Citywide Baptist Church
How do I know what is ok?
Jesus lays out a way to know what behaviour is ok and what is not ok.
Locations & Times
Citywide Baptist Church (Mornington)
400 Cambridge Rd, Mornington TAS 7018, Australia
Sunday 10:00 AM
We have just seen Jesus instruct his followers to go and have an awkward conversation with anyone they believe to be sinning.
One of the things that get in the road of the church being one is that different people have different opinions about what is right and what is wrong.
HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT IS RIGHT?
One of the things that get in the road of the church being one is that different people have different opinions about what is right and what is wrong.
HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT IS RIGHT?
There is real danger when we trust our own understanding too much
We individually tend to think of ourselves as clear thinkers and see those who disagree with us as misguided. We imagine that the impressions we have about the world come to us unsullied and unfiltered. We think we have the capacity to see things just as they really are, and that it is others who have confused perceptions.
As a result, we might think our job is simply to point out where other people have gone wrong in their thinking, rather than to engage in rational dialogue allowing for the possibility that we might actually be wrong.
- Peter Ellerton (Senior Lecturer in Critical thinking - UQ)
We individually tend to think of ourselves as clear thinkers and see those who disagree with us as misguided. We imagine that the impressions we have about the world come to us unsullied and unfiltered. We think we have the capacity to see things just as they really are, and that it is others who have confused perceptions.
As a result, we might think our job is simply to point out where other people have gone wrong in their thinking, rather than to engage in rational dialogue allowing for the possibility that we might actually be wrong.
- Peter Ellerton (Senior Lecturer in Critical thinking - UQ)
"You can safely assume you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.”
~ Anne Lamott
~ Anne Lamott
We agreed that different opinions were one of the major things that got in the road of the church being one.
Different Opinions appear to be one of the central issues
What issues are the most complex for you to know what is right and what is wrong?
https://www.menti.com/366eeae9dcJesus appears to tell the disciples that they get to decide what is right and wrong.
This is a direct restatement of Jesus' words to Peter
Jesus is clearly delegating authority, initially to Peter and now to the whole church.
The authority he is delegating seems to be about determining what kind of behaviour is and isn't ok for a follower of Jesus.
The authority he is delegating seems to be about determining what kind of behaviour is and isn't ok for a follower of Jesus.
"the binding and loosing is best understood as having to do with the regulation of behaviour. It has to do with bringing to bear on the lives of those who would be disciples the significance of all that Jesus was and brought. Having been instructed by Jesus, the church is able to prohibit and command in a manner that is backed by God himself. In the context of the attempt to bring back an erring brother or sister, the specific point will be that the church is able to confirm the standard of behaviour to which the erring one is being called to conform once more."
- John Nolland (New International Greek Testament Commentary)
- John Nolland (New International Greek Testament Commentary)
Because cultures change there will always be new questions about what faithfulness to Jesus means and Jesus is giving the church authority to discern what is ok (binding) and what is not ok (loosing).
there will be at least two "stories" about what should be bound and loosed that the church will have to guard against.
The "world" will have a story about what is ok and what is not ok.
The generations that has gone before us will also have a story that was a response to their time and place and culture, that we will need to not be trapped in.
What might be right in one culture and time may not be right in another. (Baptists can now dance).
there will be at least two "stories" about what should be bound and loosed that the church will have to guard against.
The "world" will have a story about what is ok and what is not ok.
The generations that has gone before us will also have a story that was a response to their time and place and culture, that we will need to not be trapped in.
What might be right in one culture and time may not be right in another. (Baptists can now dance).
In saying "again" Jesus is indicating that what he is about to say is a development of what he just said.
For Jesus, the discernment of his truth is not something you do by yourself.
The word agree here is richer and deeper than what we normally mean by the English word.
symphōneō: harmonious sound” of many musical instruments
In order to sing in harmony you need to know what note the other person is singing and then add your own contribution in a way that builds on it.
The task for the church is not to be defined by the world or by previous generations but to do the work of discernment between people who think differently and wrestle together for truth in JESUS's name.
symphōneō: harmonious sound” of many musical instruments
In order to sing in harmony you need to know what note the other person is singing and then add your own contribution in a way that builds on it.
The task for the church is not to be defined by the world or by previous generations but to do the work of discernment between people who think differently and wrestle together for truth in JESUS's name.
Throughout the first centuries of the Christian church, some of the most complicated questions were settled by church councils. The first church council is recorded in Acts 15.
The church council begins by naming what God is doing and different people with different points of view state their understanding.
They take time ("much discussion") to see things from as many perspectives as possible.
They take time ("much discussion") to see things from as many perspectives as possible.
The council comes to a conclusion when the chairman summarises what has emerged in the dialogue and names how it aligns with the bible.
The Wesleyan Quadrilateral
Together they are putting into practise a grid that one scholar named for John Wesley.
The outcome of the discernment process is always a combination of both grace and truth that produces life, because that is who Jesus is and he promises to be with us as we wrestle with these questions.
We can test whether it is truly God's will because if it is it will produce life and not damage.
Jesus came to respond to the universal human need to know how to live well. He came to show us how, through reliance on him, we can best live in the universe as it really is. That is why he said, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (Jn 10:10). His supremacy lies in the greatness of the life he gives to us.
Putting Jesus Christ into a worldwide competition with all known alternatives is the only way we can give our faith a chance to prove his power over the whole of life.
Dallas Willard
Putting Jesus Christ into a worldwide competition with all known alternatives is the only way we can give our faith a chance to prove his power over the whole of life.
Dallas Willard
Living from Jesus' truth produces fruit
The task of the church is to prayerfully discern the right ways of acting in the world in this moment and in this culture.
Because different cultures face different questions it will be necessary sometimes for the Nepalese congregation to have different answers to the Australian congregations, but the Matthew 18:18-20 process always needs to be at the heart of the wrestling.
Because different cultures face different questions it will be necessary sometimes for the Nepalese congregation to have different answers to the Australian congregations, but the Matthew 18:18-20 process always needs to be at the heart of the wrestling.
Jesus promises to be with us when we are doing the genuine work of discernment together.
Find a Kingdom Cell
https://www.citywidehobart.org.au/kingdom-cells/Small Group Questions:
1) Have someone read the quote from Peter Ellerton. Have there been times when you trusted your own point of view too much?
2) What are some of the different opinions that you have seen being damaging to relationships?
3) Jesus entrusts discerning what is right and wrong behaviour to the church. Are there questions you would like the church to be clearer about?
4) Jesus assumes that the truth will come through agreement, assuming work to discern. Have you seen examples of Christians struggling together to discern truth in a way that was helpful?
5)Talk about the implications of the Wesleyan Quadrilateral for discerning truth.
6) Read through the story of the Jerusalem council in Acts 15 and talk about what you see happening in the process.
1) Have someone read the quote from Peter Ellerton. Have there been times when you trusted your own point of view too much?
2) What are some of the different opinions that you have seen being damaging to relationships?
3) Jesus entrusts discerning what is right and wrong behaviour to the church. Are there questions you would like the church to be clearer about?
4) Jesus assumes that the truth will come through agreement, assuming work to discern. Have you seen examples of Christians struggling together to discern truth in a way that was helpful?
5)Talk about the implications of the Wesleyan Quadrilateral for discerning truth.
6) Read through the story of the Jerusalem council in Acts 15 and talk about what you see happening in the process.