Is Your Church Safe? Part 2

Is Your Church Safe? Part 2

15 "And Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and He overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.

16 And He would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple.

17 And He was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” ~Mark 11:15-17 ESV

“I assure you: Anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the door but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber.” ~John 10:1 HCSB

In this second post of a 2-part discussion regarding church safety for God's local Church, we will explore the following questions:

1.Why is it important to identify the modern-day thieves and robbers? (See above scriptures references)

2.Who are these deceivers that Jesus has warned may be in our Churches?

3.How to lovingly confront them and remove them, if their unwanted behavior continues.

Please be aware that the purpose of discussing this topic is not to incite fear, distrust of other church attenders, or to discourage church attendance. Instead, it is to make you aware that Jesus first warned us and that the Bible provides instructions on how to address unwanted sinful behaviors within the Church. I also write to encourage you to remain faithful and pleasing to God, and to love and fight for the Church so that both of you can be ready for when Jesus Christ returns.

2 Timothy 3:16-17:

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. (NLT)

Philippians 2:14-16:

Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless. (NLT)

Why Is It Important to Identify The Modern-Day Thieves And Robbers Within The Church?

Since the Bible warns us about deceivers and false apostles in the last days, this is the primary reason why church leadership should not only be aware but also spend some percentage of time engaging in activities that 1) Identify these individuals, 2) Develop and implement documented leadership protocols, and 3) Deliver training to leadership and ministry volunteers. Jesus identifies these thieves and robbers in John 10:1,10 and He gives a sober warning to these individuals in Matthew 18:5-10. The general Greek definition of the term “child” that is used in this passage by Jesus refers to a little or young child. But it can also reference believers who are spiritual babes in the faith. Jesus’ primary woe to anyone who tempts His children to sin appears in verses 6-7:

6 But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea.

7 What sorrow awaits the world, because it tempts people to sin. Temptations are inevitable, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting. ~Matthew 18:6-7 NLT

Paul also writes about who these deceiving robbers are and what their end will be in 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 by stating that these individuals are “workers” who disguise themselves inside the church as “servants of righteousness” or of goodness, but instead are wicked.

So it does not surprise us if Satan’s servants also make themselves look like servants who work for what is right. But in the end they will be punished for the things they do. ~2 Corinthians 11:15 (ICB)

Who Are These Modern-Day Thieves And Robbers Within The Church?

As we discussed in my first post, in general the Church's modern-day thieves and robbers are people who hinder the Church from performing its Biblically mandated mission and goals for its local body, community, and its impact in the world for the furtherance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God. The Bible further identifies them as hypocritical, deceitful workers within the Church. I have created a list below of individuals who may be present in your local church and need to be lovingly confronted by leadership. Please be aware that these red-flag behaviors that are listed below are not to permanently label and ostracize anyone, because the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His transformative power of His indwelling Holy Spirit is available to all Believers! The list below is only to identify some types of "red-flag behaviors” that are not to be tolerated within the local Church:

• Lustful, sexual deviants who prey on children and adults

• Greedy people whose motives are to earn a living from selling and distributing drugs inside the Church

• Divisive people who gossip and spread malicious lies about leadership and others inside the Church

• Prejudiced people on the Greeter’s and Welcome Teams who make it their mission to personally weed out “unfit” visitors from feeling welcomed at Church and they recruit others to do so as well; These individuals are forgetting that Christ died for all

• The member or ministry volunteer who stands in the Church's lobby talking every Sunday and never enters to worship or be taught the Word of God and influencing others to do the same

• Prejudiced people on the New Member Orientation Team who also make it their mission to personally weed out “unfit” new members by preventing them from participating in any ministry other than their designated “dumping ground” ministry

• The Sr. Pastor who does not take the role of "Shepherd" seriously by overseeing the discipling of his/her pastoral staff or holding them accountable for assigned ministry effectiveness

• The Church Staff employee who does not communicate to Church leadership about their addiction(s) nor seeks to get help (See Recommendations at end of article)

• The Pastoral Team that is more concerned about church attendance (e.g. in-person and virtual numbers) and how services "visibly appear" rather than the true life-transformation effectiveness of its Church's ministry programming (i.e., “Ministry is being done in name only”)

• The Church members and ministry volunteers who argue with each other and do not forgive each other’s offenses; thus, keeping strife and discord in the ministry and within the Church. The ministry leaders who allow such unreconciled behavior to continue without providing helpful intervention

Notice that my list above labels both gossiping and being a sexual predator as red-flag behaviors and sins that are equally unwanted and both have need of being individually addressed within the Church. The Bible also lists various sinful lifestyles that are not becoming of a child of God that we are encouraged to "put-off" and not engage in as a lifestyle in Colossians 3:5-11. However, it is important to note that a person does not have the ability to put-off sinful lifestyles if they were never born again or received salvation. It is not our role in the Church to determine who is saved and who is not. We can only lovingly confront unwanted behaviors being done within the Church.

