:18).” 基督徒的信仰不是關於人拼命找神，期待有足夠的知識或是做得足夠好被神接納；不，我們的信仰是關於神如此愛我們，並由他來引領我們的生命。他定下了與自己和好的路徑。

* 神所做的 -- "在基督裡，神使世人與自己和好，不把他們的過犯算在他們的身上（5：19a）"  我們看見，這是不聖潔之人與神和好前，聖潔的神要對付的根本問題。人類的根本問題不是缺乏知識或是生命沒有意義；根本問題是罪，是我們生命中罪的問題。

      而神給了我們解決之道，他藉著基督，在5：21：“神使那位沒有罪的替我們成為罪，好使我們在他裡面成為神的義。”這就是基督徒稱之為的“偉大轉變”。因著神的恩典和憐憫，耶穌背負了我們的罪罰，使我們與神和好。這是如此簡單的道，卻如此奇妙！

* 神要我們做的--         

     -- “把這勸人與他和好的服事工作賜給了我們 (5:18b),”

     -- “把這和好的福音託付了我們 (5:19b),”

     -- “因此我們是基督的特使，就像神藉著我們在勸告人(5:20).”

     多麼奇妙，顯明這偉大計畫的使命現在我們手中，神將福音和使命都給我們了。福音告訴我們要去實現我們蒙召的使命，我們要做的，比默默做見證要多得多；我們要有勇氣講說耶穌！

     同時，我們還有福音事工、各樣服事。當我們看見人受苦，受傷害，被破碎，我們要去實踐基督之愛。神要我們的生命既有話語又有行動。神藉著耶穌所做的福音必須得到傳揚，因為不傳就不會有人信。我們的福音事工要充滿愛的驅動，否則就沒有力量前行。是神的愛在我們生命中流溢，驅動我們去做見證。

      讓我給你們幾點教牧建議來結束今天的講道。若我們經歷了耶穌的愛，就會越來越在話語上和行動中領人歸主。我不是說我們要像保羅逐城佈道，但每個人都要真正對待我們的呼召，在世上成為基督的大使。我們知道保羅所知道的，我們經歷了同樣的主愛，我們聽到了神說：“我將與神和好的服事交給了你們”。以下是我對此的心得和建議：

• 有足夠的勇氣與耶穌認同。這不一定是多正式或是來一篇講道。我們可以用正常的談話講說耶穌，讓人知道你是真信並且愛主。當你這樣做時，意味著你有責任過榮耀主的生活，也會給你動力去做一個好職員、好老闆，一個充滿愛的父母或弟兄姊妹。換句話說，這幫助你與人交往，榮耀你傳講的主名。
• 建立真正關愛的關係–找機會進到別人生命中，認識他們。盼望你能如耶穌一樣關心他們。比如你可以有意每次都去一個收銀員那裡，或和同一個服務員說話。要有創意地認識人。不要以世界的角度看人，要以天父的眼光看待每一位。
• 留心一切傳遞信仰的機會 –也許因為我是牧師，許多人最後會來到我這裡分享他們的困難。我知道這不是我講道的機會，而是分享生命的機會，我會說：“你也許知道，我的生命是信仰導向的生命，我可以分享若我經歷你的事，信仰將如何影響我生命的麼？” 這裡是南加州，最直接的方法就是問：“我可以現在為你禱告嗎？” 當然，最好能找機會邀請你關心的對象去音樂會或朋友聚會。不要擔心他們會問出你答不出的問題，這都是真正關係的一部分。如果真有這樣的時候，你可以說：“好問題，這是我目前能想到的答案，也許我們以後再深入討論…”

• 現在就為你知道的那些需要耶穌的人禱告 – 使他們也能經歷神的愛。

        現在，我們作為主裡的弟兄姊妹就要一起來到聖餐桌前，紀念主愛我們以致為我們而死。今天，我要你們思想：“耶穌，你不僅是為我而死，而是為所有人而死。但不是每一個人都認識你。主耶穌，我所愛的人中，也有不能來到聖餐桌前的…”此時，你是否想到你所認識的人中有因為不信主不能來到聖餐桌的麼？你頭腦中是否有你所愛的人，你願意與他/她分享聖餐？

      現在就找一張紙，可以用講道記錄紙，寫下那人的名字，上面下面都寫上，然後撕開分成兩份，一份在你口袋或是聖經可以提醒你禱告，一份情帶到聖餐桌前，我們有籃子裝寫著這些名字的紙，我們要把他們存好，每週與你一起為他們禱告…

榮耀歸給神！

Greg Waybright 博士

主任牧師