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[3926.22 --> 3927.28] Check your own heart. |
[3927.40 --> 3928.44] And check the word. |
[3928.58 --> 3930.02] And then check in with the Holy Spirit. |
[3930.02 --> 3940.42] And then only then with gentleness and respect and with as much humility as you can muster, ask the hard questions. |
[3940.64 --> 3942.88] Or ask the heart questions. |
[3944.24 --> 3946.42] Remember the goal. |
[3947.94 --> 3951.56] If they listen to you, Jesus says, you have won them over. |
[3953.06 --> 3962.52] That is, if you are right and they know that you are right and repent, you have drawn them back to the household of God, to the family. |
[3962.84 --> 3974.16] The goal of accountability is to restore them to identity of adoption, to sonship, to being holy and blameless. |
[3974.24 --> 3977.96] And maybe this is a truism now, but I think it's also just true. |
[3978.28 --> 3983.06] That if we don't gather, we can't practice accountability. |
[3984.00 --> 3986.94] And if we're never with each other, you can never say what I need to hear. |
[3988.04 --> 3989.46] We need accountability. |
[3989.82 --> 3992.28] And so we need to gather. |
[3992.28 --> 3996.42] Sometimes accountability has to go a step further. |
[3996.66 --> 3999.56] And that's our second reason why we gather. |
[4000.40 --> 4000.96] Discipline. |
[4000.96 --> 4014.90] Now, I know that discipline is a hard word for many of us, especially when we talk about church discipline. |
[4015.00 --> 4023.58] And I'm very aware and have lived through and seen some awful instances of churches abusing power of discipline. |
[4023.58 --> 4030.66] And I know that because of that, there is a type of church person who is in the modern era who doesn't like the word discipline. |
[4031.02 --> 4040.50] And if I'm really candid with you this morning, there is a generation of, let's be bold and prophetic, |
[4040.66 --> 4045.40] there is a generation of boomer Christian leader or liberal Christian or progressive Christian |
[4045.40 --> 4048.98] who hides a cheap grace behind the phrase, |
[4049.30 --> 4050.12] Who am I to judge? |
[4052.00 --> 4052.22] Right? |
[4052.28 --> 4053.68] Or who hides behind the phrase, |
[4053.78 --> 4055.34] We've all been set free from the law. |
[4055.78 --> 4057.86] But listen to the words of Jesus here. |
[4061.58 --> 4064.56] But if they will not listen, Jesus says. |
[4067.26 --> 4070.08] But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, |
[4070.22 --> 4073.62] so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. |
[4073.62 --> 4076.92] And if they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church. |
[4077.24 --> 4079.42] And if they refuse to listen even to the church, |
[4079.56 --> 4082.66] treat them as you would a pagan or tax collector. |
[4084.02 --> 4090.74] And so you see, the gospel is indeed about freedom from sin and death. |
[4090.88 --> 4092.92] And yes, even freedom from the law. |
[4093.24 --> 4097.30] But the gospel is also about freedom to holiness, |
[4097.94 --> 4099.74] to a disciplined life, |
[4100.12 --> 4102.98] freedom to not going on in sin. |
[4102.98 --> 4103.64] Right? |
[4103.76 --> 4106.30] Freedom from and freedom to. |
[4107.30 --> 4109.70] Now here's an interesting test case in this, right? |
[4110.96 --> 4115.34] It is demonstrably true, right, |
[4115.40 --> 4118.92] that church-going religious faith, |
[4119.12 --> 4121.56] not just Christian, but generally religious faith, |
[4121.70 --> 4123.70] is on the decline in Canada. |
[4123.70 --> 4126.32] After World War II, |
[4127.08 --> 4131.74] more than two-thirds of Canadians attended weekly religious services |
[4131.74 --> 4134.78] of whatever variety and type or religion they were part of. |
[4134.84 --> 4136.52] More than two-thirds of Canadians. |
[4136.66 --> 4139.86] In 1996, that was already down to one-third. |
[4141.64 --> 4144.30] And in 2019, the number for which we, |
[4144.42 --> 4146.56] the most recent number for which we have actual data on this, |
[4146.94 --> 4148.62] that's down to 11%. |
[4148.62 --> 4153.04] And now, perhaps after COVID, right, |
[4153.08 --> 4154.02] that number is even lower. |
[4154.02 --> 4157.70] The trend of decline is pretty steeply downward. |
[4158.98 --> 4161.76] And in the CRC, the Christian Reformed Church, |
[4162.04 --> 4165.40] we are lagging a little bit behind that general trend, |
[4165.56 --> 4166.60] but it is also downwards. |
[4166.60 --> 4171.50] But, fascinating to me, |
[4171.98 --> 4174.78] there are pockets within our society, |
[4175.20 --> 4176.62] pockets of religious communities, |
[4177.00 --> 4179.82] that are experiencing growth. |
[4180.64 --> 4182.92] And not just immigration growth, |
[4183.16 --> 4185.54] because that's a place where religion often tends to grow. |
[4186.24 --> 4186.78] For instance, |
[4187.72 --> 4192.56] old-school, traditional Roman Catholicism. |
[4192.56 --> 4193.12] Right? |
[4193.94 --> 4195.32] This is like pre-Vatican II, |
[4195.64 --> 4197.34] Latin-only Roman Catholicism, |
[4197.38 --> 4199.84] is experiencing growth right now. |
[4200.72 --> 4202.82] The Greek Orthodox Church, |
[4203.48 --> 4207.82] right, which boasts on not having changed their liturgy for 2,000 years, |
[4208.52 --> 4209.56] is growing right now. |
[4210.76 --> 4214.12] There's even a smaller segment of super conservative, |
[4214.54 --> 4218.08] small and specific Presbyterian and Reformed churches |
[4218.08 --> 4220.10] that are experiencing growth right now. |
[4220.10 --> 4222.34] And do you know where this growth is primarily happening? |
[4223.52 --> 4224.88] Among young people. |
[4227.22 --> 4228.52] Especially young men. |
[4229.82 --> 4230.96] Why is that? |
[4232.98 --> 4239.64] I suggest that when people inherit a faith, |
[4239.72 --> 4242.54] or experience a faith from their parents, |
[4242.74 --> 4243.56] or from their community, |
[4243.84 --> 4245.96] that has no requirements on them, |
[4246.92 --> 4249.22] that doesn't demand something from them, |
[4249.22 --> 4252.32] in a matter of time, |
[4252.40 --> 4253.10] they start asking, |
[4253.32 --> 4254.22] why should I be required? |
[4254.84 --> 4256.16] Or why should anything be required of me? |
[4257.94 --> 4261.92] Why should I heed the discipline and the demand? |
[4262.88 --> 4264.70] What we can learn from this, right, |
[4264.72 --> 4267.42] is that it is actually the high demand |
[4267.42 --> 4270.54] and an expectation of accountability and discipline |
[4270.54 --> 4274.14] that is compelling to so many people. |
[4274.94 --> 4276.36] In a world that says, |
[4276.68 --> 4277.44] anything goes, |
[4278.28 --> 4279.36] do whatever you want, |
[4279.46 --> 4280.54] just don't hurt others. |
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