5 So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. 6 Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. ~Colossians 3:5-6 (NLT)

How to Lovingly & Biblically Address Them?

Now that we have identified possible individuals that meet the description of “modern-day thieves and robbers”, we must lovingly confront them with prayer and godly discernment. The Bible provides the best solution in how to address unwanted behavior in the Church, which is by engaging in Church discipline. The Bible provides 3 levels of church discipline, with each level increasing in scope to include more persons into the discussion and decisions regarding the individual. Keep in mind that the Bible provides general guidelines. Each level requires practicing love, submitting the individual and situation to God in prayer, and seeking the Holy Spirit’s guidance in how to proceed and with whom (Refer to Matthew 18:18-20). Level 1 of Church discipline is discussed in Matthew 18:15 that explains that we should confront the issue or perhaps get clarification about what was observed by addressing it one on one with the individual. Level 2 is shared in the next verse, Matthew 18:16, which explains that if the individual does not listen nor agrees to cease doing the ill-behavior, then meet again this time taking “one or two others with you, so that by the testimony of two or three witnesses every fact may be established” (CSB). Finally, if the individual continues not to listen, Level 3 for Church discipline is found in Matthew 18:17, which recommends bringing the individual and matter before the Church for this group to decide or vote regarding the fate of the person's fellowship with the local Church. For example, Church leadership may decide to limit or remove his/her participation in church ministries. They may also decide to ban the person from attending any in-person church events until the unwanted behavior is no longer being practiced. Whatever decisions result from church discipline, the goal is always to lovingly restore a person back to normal fellowship within the church community if the person has truly repented.

Recommendations

I have listed below a few recommendations regarding engaging in church discipline utilizing a Safety Team. However, I have one disclaimer: my ideas have not been tested by any churches with which I am familiar. I would love to hear from you if you/your Church has practiced any of these recommendations with success.

• Develop and document Safety Team procedures and Provide Ministry Safety training.

• Solicit assistance from your local police department and/or from law enforcement members to assist in developing unwanted red-flag behaviors and Safety procedures.

• Determine general Safety Training for ALL church volunteers to take (I have taken online training with Ministry Safe (ministrysafe.com), which I recommend if training can be customized and/or supplemented for your unique Church's needs).

• Each ministry volunteer needs to know both how and to whom to report a member concern/accusation in or outside of their ministry area

• Create a safety team general phone number that can be given to the Church. There needs to be an audit trail; thus, it would be good to have a transcript automatically generated for each message left (e.g. Subscribe to a Google Voice number and connect to a monitored Church email address).

• If deceit is used in order to confirm an individual's behavior is legitimately being practiced, please reveal the truth to the individual and why you 'had' to deceive them, especially, if it is a false accusation. (NOTE: I do not recommend that deceit be utilized on anyone, but I also do not have a law enforcement or investigative background. I do realize that this may be necessary with some matters.)

• Preach/Teach about Biblical accountability and that God desires us to live holy lifestyles often from the pulpit.

• Incorporate topics on accountability and your defined church discipline process in pre-membership/discovery classes. Perhaps, also include the catchphrase: "DO ASK. DO TELL". REMINDER: Communication about Safety procedures need to be in place and documented so that leadership and church attenders know what to do and to whom to report the matter, including if it is their ministry leader.

• Lastly, if you have sexual or drug addicts who are desiring to be free, I recommend that you have them contact Daystar Ministries for the Recovery for Everyone book and workbook that they offer as free resources to individuals and Churches can also utilize if desiring to start recovery small groups.

In conclusion, making our Churches safe and accomplishing the goals that Christ has for both the corporate and individual Church as His Bride is our Christian responsibility, because we belong to Jesus! When Jesus returns, don’t you want to be counted in the number that is shining brightly as representatives of God’s Kingdom? I do. Let’s encourage each other to do our part in making our Churches safe. God bless you.