12.23.2015 DISCIPLINED CHURCH

taken from 'glimpses of christian history #312

when the Methodist movement began to grow, John Wesley faced the problem of dealing with converts who returned to their old ways. their backsliding discouraged those who were trying to follow Christ and gave Methodism's detractors ammunition.

the solution to this problem came in a way no one expected. the meth had contracted a debt to build a preaching house. in an effort to pay off the debt the leaders volunteered to visit each Meth each week and collect a penny.

when they found that it was easier if the people came to the leader, the Meth CLASS-MEETING was born. the people still paid the penny, but the meetings quickly became more pastoral than financial. leaders used the meetings to instruct members and check up on their spiritual progress.

seeing how effective this practice was convinced Wesley that the work of God could not prosper without church discipline. with church discipline, however, methodism did prosper, reaching almost a million people before Wesley's death.

Wesley frequently preached a sermon on matthew 18, the passage in which Jesus describes the steps to take upon discovering a brother's sin. Wesley said that the admonition to begin the process of church discipline is not just a suggestion, but 'a plain command of god'. he said, 'no alternative is allowed, no choice of anything else: this is the way; walk thou in it'.

the church as a whole needed discipline too, for without discipline there could be no true Christianity.  'is it any wonder that we find so few christians, W asked,  for where is Christian discipline?  in what part of england (to go no farther) is Christian discipline added to Christian doctrine?  now, wherever doctrine is preached, where there is no discipline, it cannot have its full effect upon the hearers'.

W lived a disciplined life and was not afraid to hold other Methodists to a similar standard. during one early visit to bristol, he purged almost 20% of the society for sins including drunkenness, dishonest business practices, gossip, theft, arguing in public and cheating on taxes.

the key to success in a case of church discipline, W said, is the spirit of the one who points out the sin. because so much depends on a right spirit, the one who goes to reprove should first earnestly ask that the Lord 'guard (his ) heart, enlighten (his ) mind, and direct (his ) tongue'.  the Lord's servant must 'avoid everything in look, gesture, word, and tone of voice that savors of pride or self-sufficiency'.  above all, love must be the motive for discipline.

sometimes this gentle approach succeeds, but other times, W noted, the 'mildest and tenderest reproof will have no effect'.  in such cases one or two others must go with the one who has already gone, first expressing their love for the errant brother, then establishing the facts of his sin, and finally exhorting him to repent.

if this second attempt fails, the concerned Christians
(note - this is not exactly correct, in all three steps the individual that first goes to the sinner is the one who acts, in step two he is commanded to 'TAKE with thee one or two more and if step three is need the same person is commanded to TELL it to the church...i have never heard or seen these commands carried out in any like church situation i have heard of...but this is what the Lord said.)
should take the matter to the church. it becomes the minister's responsibility to rebuke the sinner and if necessary, put him out of the church.
W tells his hearers that the matter is then out of their hands:  'when, therefore, you have done this, you have done all which the Word of God, or the law of love, requireth of you: you are not now partaker of his sin, but if he perish, his blood is on his own head'.

Wesley was able to practice what he preached about church discipline because he organized his followers into small groups.  a Methodist society included all the Methodists in an area. it was divided into groups or classes, of 12.  the people met each week to study the bible, pray and report on the state of their souls. each class had a leader who reported to the preacher in charge of the society.
 W published a list of questions for the class leaders to help the MEMBERS EXAMINE THEMSELVES;
1. WHAT KNOWN SINS HAVE YOU COMMITTED SINCE OUR LAST MEETING?
2. WHAT TEMPTATIONS HAVE YOU OVERCOME?
HOW DID GOD DELIVER YOU?
WHAT HAVE YOU THOUGHT, SAID OR DONE THAT MIGHT BE SINFUL?

when the questions revealed sin, the offenders were given another chance.
'if they forsook their sins, W said,  we received them gladly;
if they persisted therein, it was openly declared that they were not of us.
the rest mourned and prayed for them
and yet rejoiced, that, as far as in us lay, the scandal was rolled away from the society'.

because the leaders knew each class member intimately, they could tailor their words to each individual need.  the frequent meetings meant that wrong attitudes could be stopped before they developed into sinful actions. in this context of frequent, personal and loving contact, church discipline became a powerful redemptive force.

although church discipline yielded so many positive results, Methodist leaders were not always eager to exercise it. throughout his career W had to admonish his deputies to examine the societies and expel all who disobeyed the rules.

W wrote to adam clarke, 'be exact in every point of discipline'. to francis asbury he advocated 'a strict attention to discipline'. 
W knew that church discipline can cause churches to split. he nevertheless ordered one of his assistants to remove an errant leader: 'i require you to put him out of our Society. if 20 of his class will leave the society, too, they must. the first loss is the best. better 40 members should be lost than our discipline be lost. they are no Methodists that will bear no restraints'.

to the end of his ministry, W's concern with church discipline remained strong. he was convinced that without follow up, all he had worked for would be lost.

prayer journal
i am no longer my own, but Yours.
put me to what you will,
rank me with whom You will:
put me to doing,
put me to suffering:
let me be employed for You
or be laid aside for You,
exalted for YOu,
or brought low for you.

charles wesley

...a hymn by him (he wrote 8,989)

O FOR A HEART TO PRAISE MY GOD

O for a heart to praise my God
a heart from sin set free
a heart that always feels Thy blood
so freely shed for me!

a humble, lowly, contrite heart
believing, tru and clean
which neither life nor death can part
from Him that dwells within

a heart in every thought renewed
and full of love divine.
perfect and right and pure and good.
a copy, Lord, of Thine!

Thy nature, gracious Lord,impart:
Come quickly from above.
write Thy new name upon my heart.
Thy new best name of Love.