How to get kicked out of church: Divisiveness

-
Near the end of his letter to Titus Paul says, Titus 3:10 Reject a divisive person after one or two warnings. 3:11 You know that such a person is twisted by sin and is conscious of it himself. I think this is an example of not applying Jesus' process as outlined in Matthew 18. Perhaps the very divisive person gets one warning, but lesser dividers get two. It probably depends on the scope of their influence. Nevertheless, everyone gets warned, at most twice. The issues of division in Crete, where Titus led, seemed to be over genealogies, quarrels about the law, and need of circumcision in the Christian's life. Paul wants to keep the Gospel the main thing. How does Paul boil down the good news for Titus? Titus 3
3:1 Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work. 3:2 They must not slander anyone, but be peaceable, gentle, showing complete courtesy to all people. 3:3 For we too were once foolish, disobedient, misled, enslaved to various passions and desires, spending our lives in evil and envy, hateful and hating one another. 3:4 But “when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, 3:5 he saved us not by works of righteousness that we have done but on the basis of his mercy, through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, 3:6 whom he poured out on us in full measure through Jesus Christ our Savior. 3:7 And so, since we have been justified by his grace, we become heirs with the confident expectation of eternal life.”
The good news is Jesus saved us from the consequences of our sins, hell, and to a life of good. Paul has little tolerance for those who want to destroy the fellowship within a church by quarreling over stupid stuff. We can't earn our salvation, so circumcision won't help. We aren't saved based on our heritage, so genealogies don't matter. As I've heard well said, God has no grandchildren. However, our behavior proves our words true or false. Earlier in the letter Paul writes, Titus 1:16 They profess to know God but with their deeds they deny him, since they are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed. When our deeds deny our Savior, we need to repent.

Is there ever an occasion to divide in the church? Yes. If the leader is leading people away from Jesus and the simplicity of the good news, then get away. If you are going to warn others, make sure you are right, because you deserve ejection otherwise.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why did Peter put his coat on before jumping in the water? John 21:7

-
I have the great pleasure of facilitating every week a Bible discussion group with several high school students. We've been discussing the Gospel of John  this past year, and we finally finished tonight. We enjoyed the humorous scene John writes about in this last chapter. The great apostle John can't help himself when it comes to embarrassing his fellow inner circle apostle; the denial of Christ, his slowness in getting to the empty tomb, and this event in the last chapter. John 21:7 That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. What's the joke? Well John is the first to realize that Jesus is on the beach, #humblebrag, but then Peter puts ON his coat before jumping out of the boat? I've seen some academic ink spilled trying to explain this weird behavior on the part of this fisherman ( good one ...
Read more

bike review: Actionbent JS2-US, for sale

-
Image
Update 2011: Sold to the LBS in trade for something new. Pictures soon. Update May 2009. This baby needs a tuneup, cables and tires, and I bought something new . If you are interested in buying this from me for $350 and are willing to pick it up in New London County Connecticut, contact me by email or facebook. Both contact methods can be found to the right below the "about me" section. Click on "contact the Umblogger." Here is my new bike review from April 2007, 2 years ago. I still think the Huffy Star-Spangler would be my ideal bike. I bought a recumbent bike last month from Actionbent and have been using it for my commute. here is a picture of the Jet Stream 2, understeering. i've been a bicycle commuter for years but last summer i developed at work a bad case of tendinitis in both wrists which made riding painful. one day i longed for my old Huffy Star Spangler with the banana seat and the hot rod handle bars and pined for the good old days. then i remembe...
Read more

Binishell - concrete dome homes

-
Image
IM Design has been bringing great housing alternatives to its blog lately. Like this thing. Binishell : These pictures are pretty old, but there are new ones at the new website, Binishells.com . There is similar technology in use in the US used by Monolithic Dome . Monolithic seems to take more work. Bini lays the re-bar in circles on top of the air bladder, but springs run cross wise through that steel. The concrete is poured on the flat bladder and re-bar and springs and then the bladder is inflated before the concrete sets. All the technical details are explained on the older version of the website. Insulation still needs to be added on the dome and a finish coat after that. Monolithic blows up the bladder first, then sets up re-bar inside then insulation is sprayed on then concrete. No matter what, I like domes and round homes .
Read more