Practicing Christian Leadership, Mentor's Guide, MG11

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P R A C T I C I N G C H R I S T I A N L E A D E R S H I P

“Only the Pastor Is Able to Handle These Kinds of Things.”

In a church where the pastor exercises broad and very godly authority, a major disagreement between two believers in the church has erupted. The nature of the disagreement is severe enough between them to cause major division throughout the church, especially so since both of the members are well-known and exercise key roles in the church. While one of the two want to simply handle the matter privately and confidentially, the other insists that “something of this magnitude” needs to be handled by the pastor. After discussing it several times, they do not seem to be able to resolve their disagreement. The pastor, both a godly man and dear brother, knows nothing of the situation. What would be your counsel to the one in the conflict who desires to go to the pastor right away? In a lively debate at the women’s retreat, a sister who is known in church for her commitment to a holy life, shared her recent frustration with the teaching in church. She said, “In an effort to communicate the love and grace of Christ to the lost, I fear that our church has lost its commitment to live as a holy people of the Lord. I believe that we are called to holiness, and the person who chronically and consistently says that they are absolutely unwilling to obey Christ is not a believer. What about First John? What about Hebrews? What about what our Lord says in the Sermon on the Mount? Are we not making it possible to actually claim to belong to Christ while at the same time refusing to do his will, even on the smallest matters? If we continue this kind of teaching, I believe many people will be deceived into thinking that they belong to the Lord, when in fact, they do not.” If you had heard her comments, what would you have said in response to her heartfelt desire for holiness before Christ? When Bending Over Backwards Goes Too Far

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The Lord’s Hand of Discipline Is on Her

A dear sister of our congregation over the last ten months fell into immorality with an unchristian man. Hard and unbroken, this dear sister resisted any counsel in trying to be restored from her behavior. Here in the last fewweeks, however, she has experienced a number of difficult situations. She was recently laid off from her job, her car was stolen (and returned), and she has not been able to find another job. Her relationship with her unbelieving boyfriend hit the rocks and disintegrated, and her health has been deteriorating (tension migraines). While many are saying that these occurrences can be directly linked to the discipline of the Lord, others feel that such