Meg Logan’s Blog

So, Do we? Do we overemphasize disipline in our congregations? Are we causing people to feel guilt for the sin Christ has already pardoned them of? The person I was speaking with seems to think that discipline is not nearly as important as compassion. That, we should pour mercy, compassion, grace, and such on our brothers and sisters. We should not hold them to a higher standard than the rest of the world. We should not expect them to be good, to walk righteously, to be happy all the time. I frequently hear this idea espoused. That Grace is above all in importance. That we no longer have any responsibility to act rightly, or with self discipline.

The problem I have with that, is that it allows the church to look full of bumbling idiots, who sin just as much as sinners, who fail to be courteous, righteous, moral, loving, faithful, just, etc etc. Where do we draw the line? Certainly, it isnt in favor of allowing all sin and misbehavior to run rampant through His ranks. Christ, has already set us free of the bondage of sin, shouldn’t we therefore find it not only easier, but better to live lives with less recurrent sin?

There is, in my opinion place and purpose for both discipline, and compassion. We can have compassion on those who are suffering, but when those people continue to act wrongly, and therefore continue to bring suffering upon themselves, is it our role to give them compassion, or discipline? I am not saying we should condemn those fallen brothers and sisters. But we should also equip them through discipline and teaching so that they do not continue to fall in the same areas. When does compassion become not only a crutch, but an ongoing excuse for continual sin in the lives of the saints?

Perhaps I am addressing this completely wrong. Have I confused terms? Or simply confused applications?

Certainly, grace is able to cover a multitude of sins (all of them infact), but at some point we need to also encourage our brothers to right behavior. The person I was speaking with about this, well, they are tired of pretending to be a good Christian. And that really caught my attention.

IT ISNT ABOUT PRETENDING. We are all going to fail. I am not for one second trying to suggest that we pretend to be good. I am suggesting that we ACTUALLY grow up and be good! That we GROW INTO the Righteousness that Christ afforded us. Why should we waste the gift of righteousness? His death not only bought my pardon, but bought my freedom on earth from the bondage of sin, and bought righteousness for me who was inable to be righteous, and pulled me from that miry clay, to make me a perfect vessel in His service.

We waste His gift when we accept only the saving grace, and ignore the growing into righteousness. Discipline has a purpose, God tries to get us to grow up and sometimes that is painful. Sometimes we are not doing our part in our sanctification. (Oh I can hear it now, people are saying “but God does it all.”) Well, yes… and no. We are a partnership, without Him nothing is possible, but we must renew our minds. The Lord could very well make us perfect the instant we become saved. And from His perspective we do, somehow, some mysterious way. He says it Himself…God “delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the Kingdom of His beloved Son.” (Col. 1:13) and “you were formerly darkness but now you are light in the Lord” (Eph. 5:8)

But from our perspective we are not instantaneously righteous. Paul says we must grow up in Christ, by the renewing of our minds. The process called sanctification. The process by which we conform to His image of us, through renewing our mind with the Word of God, which is like Living Water, and a Two Edged Sword able to separate flesh and spirit.

Here are some wise words from Neil T. Anderson (they can be found in his book, Victory Over Darkness)

“If you believe you are part light and part darkness, part saint and part sinner, you will live in a very mediocre manner with little to distinguish you from the non-Christian. You may confess your proneness to sin and strive to do better but you will live a continually defeated life because you percieve yourself to be only a sinner saved by grace, hanging on till the rapture. Satan knows he can do nothing about who you really are, but if he can get you to believe you are no different from the natural person, then you will behave no differently from the natural person.”

This is precisely what I mean. You have to do that active part of renewing you mind, so that you actually believe what God says about you. Memorizing scripture is a wonderful place to start, because it equips you with the promises to fight back against the lies of Satan, and by using the Word as the Sword of Truth as it is intended in your own mind, you will win the continual victory, of course not by your own strength, but His. Not only using the Sword of Truth, but by “taking every thought captive unto the obedience of Christ.” Not only actively speaking against the lies of our experience, but choosing to confine those thoughts that are contrary to His truth about us (among other things), and force them into the conformity with Christ’s image of you. This is what I mean when I say we do not live by our own experiences, but by the Word of God. We “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge the Lord and He will make straight your paths.”

If we are in a depression, the Lord promises sweet relief. But what is our part? Obviously not all Christians are instantaneously set free of their depression, or anxiety, or whatever. Many continue to struggle Why? Do these people need more discipline? more compassion? or more faith?

They need more WORD, a better understanding of who God says they are. They need faith to hear and believe it, and they need discipline to use the Word as a sword. Grace to bear us up, and encourage us, to give us the strength to perservere, but discipline to keep on pressing on, to finish the race.

A balance between Providence, and Personal Responsibility.

I hope to hear some replies!

Meg