Vital Signs (Part
1)--Discipline
The typical hospital emergency room takes in annually
thousands of individuals who are there for any number of medical
reasons. The casual observer might be inclined to gauge the
seriousness of a case based on external evidence, such as
lacerations, broken bones and or blood. The trained medical
professional, however, knows that what lies beneath the surface is
often the better measure of traumatization. These include but are
not limited to pulse rate, blood pressure, blood gases, respiration,
and pupil dilation—the vital signs! Thus it is possible for a
patient with roughed up exterior to be in better condition than one
who presents with no visible signs of trauma.
It is a perfectly legitimate exercise to measure the
vital signs of a church ministry. We all know of an individual or
family (perhaps ours) that joined a church based on surface
observations only to discover down the road that the church was not
as healthy as first thought. How is it possible to make such a
determination?
In Acts 16:1-34, the scriptures provide the case
history of an actual church planting. It is a narrative that lends
itself to an analysis of the vital signs that were both operative
and observable within the gospel team that planted the church at
Philippi. Rhetorical question: Should not that which is true of the
church planters be true of and replicated in the churches they
plant? Any church that presents with the same vital signs exhibited
by Paul and his associates is in good spiritual health without
regard for other externals.
The activity of Paul’s team prior to arriving at
Philippi (16:1-10) demonstrates the presence of at least three vital
signs of arguably the most successful church-planting team in the
history of Christendom. Those vital signs are: discipline,
direction, and dynamic. In this Pen article, we will examine the
first vital sign: discipline.
Discipline has to do with the willingness of God’s
people either to abandon or embrace the traits and behaviors that
will enable them to maximize their effectiveness in glorifying the
Lord Jesus, leading others to a saving faith in him, and motivating
fellow believers to go and do likewise. Discipline is often
misconstrued as legalism as evidenced by the number of believers who
cry “Foul!” at the very suggestion of self-restraint.
The purview of legalism is restricted to those things
offered up as a means of saving grace beyond faith in Jesus Christ.
For example, teaching that baptism is required for salvation is in
fact legalism. Baptism is the initial step of discipline for a
born-again believer—a public act of obedience that provides a
resounding “Yes!” to these two questions: “Do you believe in the
Lord Jesus
with all your heart?” (Acts 8:37), and “Do you have a good
conscience as a result of sins forgiven?” (I Peter 3:21).
Our text provides three clear examples of discipline.
The first is Paul and his fearless determination to revisit Lystra
for the fourth time where he was stoned and left for dead on a prior
visit. I’m not certain whether Paul would have worn a “No Fear”
T-shirt, but he clearly lived it! Paul was a disciplined man with a
track record of hazarding his life for the Lord Jesus (15:26). The
salvation of the lost was more critical to him than sustaining his
life or its comforts! Paul was a man who lived at the highest level
of discipline!
The second example is Timothy and his willingness to
undergo a painful circumcision to avoid being a stone of stumbling
to potential Jewish converts—a disciplinary move that speaks
volumes. Does your or my openness to personal and or painful
discipline extend that far? My experience has taught me that it’s
not that difficult for the Lord to impose a set of disciplines upon
those who are predisposed to it as an extension of their submission
to the Lordship of Christ. Timothy was a genuine disciple—a
disciplined man in the fullest sense of the word!
The third example is the decrees ordained by the
Jerusalem council and then delivered to the churches. These
Spirit-sanctioned decrees consisted of prohibitions against meats
offered to idols, blood, things strangled, and fornication
(15:25-29). The Seventh Commandment covered sexual purity (or
impurity). The other
restraints were designed to avoid offence and or confusion toward potential
converts. They were disciplinary in nature, not legalistic! How do
you suppose the church at large would respond today (hypothetically
speaking) if there was an authoritative body issuing decrees that
targeted X-rated media, “Oh My God!” profanity, alcohol, tobacco, et
al?
The specifics of discipline may be open to debate,
but there is no denying its effectiveness. The fruits of these
disciplines were churches established in the faith and that
increased in number (16:5). Established is the Greek
stereoo, meaning “to make solid, firm, strong.” It is
imperfect, passive voice. The solidification took place over time as
truth coupled with discipline had its proper impact upon church members.
Increased
is perisseuo, which means “to exceed a fixed number of
measure.” It is imperfect, active voice. The increase in
churches and their memberships likewise took place over time and exceeded
expectations. The active voice suggests that the disciplined
life is, in and of itself, a driving force for growth! Pastoral
ministry would be a snap if every congregation fully assimilated by
Monday what its pastor articulated on Sunday! But we know that
growth is always an over-time proposition that requires a lot of repetition.
The church that exhibits the vital sign of personal
discipline is building a solid foundation for vibrant spiritual
health without regard for other externals. No church can rise to its
full potential without a spiritual appetite for discipline. One who
wears the name disciple but rejects the imposition of discipline
upon his or her life is in poor spiritual health…if indeed life
exists! In the next Pen article, we’ll consider the second vital
sign: direction.
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