What whould your church do?

You would think and I think in the by laws the requirement is there as well. However, the Pastor and music minister overlook it because she's nice and a regular attender and it seems taboo to confront people with their sins. We had a person contract with the church to do some work. They added all sorts of cost during the construction and eventually bilked the Church out of $30,000. about 1 month after a business meeting discussing if we should just pay the overage amount or get another contractor (the vote was just pay the amount and since the project wasn't finished hired a new contractor) this person was elected to deacon. He never apologized to the church. I was asked by the pastor to be a deacon and I said I wasn't qualified that year because I hadn't payed my full 10% tithe and that would be a bad example even though others didn't know that was the case. I really think people in ministry need to be above reproach.

 

If the church failed to deal with the matter then that tells you what kind of leaders you have in that church. Many pastors have been down that road only to find themselves leaving because spiritually dead are in leadership.

 

I agree with the others, number two.

 

Church Discipline is fine and certainly scriptural. Matt: 16.... Let him without sin cast the first stone. A lot of times we are so busy carring the homosexual flag in our navel that we tend to ignore the sin of adultry.

 

I agree with your last statement. I'd have a difficult time continuing in a church that turned a blind eye to the things you mentioned. Not to sound too southern, but the first thing I thought was bless his heart!

 

I lived in the south for many years and I quickly learned that wasn't an endearment. :laugh:

I agree we'll probably end up leaving.

 

This is a good thread thanks to the OP for posting it. Some thoughts from lil ol me:

MY EXPERIENCE
We have had people in all kinds of ministries in our church who are by the own admission, not Christians and members.
We have had people who are members living compromising lives and still ministering. Some stuff you get to know about but I'm pretty sure there are many who are compromising that we don't know about.
To be quite honest there have been times in my own life where my spiritual life has been less than stellar and I have voluntarily removed myself from a ministry and placed myself under the care and counselling of a my pastor.

MY OPINION
1. I think that we have to be realistic and say that if we are waiting for people to be 100% before they can participate then very few will. In fact a lot of people in the pew will tell you that they are not good enough to be involved in a ministry. I believe that ITS THE DIRECTION NOT THE PERFECTION THAT COUNTS! There is a difference between a person who has fallen into sin or is struggling with an habitual sin in their life and someone who is rebelliously shaking their fist at the church, the scriptures and God, insisting on doing their own thing. In this case the Epistle of of 1 John begs the question of whether they were genuinely converted to begin with.

2. It is worthwhile making sure people understand what the expectations are for ministry and membership before we rush to shake their hand and welcome them in. We need to take the time to qualify people properly and in so doing pre-empt these kind of problems.

3. We need to make sure that we apply the same measures to all in membership and leadership alike. When you act in a disciplinary manner you set a precedent and you have to then have the integrity to follow that precedent through on every occasion. Therefore it stands to reason that we should give due consideration to our disciplinary actions before we apply them in the light of the fact that we may be called to reapply them to ourselves at some stage!

 

I agree completely but I think it is also easy to adopt a hardline almost legalistic approach to discipline because it is easy to be harsh with others and make excuses for ourselves. The danger of spiritual pride in a disciplinary context is always a reality. And there are other factors to consider. Sin and disobedience in the pew can sometimes point back to inadequacy in the pulpit.