Christian Discipline False Teachings
There are many false teachings making the rounds today. Many of these false teachings have to do with Christian discipline. Such Christian discipline false teachings can do great harm to both individuals and churches. In order to avoid such harm, we must look to the authority of the Bible to find the truth. The glorious truth from the Bible will then enable us to correct Christian discipline errors.
There are four areas of Christian discipline false teaching that I wish to address. These conform to the three institutions that God has set up - the home, the state, and the church. The forth is the authority of the individual Christian. God has also given such individual Christians the right and responsibility to follow God in accordance with the Bible and their own conscience.
Lord Acton once said, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely". This is not a Bible verse. Nevertheless, it does state a clearly Biblical idea -- the idea that men are totally depraved proud sinners who are so-easily beset with the corruption of sin. Because of the wicked sinful state of man's heart, God has set up three institutions to help man govern himself. These institutions in turn help to keep people from corrupting themselves through attempting to exercise unbridled power and control over other people and their money.
Unfortunately, not everyone really believes the Bible. As a result, there are many people who think that controlling others for their own selfish or financial benefit is "okay" or even "good". No, that is what Satan wants to do - to triumph over, control, and enslave people and take away the rights which God Himself has given to such people. In fact, the wicked desire of one person to control other people is what motivated Hitler and what will one day motivate the Antichrist as well. The wicked heart of man, when filled with sinful "pride of life", still seeks such control over other people. That is what was meant by Lord Acton's statement that "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely".
The Bible says in the Book of Revelation that the future Antichrist will one day seek to control everyone and everything. Man has been evil in the past, and evil continues, culminating in the Antichrist's rise to power.
Because of the corrupting influence of absolute power, God has set up these three institutions to limit the ability of people to take advantage of, (and so then hurt), other people. Since these are three separate institutions, their separateness tends to limit both anarchy on the one hand and totalitarianism on the other hand, thus effectively limiting the power of sin upon the Earth.
Of course, this is one of the problems behind Christian discipline false teachings - the problem of man being totally depraved and therefore seeking to enslave or hurt other people. Even when saved, a Christian still has an old nature, a nature that seeks to control and hurt other people. This old nature is to be resisted by a Christian, lest he fall into the "snare of the Devil".
Pastors and other church leaders can sometimes fall into this "snare of the Devil" by seeking to overstep the bounds of authority given to them by God to help them govern the church. Such wicked pastors who become "power hungry" will then often attempt to justify this "lording it over the flock" sin of theirs in many ways. One such way is to twist Hebrews 13:17 and other Bible verses to try and make it look like God Himself justifies their own carnal and sinful lust for power and control.
God, however, is not mocked. Those who seek to break God's laws by practicing sin, (such as the sin of trying to hurt or control other Christians), will not be held guiltless before Almighty God. Neither will those be held guiltless who lie by saying "thus hath God said" when God has not so said in His Word, The Bible. No, if The Bible says to not lord it over the flock, then God says what He means, and means what He says. Don't rebel against God!
On a broader scale, religions have often been plagued by people who have wanted to use religion as an excuse for trying to control and "use" other people. Take the cults for instance. If you look at the history of cults, you will find that there is generally a common thread running throughout such cults. Usually, one man falls into the sin of pride. Such a man then exalts himself beyond measure, falling thereby into the snare of the Devil. Once Satan "has his prey", he then uses this man as his "puppet" to introduce organizational and/or doctrinal errors into the group following this man, (i.e. a "cultic church" or other such religious group.) What then follows in this process can be even worse. Often, much, much worse.
One thing that usually happens is that various Christian discipline false teachings come into this group, perpetrated by this man or by a personal assistant of his. One such false teaching is that only the pastor knows or can know the Bible. This idea has been a problem with Roman Catholicism for centuries, and helps to explain why it became such a wicked cult during the early Middle Ages.
The fall of the Roman Catholic Church into sin went further as time progressed. The Pope eventually was called "infallible" in what he said by some of his assistants. Disagreeing with the Pope therefore became a "sin". Those who committed this sin were told by an assistant of the Pope that they needed to "repent" because the words of the Pope were unquestionable. In fact they were told that the Pope's words were on the same level, right up there next to Jesus Christ Himself.
Because of the grievous sin of papal infallibility, millions of Baptists and others were tortured or killed over the centuries by Satan who used his "Puppet", the Roman Catholic Cult, as his instrument to persecute the saints of God who put Jesus and the Bible first.
