Church Matters: 9Marks Blog: “Shepherding a church’s culture”
I regularly read the 9Marks Blog, while disagreeing with the rampant Calvinism, I find a good deal of wisdom in posts addressing church function. The string of posts that begin with this one involve the subject of those people who show up in church with a strong “conviction” about how church should be practiced – one that is at variance in one way or another with the practice of the local church.
- For example, we are talking about someone showing up who insists that all Christian parents must homeschool their children, and looks down on those who do not.
- Or someone insists that their children will sit with them in every service, regardless of the graded Sunday School (or similar programs) that may be going on at the same time.
What to do with such?
Well, the various writers on the 9Marks blog offer some good suggestions.
The only thing that I would add is that the pastor must be jealous of the unity of the local church while allowing individuals to hold their own views on some issues. If folks join the church and exhibit an agenda, the agenda needs to be confronted and ended. If folks join in and quietly practice their convictions while allowing others liberty in these matters, then give them the right hand of fellowship and pray that the Lord might keep them from becoming a problem.
I do think that those who exhibit strong convictions in unclear areas are susceptible to pride and to the cultic influences of some teachers. [Bill Gothard, Vision Forum, et al notably come to mind.]
For convenience, here is a list of the posts at 9Marks so far:
The first one …
the second one
the third, fourth, fifth, and last (to date)
Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3
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