©1998 Larry Huntsperger
Peninsula Bible Fellowship
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7/19/98
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Clarifying Some Confusion
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7/19/98 Clarifying Some Confusion
During this past week
a number of you have taken the effort
to contact me and share
your thoughts and your responses
to some of the things we discussed last Sunday.
Before we get into our study this morning
I want to let you know
how deeply I appreciate
both your willingness to give me that feedback,
and also the spirit in which it was given.
I consider our freedom
to openly discuss different perspectives
on important ideas,
and yet to do it in a way that
does not bring about a spirit of division between
us
to be a tremendous strength for us as a church,
and I praise our Lord for it.
I have spent a great deal of time this past week
trying to gain some perspective
on what was happening last week
and why it was happening.
I've also thought a great deal
about whether there is value
in trying to clarify any of what was said last
week,
or whether it would be better
to just let it rest
and move ahead with our study.
For those of you who were not here,
or for those of you
who are only able to follow what we do
through the notes available
through our Web Site,
let me catch you up a little bit
on where we've been
and how and why we got there.
Last week I started out talking about
the first part of a two-part process
God seeks to accomplish
in the life of each of His children
in equipping us
for what we've been calling
Life in the Spirit.
For those of you
who were here
and didn't realize that was what we were
doing,
because we got caught up in so many side
tracks,
let me just summarize
what I had intended our main focus to be
by saying that the first step
in that two-step process
of preparing us for life in the Spirit
is His bring us to the point
where we "put no confidence in the flesh".
In other words,
for those who have fearful flesh
He takes our eyes off
all those reasons why we think
we really are not qualified
for the work He has for us
and turns our eyes onto Himself
and His life within us,
and He takes all those who have boastful flesh
and are puffed up with
a flesh-based confidence
in their own abilities to do the work of
God
and forces them to recognize
that even the most gifted flesh
is absolutely worthless
in its ability to accomplish
anything of lasting value
in the Kingdom of God.
And all I really wanted to say last week
was that step #1 in this growth process
is God enabling us to take our eyes
and our confidence off of our flesh
and turning them onto our Lord
and His life within us.
However, in the course of that discussion
I made a distinction between
the gifts of the Spirit
and life in the Spirit,
and I pointed out that
when we come to Christ
every believer is given,
or at least given access to
certain gifts of the Spirit.
These gifts are selected by God Himself,
in order to help equip the Christian
for the life and work
God has called the person to.
The fascinating thing with spiritual gifts, however,
is that once they are given
God never takes them away
even if we choose to use them
for our own selfish goals and purposes.
We can abuse them,
we can neglect them,
we can use them to impress
or manipulate other believers for our own
selfish or self-centered ends,
and the gifts will not be withdrawn.
My point, of course,
was that just because a person
is exercising a spiritual gift
it does not automatically mean
that he is following the leading of the
Spirit in his life.
The flesh can
and often does seek to use spiritual gifts
for its own fleshly goals and interests.
I have seen numerous instances
in which it appeared to me
that people were exercising their spiritual
gifts
not to nurture and care for the body,
but rather to impress those around them with
their gift.
Virtually every divisive division
in the history of the family of God
has been fueled at least in part
by men and women
with teaching gifts
who have chosen to use those gifts
for their own personal agendas.
Anyway,
I think we were all fine with what I was saying
in this area
right up until
for some unknown reason
I chose to illustrate my point
with the life of Jim Bakker,
pointing out that
even though he had chosen to use his spiritual
gifts
for his own fleshly goals and purposes,
yet God did not take the gifts away from
him.
At that point several of you
commented about
the growth and changes
that have taken place in Jim Bakker
since his public humiliation
and imprisonment,
and the importance of forgiveness
and encouragement for repentant fallen
brothers and sisters.
From there
I think probably those of us who were here
tended to mentally group ourselves
into one of three groups:
1. There were some who were wondering why in
the world we were talking about Jim Bakker in the
first place,
given the fact that there were
so many more important things we could be
discussing.
2. There were some who found themselves thinking
that Jim Bakker really was a boil on the Body
of Christ
who got what he deserved.
3. And there were some
who felt strongly that our focus
should be on forgiveness
and reconciliation
and restoration for a fallen Christian.
4. And then there was me
who was wondering why
I didn't have the sense to stay with my notes
and stay as far way from any reference to Jim
Bakker as I possibly could.
And right now some of you
cannot believe that I actually brought this whole
thing up again,
wondering why I can't have the good sense
to just leave it alone.
Well, I'll tell you why I've decided
to invest one more precious week
in this whole discussion.
The sincerity and strength
of the responses I received
on both sides of the issue
was greater than the response I have received to
anything else we've touched on for months.
When I saw that,
it made me think there were some
important issues and principles involved that
went far beyond just one individual,
principles we need to clarify
before we go any farther.
You see,
I think there were two separate
but equally important New Testament
principles being addressed last week,
both of which are essential for our health and
survival as Christians.
I want to take the rest of our time this morning
to clarify those two principles,
and then, of course,
invite your responses.
The first principle
concerns the way in which
we are called to relate
to a fellow Christian
who has been caught in immoral
or sinful behavior.
Q. What attitude should we bring
to our relationship with them?
The principle is given to us
in a single verse in Gal. 6:1
where Paul says,
Gal. 6:1 Brethren, even if anyone is caught
in any trespass, you who are spiritual,
restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness;
each one looking to yourself, so that you
too will not be tempted.
It was this principle that I heard being expressed
in many of the responses
I received from you last Sunday
and throughout the week.
Here again, Paul is talking about an attitude we are
called to bring
to a fellow Christian caught in sin.
Certainly we don't just overlook it.