The Roman Catholic "Church" also followed many other patterns typical of other such cults. Jesuit Priests and others often attempted to coerce "confessions" out of people. (Roman Catholics were required to confess their "sins" against Popery and other aspects of Romanism.) Popes also often abused their power in order to gain wealth at the expense of common laymen.
This wicked sin happened time after time over the centuries. Frequent offerings were collected, helping the Pope to "save his church". Though in reality such offerings actually helped to enrich the Pope and helped to keep the people in poverty. In fact, the "offering" of the people, exacted by Tetzel under false pretenses, (in this case the false pretense that those giving would be forgiven of all of their sins), so infuriated the conscience of Martin Luther that it helped to start the Protestant Reformation.
The Jesuits were the enforcers of the false teaching regarding the Roman Catholic Church. These men followed the Pope in the manner that "SS" men followed Hitler in World War II. These Jesuit assistants to the Pope would gladly do whatever the Pope told them to do, without worrying about whether such a command was right or wrong. Their attitude was, "if the Pope says so, it must be right". This false doctrine greatly corrupted the minds of these Jesuits, many of whom were otherwise very intelligent and "pious" men of great education and abilities.
Machiavelli wrote in his book "The Prince" the idea that "the end justifies the means". This idea has been used by tyrants throughout the centuries. In fact, "The Prince" was Mussolini's favorite book -- he kept it on his night stand. Tens of millions of people have been murdered over the centuries by those who implemented this evil idea by Machiavelli.
This idea was not really new, though. This concept has been practiced by the Jesuits for years. Many Jesuits have tortured and murdered true Christians for the sake of the Pope and for the sake of his "Holy Roman Church". Such Jesuits believed that the troublemaker Christians "had to go" -- (they had to be destroyed). "The end justifies the means" was the Jesuit's excuse for murdering of those who put Jesus and the Bible first.
Because of their cultic idea of papal infallibility, the use of intelligence was not important in the decision making processes of Jesuits and other Roman Catholics. Neither was their knowledge of the Bible. The basic question in such decisions was always, "what would the Pope do?" These Jesuits were therefore willing to torture and kill Fundamental Baptists and others who refused to "repent" from their "sin" of remaining faithful to Jesus and the Bible.
Such Jesuits were not concerned that the Pope's command that they kill Christians was in clear violation of the Scripture. The fact is, they were quite happy to serve Satan by shedding the blood of the Saints of Christ, because they thought that they were actually serving God instead by just obeying the Pope. As Jesus said, "the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service." (John 16:2)
This problem of corruption caused by a lust for power has happened within many churches over the years. This is unfortunately especially true regarding many independent and fundamental Baptist churches. It is therefore important that we look at the institution of the Church which God set up, and compare it to God's two other institutions: the institutions of the home and the state. We can then see both the authority given to, and limits placed by God upon each of these three institutions. Such knowledge will in turn tend to help churches from going wrong on the question of proper Church discipline.
The Home
The first institution which God set up was the institution of the home. God set up the home as His first institution back in the days of Adam and Eve. Nevertheless, Satan has always had a strong desire to destroy the home because God set up the home and Satan very much hates God. Satan also wants to destroy the home because doing so will harm each family member within the home. Nevertheless, God has set the husband to be the head of the home. The husband is to be in the authority in the home. The wife is to live modestly in submission to her husband and the children are to be in submission to both the father and the mother. This is God's plan for the home.
Although God has given man the ultimate authority in the home, man's authority in the home does not give him authority over the other institutions of church and state. The reverse is also true. If the state says to a man that he cannot spank his child, then the state is attempting to usurp the authority (and responsibility) given by to him by God. Any such command by the government that goes contrary to the Bible must therefore be ignored. Such a law by the government is in fact actually an "unlawful" law, because such a law violates the higher law of God which God set up when He set up the institution of the home. Such a unlawful law is therefore to be declared "null and void", because it stands in clear violation of God's higher laws.
Another related Christian discipline false teaching, is that the authority of a church or its pastor extends within the home, negating the authority that God has already given to a man over his own home. This false doctrine is clearly dead-set against both God and the Bible. It is dead-set against God and the Bible because God has already said in his Word, the Bible, that the man is to run his own home.
Therefore, if any man allows his family to sin because a pastor or other church leader tells him to commit such a sin, then such a man will not be held guiltless by Almighty God because he listened to others and committed such a wicked sin. If such a man does listen to a Christian leader and sin, he has allowed the institution of the church to overstep his own authority and responsibility in the home. He has sinned against God.
