The George Soros Church: No Church Discipline
George Soros is a despicable man who has done much to hurt our country. Soros recruits and funds people all over the country to become prosecutors who won’t prosecute.
Very serious crimes, which in years past would have landed a person in jail for years, now result in quick processing and a return to freedom—even for murderers!
Once this approach became entrenched, police stopped arresting criminals because they knew it would only mean added paperwork and a wasted day in court.
The city who hired these George Soros’ prosecutors then take to the airways to brag about their reduced crime rate.
Yeah, reduced because they refused to prosecute!
People who suffer from the injustice Soros sponsored, hate what he has done, if not who he is. The damage he has done to America has been incalculable.
And yet these same people will have no negative feeling at all toward church leaders who did the same thing in their church.
Church discipline today is regarded by many churches as an antiquated practice that can be discarded.
God doesn’t think that way.
In Revelation 2:18 we see God coming on the scene with eyes like a flaming fire and feet like fine brass. Why? Because he sees what’s going on in the church and he’s determined to do something about it!
Sin, if given a toehold will soon have a foothold and before long a stronghold, corrupting the entire church! Holiness then becomes a lost cause.
Well, maybe not. If no one was disciplined, it must be a pure and holy church, right?
Not alarmed by this prospect, and not willing to follow the clear teachings of Scripture, either, some people, seeking an escape clause, will try to refute Scripture with Scripture.
For example, when Philippians 4:8 talks about giving only a good report, they take that to mean that we’re not to deal with someone else’s sin.
Apparently, these people never noticed that Jesus called the most respected leaders in his day a bunch of hypocrites, a brood of vipers, a white-coated sepulcher, children of the devil, and even wondered out loud how they expected to escape the damnation of hell.
Moreover, in the white heat of his indignation, Jesus went after these false leaders with a whip in hand, causing hucksters to fall all over each other in a frantic attempt to escape the fire in his eyes.
Not exactly the behavior of one giving only a good report!
Another argument used against church discipline holds high the I Corinthians 13:8 assertion that love “never fails.” The point, cleverly extracted, becomes a pious positive: We should be confident enough in love’s eventual outcome to omit this business of kicking people out of church.
By appealing to the greatest of all virtues, love, a campaign commenced that is both sinister and subtle. The great writer, A.W. Tozer, described how Satan, a leader in this campaign, focused on the endearing qualities of the Son of God.
He first presents a maudlin and wholly inaccurate picture of Christ as soft, smiling and tolerant. He reminds us that Christ was “brought as a lamb to the slaughter, so he openeth not his mouth,” and suggests that we go and do likewise.
Then if we notice his foot in the door and rise to oppose him, he appeals to our desire to be Christlike. “You must not practice negative thinking,” he tells us. “Jesus said that he that is not against me is for me. Also he said ‘judge not,’ and how can you be a good Christian and pass adverse judgment on any religious talk or activity?
Controversy divides the Body of Christ. Love is of God, little children, so love everybody and all will be well.”
Thus speaks the devil and uses the Holy Scripture for his evil purpose; and it is nothing short of tragic how many of God’s children are taken in by his sweet talk. The shepherd becomes afraid to use his club, and the wolf gets the sheep. The watchman is charmed into believing that there is no danger, and the city falls to the enemy without a shot. So Satan destroys us by appealing to our virtues.
The difficulties with this argument, love conquers all, are many. For one thing, the person who told us to do church discipline was Jesus; so was he lacking in love?
Second, the disciplinary steps taken are not a contradiction to love but rather an expression of it.
Third, it simply isn’t true to say that our love can guarantee someone else’s response. If that’s true, then was Jesus lacking in his love for Judas?
Scripture’s words about love not failing actually mean love won’t be overcome, it won’t dissipate, it won’t quit. But it doesn’t mean that love will never be frustrated or, even in the end, thwarted. If the love Jesus gave could be refused, ours can be also.
An extension of this same argument references the parable Jesus spoke immediately prior to this matter about discipline then discussed in Matthew 18.
