The following is part of the interview process I went through with Community Bible Church of Olathe. After the initial 3-hour conversation, they sent me a list of questions to respond to. These were necessarily brief, but I hope you find them helpful.
Q7: What is your practice of church discipline?
- Church discipline should never be harsh and authoritarian, but a loving and gracious act designed to restore sinful “family” members and protect the church.
- According to Matthew 18 (see also 1 Corinthians 5:1-13; Galatians 6:1; 1 Thessalonians 5:14; 2 Thessalonians 3:15; James 5:19; etc.), most church discipline should be informal—lovingly and privately addressing issues of sin in the lives of our fellow believers.
- Approaching people privately to begin with protects them from false accusations and makes it much more likely that we will “win” our brothers and sisters.
- If they refuse to listen, we should still approach them privately but bring with us one or two more so that either we or they can be shown to be mistaken.
- If this still doesn’t win them and their sin is confirmed, I believe the next step should be to make the elders of the church aware and let them shepherd the church through this difficult process.
- Eventually, disfellowship may be necessary, but it should be bathed in prayer and if the elders are in agreement (18:19).
- The invitation to repent should still be gracious and loving. When the brother or sister repents, they should be restored to fellowship.
- I have personally been involved in four church discipline events and twice the sinful members eventually repented and were restored to fellowship.
Q8: What is your view of the unique roles of men and women in the church (complementarianism, egalitarianism)?
- I believe men and women are equal in the eyes of God and have been given different, but complementary roles in the family and the church. As the family embraces these roles it strengthens the church. As the church embraces these roles it strengthens the family.
- I believe the submission of wives to their husbands and of all church members to the elders of the church does not imply inferiority, but is an act of worship and a ministry of service.
- Husbands are not instructed to demand the submission of their wives—it’s between a woman and God. Wives are not to demand sacrificial love and headship from their husbands—it’s between a man and God. Elders are not to demand submission of members—it’s between individuals and God. Members are not to demand shepherding from their elders—it’s between elders and God. However, according to the principles of church discipline, we should all hold each other accountable through loving, patient instruction, encouragement and admonishment.
Q9: What is your understanding RE spiritual gifts, including are all still in operation today?
- Christ and the Holy Spirit give gifts to all believers according to God’s sovereign will. All believers receive at least one spiritual gift. (Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4 and 1 Peter 4)
- Spiritual gifts are given for the edification of the body and are not to be used for personal edification.
- The evidence of the New Testament, the Old Testament, church history and the nature of some gifts shows that some spiritual gifts—primarily the sign and revelatory gifts—were foundational in nature. Others such as speaking and serving gifts are permanent, at least for the entire Church Age. The foundational gifts served to authenticate Jesus as Messiah and the Apostles as His messengers, as well as provide signs to unbelieving Israel at the foundation of the church (“this people,” 1 Corinthians 14:21).
- To be clear, God can do as He wills whenever He wills. He still does miracles. Every time we pray we are asking God to supernaturally intervene. The point is that God is apparently no longer giving miraculous gifts to people.