The State
The state is the next institution which God set up. God set up this institution after the Flood of Noah's day. The authority of the government was set up to cover those matters relating to the state. The authority of the state does not extend over the home, nor does it extend over the church. If, therefore, the state commands a man or woman to stop teaching the Bible to his or her children, to help someone commit an abortion, or commit any other wicked sin, then the state must not be obeyed. God will not hold a man or woman guiltless who disobeys God in order to obey the state. Jesus and the Bible come first!
Likewise, a state's instruction to a man or woman that they disobey God by not witnessing or by refusing to speak out against such abominable sins as abortion and homosexuality must be ignored, even if doing so lands such a Christian in prison. To obey the state in such a case would be to disobey God, which would be a great sin. The Hippie Generation rebelled against the authority of the State. Nevertheless, the state does have authority. Any authority of the state which does not go against the authority of the home, the church, or the individual must be obeyed.
The Church
God set up a third institution when Jesus came to Earth two thousand years ago. This institution was and has been for these two thousand years the local, New Testament Church. The local New Testament church does have authority over its own internal affairs. In fact, a lack of church discipline is a major problem within most churches today. Church members who commit such heinous sins as adultery, abortion, burglary, or lying must be disciplined by the church. For example, for a church member to knowingly vote that a practicing thief should become a member of his or her church would be a very wicked sin indeed! Also, a church's refusal to discipline those church members who commit burglary, computer hacking, spying on people, or other wicked sins is an act of deliberate rebellion and disobedience to God.
On the other hand, the Church does not have authority over the home or over the state. Neither does the state or home have authority over the church. These three institutions are independent from each other. There is no "theocracy" today and so the church does not have any authority over the state. People also have the freedom to decide if they will become Christians or not, and to decide if they will join a church or not. The local church has complete autonomy over its internal affairs. Nevertheless, such a church must still obey Jesus and the Bible, as must its pastor, deacons, and members as well.
The authority of the church does not extend over the home. A pastor cannot go into a church member's house and tell a man how to run his own home. On the other hand, if a man is disobeying the Bible, then that pastor certainly has the right to correct him on that point. A pastor certainly does not have the authority to go into someone's home, start rearranging the furniture, then tell the family what color of paint that they "will have" on the their own walls, and then tell them that the Pastor's son will do the painting and so they need to "cough up" to pay for it. (Don't laugh - something like this has actually happened to some people in certain churches, incredible as it might sound.)
Such things as what colors to paint the walls of a house are matters of personal preference. As such, they fall under the authority of the man as leader of his own home. A pastor's authority is over the church, not over the homes of those people in his the church. If a wicked, egotistical, jealous, or mentally unbalanced pastor does try to usurp a man's God-given authority over his own home, and such a man lets the pastor do it, then such a man has committed a great sin against God by helping Satan to break down the institution of the home. God will not hold such a man guiltless who deliberately chooses to obey his pastor regarding his home and therefore commit such a sin against God.
The Individual
All authority not given specifically to the home, to the state, or to the church belongs to the individual, (even if a man, a pastor, or a representative of the state says differently). A man or woman is free to follow the Bible and his or her own conscience in things that are not under the authority of the three institutions which God set up. For this reason, a Christian is free to not watch a certain offensive television program or movie, certainly to not watch an "R-rated" movie!, if he or she does not want to. Such rights are still under the authority of the individual. Nevertheless, an individual must discipline himself or herself, so as to not come under the control of any vice or sin.
Also, the individual must make sure that he or she does not commit a sin against the conscience. There are many things that are lawful to a Christian. The Bible clearly warns that some things can hurt the consciences of some people. A person who therefore does something that hurts his or her conscience has committed a sin. This is not true of course if the conscience is corrupted so that a person thinks that doing something good, (such as spanking his kids), is a sin. Jesus and the Bible are more important in such a case than a man's or woman's conscience. Jesus and the Bible must always come first!
Conclusion
God has set up three institutions. God has never rescinded these three institutions. The authority of the home was set up back in days of the Garden of Eden. The authority of the state was set up after Noah's flood. The authority of the Church was set up by Christ Himself when He came to Earth. Nevertheless, the conscience of man still exists, and a man or woman must obey God and the Bible. He or she must not defile his or her conscience, a conscience that God Himself placed inside of each person.
If the authority and limitations of these three institutions that God has set up were more widely understood by Christians, then most problems relating to Christian discipline false teaching would tend to disappear. God-given authority must never be usurped, whether it be the authority of the home, the state, the church, or the individual. Nevertheless, where there is authority, there also comes responsibility. The reverse is true as well. Responsibility strongly implies authority. Therefore, avoid Christian discipline false teachings. "Do right!" Resist evil. And may God bless you as you do it!
[Jesus Is The Way To Heaven]
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