We are called to love them enough
to seek change in their life.
But Paul outlines three crucial ingredients
in the way we are called
to approach that individual.
1. First, we seek to RESTORE them
to healthy fellowship with the Body of Christ.
We do not seek judgment,
we do not seek condemnation,
we seek restoration.
2. We are called to do so in a spirit of
gentleness.
We are not the policemen of God,
busting wrong-doers with righteous
indignation.
We are all brothers and sisters,
fighting for one another,
not against one another.
3. And finally, Paul says we are to look to
ourselves throughout this whole
restoration process,
keenly aware of our own vulnerability to
temptation.
There are other passages in Scripture
that talk about the mechanics
of how to approach a fellow Christian
who has been caught in sin,
but this passage in Gal. 6:1
provides us with the crucial underlying attitudes
we must bring to that process.
These principles apply to our relationship with Jim
Bakker
as much as they do
to any other brother or sister.
The place I ran into trouble last week
was that I failed to make one crucial
clarification:
Jim Bakker was not just
a Christian caught in trespass,
he was a Christian holding a highly visible national
leadership position
within the Body of Christ
who was involved in several areas
of ongoing immoral behavior.
And because he held a leadership position
within the Body of Christ,
the second of the two principles
that I want to present this morning
came into play.
And the easiest way for me
to present this principle
is to back up just a step
to something we looked at last week
and then again just a few minutes ago.
You remember I made a sharp distinction
between the gifts of the Spirit
and the life of the Spirit with in us.
But what I did not mention
was that the New Testament
gives us clear, specific qualifications
that must be met by all Christians
who seek to exercise their gifts
in a public leadership position
within the Body of Christ.
And let me try to make this distinction clear:
the gifts themselves are given by God
and will never be removed.
But possessing the gift itself
does not then automatically qualify the Christian
with the right to exercise that gift
in a leadership position
within the Body.
That privilege,
that honor is dependant upon
whether or not the Christian
has met certain qualifications
that are clearly stated for us in
Scripture.
If the Christian fails to meet those qualifications
he is not to be placed into leadership,
or should be removed from leadership
if he presently holds the position.
This crucial principle
is one of the Lord's strongest protective tools
for guarding the Body of Christ
against error and deception.
James makes it clear in his New Testament letter
that anyone who assumes leadership
within the Body of Christ
should do so with their eyes wide open,
knowing they are placing themselves
under a significantly higher standard of
conduct
than others within the Church.
In James 3:1 he says,
James 3:1 Let not many of you become
teachers, my brethren, knowing that as
such we will incur a stricter judgment.
I believe he is talking about
a stricter judgment from both
his fellow Christians
and from God.
When it comes to those in public leadership,
Scripture clearly gives those under their
leadership
the responsibility to examine the lives
of their leaders
to see if they meet the qualifications.
And one of the strongest warnings
Christ ever offered His disciples
concerned those who wilfully lead
other Christians astray.
Luke 17:1 He said to His disciples, "It is
inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but
woe to him through whom they come!
Luke 17:2 "It would be better for him if a
millstone were hung around his neck and
he were thrown into the sea, than that he
would cause one of these little ones to
stumble.
So, what are those qualifications?
They are given to us in both I Timothy 3
and Titus 1.
We don't have time to go through the entire
passage,
but I'll read just a few verses from Timothy 3
so that you can see what I'm talking about.
1 Tim. 3:1 It is a trustworthy statement: if
any man aspires to the office of overseer,
it is a fine work he desires to do.
1 Tim. 3:2 An overseer, then, must be
above reproach, the husband of one wife,
temperate, prudent, respectable,
hospitable, able to teach,
1 Tim. 3:3 not addicted to wine or
pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free
from the love of money.
1 Tim. 3:4 He must be one who manages
his own household well, keeping his
children under control with all dignity
1 Tim. 3:6 and not a new convert, so that
he will not become conceited and fall into
the condemnation incurred by the devil.
1 Tim. 3:7 And he must have a good
reputation with those outside the church, so
that he will not fall into reproach and the
snare of the devil.
If we took time to look at the passage in depth
we would see that every qualification listed is a
character quality
not a spiritual gift.
The clear implication from the passage
is that the person's life is visible
over an extended period of time
to those over whom he will exercise
authority.
The great trap we have fallen into
in American Christianity
is the belief that a person's gift
is its own justification.
If a man is a good teacher
than he automatically has the right
to teach publicly
and be entrusted with leadership roles.
If he has charm and charisma,
than we will follow.
The truth is, the health
and strength of the Body of Christ
demands the application of the standards God
has given us
for those who lead.
We now live in a culture
that tells us Character doesn't matter in our
leadership.
Baring a major national work of God
that will never change.
That is who we have become as a culture.
So long as our leaders are
nice, tolerant, charismatic people
who do their jobs well
we require nothing more from them.
The separation between public
and private is now absolute.
If we Christians
ever allow the church
to adopt the same philosophy
the game is over and we loose.
We Christians are not producing a program,
or selling a product,
and we are certainly not trying to make people feel
good about Jesus.
We are pointing a sin-shredded world
to the only One
who has the ability
to free us from our sin bondage
and rebuild our lives.
If we cannot illustrate our message
with God's healing work in our own lives
we have no hope
and no answers to offer.
Leadership at any level
within the Body of Christ
is the most sacred trust
God can ever give a person.
We have both a God-given right
and responsibility to examine carefully
the lives of those
who exercise leadership over us,
not demanding perfection,
but rather requiring stability,
maturity,
and a high level of moral integrity.
That does not mean we do not work for
the healing and restoration
of those who fall,
but it does mean
we recognize that their immorality
has disqualified them from leadership
within the Family of God.