In talking about the shepherd who went out in the far country to retrieve the lost sheep, the point is made: That’s what we should be doing—going after people to reclaim them, not kicking them out of church!
But the parable of the ninety and nine isn’t talking about a person who has resisted every opportunity to repent. It’s talking about a Christian who started to drift, got off track, and found himself separated from the rest of the flock.
What this parable teaches is that we should care enough to seek this person instead of just letting him drift. Perhaps this person isn’t saved. Or, if saved, perhaps he has lapsed into careless living.
But if a person is purposely distancing himself from the Lord, is deliberately practicing known sin, and is now isolating himself in order to indulge this sin, the first step of Matthew 18 should be undertaken.
Another argument from Scripture thrown up to shut down church discipline is Jesus’ words about forgiving “seventy times seven.”
Those wanting to omit church discipline tell us: The church should be like her Lord, always “ready to forgive” (Psalm 86:5).
It must be remembered, though, that church discipline isn’t the expression of an unforgiving spirit. More accurately understood, it is the outcome of a refusal to repent.
At any point in this process the offender could have repented, at which point this whole painful proceeding would have come to a happy conclusion.
However, because this person cherished his sin more than the will of his Lord, and more than the health of his church, he propelled the proceedings toward further pain. The resulting consequence was his choice!
Some people say discipline should be set aside because it brings about division in the church. But so does truth! And it’s better to be divided by truth than to be united by error!
Everywhere Jesus went, everywhere Paul went, divisions occurred. II Corinthians 2:16 (KJV) speaks of a “life unto life” or a “death unto death” response.
There will either be a compelling influence or a repelling influence. This is the nature of authentic Christianity. Authentic Christianity divides people. And do take note: This division isn’t just between the saved and the lost. The principle extends beyond that, as Romans 8:6 and I Peter 2:7, 8 make clear.
In his book, New Life in the Church, Robert Raines quoted John Wesley on this point:
The next day we endeavored to purge the society of all that did not walk according to the gospel. By this means we reduced the number of members to less than nineteen hundred. But number is an inconsiderable circumstance. May God increase them in faith and love! ... The society, which for the first year consisted of above 800 members, is now reduced to 400. But, according to the old proverb, the half is more than the whole. We shall not be ashamed of any of those when we speak with our enemies in the gate.
The governing principle was this: When the Lord’s beauty and purity start to emerge in his people, the witness given was much more contagious than all the PR hype of a compromised congregation.
The dividends of church discipline are many. Ideally, these include: a frustrated devil, abandoned sin, a delivered saint, a protected church, a stronger witness to the world, and a grateful God.
In I Timothy 5:20 we find God instructing, “Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest also may fear.”
Fear? God may want this?
Yes! In the book of Acts, we read that great fear came upon the people when Ananias and his wife were severely judged. Accordingly, we read in Acts 5:13 that no one wanted to join them.
But that’s precisely what many church leaders are worried about; they don’t want any deterrents that might hinder church growth! So they seek alternatives, such as those proposed by the seeker-friendly church movement, which John MacArthur rightly described as “how to sow tares into the church.”
Exactly! And now the pastor most identified with this movement is saying that a top priority today is to evangelize the church.
Given his approach, one need not wonder why that is.
The Lord’s instruction about the wheat and tares predicament has been misconstrued by those who want to avoid church discipline. The Lord said do nothing, to let them grow side by side until the harvest, and then he will deal with that situation.
To interpret this parable accurately, we must keep two points in mind. First, this situation was not normal. Jesus said an enemy did this (Matthew 12:28)! And who are they?
The enemy are those who have low standards for church membership, those unwilling to use the discipline Jesus told them to use.
Second, Jesus’ instructions to hold off on discipline in this situation was based on the fact there was confusion about which were wheat and which were tares. Tares look like wheat but are poisonous.
However, at which point the evidence is clear and confusion doesn’t exist, church discipline is exactly the right thing to do.
How ironic this is! The church that refuses to do anything about sin because it doesn’t want to “cause trouble” is a church fast on its way toward gaining Satan’s smile and the Redeemer’s rebuke.
