One of the important duties of the eldership is that of overseeing or ruling the congregation. The elders were instructed to oversee the flock, keep it in order, settle the difficulties that arise and enforce the laws of God. It is clearly understood that the elders have no power or authority, save that which has been vested in them by the Lord Jesus Christ. They have no power to legislate or enact laws for the church, neither do they have any power to release that which the Lord has made binding upon the church. Elders have no choice in the matter of ruling the church. They have no power to change the doctrine of Christ or the worship of the church. They are to enforce the rule of God over His people. They must be as faithful in enforcing the rule of God as they are in teaching the will of God. This calls for discipline.
The elders have been made the rulers, overseers, mouthpieces of God to His people in all dispensations of God to man. The elders are the ones through whom God decides cases and enforces His laws in the church. God has never, in any age, left the decisions of questions and difficulties that arise among His people, to the vote of the majorities. The majority vote included the young, the thoughtless, the untaught, the inexperienced and the incompetent to decide such important maters. Such a course as this would be to govern the church by impulse, favor, passion, prejudice and not by the law of God. Even our civil powers do not decide the guilt by popular majority. God decides all questions in His kingdom. In the church, He has ordained to rule His people through the eldership. The scriptural eldership, acting according to the law of God, has the full authority of God to discipline the disorderly. The New Testament is the law of the church and the elders are the scriptural representatives of God to enforce this law according to the will of God.
Elders have no authority from God to rule or act for any church, save that one of which they are members and over which the Holy Spirit has made them bishops. There is no New Testament precedent of elders extending their authority over anyone who is not a member of the church over which these elders are appointed. The discipline that may be administered belongs to the membership of the church and to no other membership. Each church with its scriptural eldership, acting scripturally, is the highest authority in the government of God's people here on earth. No association, conference, convention or any other human authority has any divine right to exercise discipline over a member of the church. Only the church through its eldership has the authority over members of the church. There is no God-appointed tribunal to which a member of the church may appeal after a scriptural eldership has scripturally administered discipline to any disorderly member.
The moment any elder or set of elders begin to extend their authority or discipline over others than members of their own congregation, that moment they cease to act as God's representative upon earth. The decisions and rulings and discipline of the eldership of a church belong only to that church and other churches are free before God to act upon matters which pertain to their own congregation. It is true that the standards of righteous living are the same in all the churches that follow the New Testament. It is also true that all principles of discipline given in the New Testament belong to all of the churches but it is not true that the decisions and discipline of one set of elders must be enforced upon another church, simply because the eldership of the first church acted so.
God has not tied together the churches of Christ through the discipline or actions of the eldership. It is the duty of the elders of the church to see that a thorough investigation of every case that comes up is made. It is not only the duty of the elders to investigate but it is their duty to direct the investigation and see that it is just, full and fair. This investigation does not necessarily have to be made before the congregation. The discreet and prudent men of experience ought to investigate prayerfully the case and put it in such form that every member of the church will be satisfied of the justice of the decision. Brother David Lipscomb wrote on this point as follows. "It is utterly impossible that men and women can act earnestly and heartily in a church when they believe it guilty of injustice and wrong to its members. An eldership that assumes such authority assumes to be the church and lords it over God's heritage. An eldership that refuses to satisfy by investigation a single member of the church proves its unfitness and incompetency to rule a congregation of disciples of Christ."
A fearful responsibility rests upon the elders in exercising discipline. It takes courage on the part of the elders to enforce the will of God in cases of discipline. Elders cannot become a part to any difficulty in the church; that moment, they disqualify themselves to act as God's representatives in the discipline. Even in our civil courts no juror, witness or judge can act without bias upon a case to which he is a party. When trouble arises in the congregation, the elders must see that they do not become parties to the matter. They are to keep themselves free from any bias or prejudice or personalities in the affair. After the investigation has been made with prayerfulness and thoroughness, then the matter is presented to the congregation and every member of the congregation must act scripturally and carry out the will of God. It is as much the duty of the members of the church to carry out the will of God as it is the eldership. No intelligent, scriptural eldership will put a matter before the church in such a way as to call for those who are in favor of the exclusion or retention of the disorderly. The question to be decided is whether or not the law of God has been violated and whether all scriptural procedures of disciple have been made.
Discipline is such a serious matter that elders and churches must act according to the will of God, or else their action becomes an usurpation of the authority of God and a perversion of the will of God.
No comments:
Post a Comment