Boy Brad,
So much depends upon the polity of the church. By that I mean, who really
runs the church, the pastor, or the congregation? There are pros and cons
to both. In some churches, the pastor could make the decision about what
to do with an errant member. Some churches have that roll given to the
elders along with the pastor. Then, you have a situation like our
denomination has in which we have a congregationally run church. A lot of
voting goes on. The up side of that is that people have to be involved.
The down side is, like what we are facing now. That is, a few years ago,
our congregation voted in to the deaconate position a man who is a
practicing Mason. He had become a member before we got here. The people
weren’t very discerning at the time, and perhaps they still aren’t very
discerning, but I do believe that they are beginning to move in that
direction. At least I pray that that is so.
The first step in all situations of course would involve wisdom, prayer
and council on the part of the pastor in the hopes of determining the
concerned person’s heart. This is when the polity steps in to determine
the next step. In my opinion, however, if we believe that love bears all
things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things, we
need to behave accordingly as long as the offending party remains
responsive and cooperative. Sadly, those who are in the midst of
justifying their sin are not in the mood to cooperate and submit to
Christ or the church’s teaching, but are more interested in being
accepted as they are and not willing to change. Remember, what God
desires is a humble and contrite heart. That is because those are the
hearts that can be worked with.
I can tell you what has happened with a few people in the past who have
had to be dealt with to demonstrate my point. We had a woman who attended
our church a few years back who had a lot of leadership positions, but
she was very difficult to work with and just seemed to enjoy wreaking
havoc wherever possible. I’m not exaggerating. She did the same thing to
the next church that she moved to and she’s now at yet a third church. I
have no idea how it is going for her now. Anyway, Greg was always willing
to continue working with her as long as she was willing to meet with him.
Greg always held to a biblical position, however and refused to budge
from it, concerning her behavior and she is the one who finally left
rather than repent and be willing to rebuild a lot of the relationships
that she had damaged while with us. Greg always acted in hope that she
could change. She is the one who eventually walked away because she
couldn’t have things her way.
So, now you are probably wondering about our mason deacon, right? Well,
he was never a good deacon, or effective. In fact, do you remember the
big mess dealing with a food pantry in town that I wrote about last
spring? He is the husband of the woman who started all that mess. Greg
has followed the same tack. Ever since last spring when Greg refused to
just hand over our church’s tax exempt number, Charlie, that’s his name,
has not been back. The congregation has watched Greg continue to act in
hope toward the relationship, but not compromise on biblical principles
and I think that the truth is being shown in the whole situation. In our
church, deacons hold three-year positions. Charlie’s term is up this
December, but I don’t think that our congregation would re-elect him now
after seeing his true character and Greg’s in this situation. In this
particular case, Greg’s hands were somewhat tied because of an elected
position, but in an appointed position or a volunteer position, or a
position for hire, I see no problem with removing a person from
leadership. Especially if that position has any influence over the
spiritual life of the congregation. That’s like allowing a caretaker in
who is willing to taint the food and a good shepherd, who loves his
sheep, would never allow that to happen.
I need to tell you that we had a good example set for us while we were
working at another church in our denomination in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
At the time, this church was about eleven years old. One of the founding
members was a very talented choir director. After about eleven years of
her involvement with the church, she filed for a divorce from her
husband. I suppose that this story won’t sit well with some on this list.
Sorry about that. Anyway, Pastor Steve worked very hard with this couple
to try for reconciliation, but this choir director refused any help. True
there were a lot of issues involved, but she was not willing to submit to
anything. Finally, the church decided, after a lot of prayer and fasting,
and I mean that, to relieve her of her position as choir director. It was
really hard for the church. They went without a gifted leader and one
that they truly loved and cared for. They acted in hope and truly tried
to love both people, but she was determined to do things her way and so
she was relieved of here duties. She then left the church as her own
decision.
I’m not sure if I’ve answered your questions to your satisfaction, Brad.
We always want to love and hope that love will cause people to respond
correctly. Isn’t that why Christ died? It was an act of pure love to
redeem an ungrateful and unappreciative people, so that, some might
repent, humble themselves and be saved. He still holds His standards
though. Not all will be saved, only those who are willing to do things
His way, the right way. We won’t ever get in on our own terms and the
church lies to its people when it lowers the bar and says, "You’re good
enough. We’ll give you a pass."
In Him,
Kathy
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