When I think of our duties and responsibilities, as they relate to government, I think about the Lord's Prayer, "Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." If we pray for this, shouldn't we be actively devoting our lives to this, to be in service to do His will on earth? To further, to expand, to bring closer to perfection this kingdom, on earth, as it is in heaven. Seems to me we have a responsibility to keep working. After all, we have a long way to go.
I agree with just about everything you said here. But, what do you mean by purify the church? Isn't that the Holy Spirit's role? Believers will be transformed by the renewing of their mind, presumably by reading Scripture, praying, and gathering with other believers to worship and pray.
How will a mature Church impact culture unless there are enough of us? Rallying the Church is one thing, but we dare not force unbelievers to go along with a Biblical Principles Party. Seventeenth-century Massachusetts and Calvin's Geneva, for example, demonstrate why that's a bad idea.
The Holy Spirit purifies the "invisible church" (all who are Christians, anywhere). But God instituted authorities to purify the "visible church" (the gathered Christians in a specific place).
For years it's been lamented that so many people call themselves Christians but live nothing like Christ. By and large, that's because their church leaders aren't stepping up to tell them they aren't actually Christians. Without a return to church discipline, we'll continue to struggle to develop a united identity.
Ah, your amillennial position explains a lot regarding your worldview. I read the "teaching disciples to observe..." passage as passing on an allegiance to His commands, not enforcing a system of rules.
I, too, lament so-called Christians not acting like Christ, but I think it is more because they are not actually Christians or because they do not read the Bible to be transformed by it. The cure for the first is gospel presentation, not behavior modification. The cure for the second is self-evident. I served under a pastor who was excessively authoritarian. The best metaphor I have is that he was driving the sheep, not leading them. I believe the chief roles of a sermon during a worship service should be to 1. Worship God and 2. Whet people's appetites for Scripture.
I think the premillenial position is most consistent with Scripture as I understandit. Maybe I'm wrong, and that's OK. I am pessimistic about success of the Church in the Church Age, because all of the other ages have ended in the failure of man and the renewed faithfulness of God. I think there will be precious few Christians left on the earth when Jesus returns with His saints. However, that doesn't mean I'm not still called to make disciples. In particular, I try to encourage all Christians to read their Bibles a lot, relatively quickly, and repeatedly, because I believe that will produce better Christians than any preacher can. I am not very outgoing to engage in evangelism, but it is something I desire to change.
Not looking for a debate here, just hoping that maybe you or others will find a different perspective useful in some small way.
I agree that eschatology drives a lot of these things, but I don't think premillennialism is anti-church discipline. Even if we're always going to be a remnant, it should be a faithful remnant and sin should be confronted.
No, not inherently. There is some form of church discipline in the Bible, so I accept the principle. We just disagree on practical matters, which is fine.
When I think of our duties and responsibilities, as they relate to government, I think about the Lord's Prayer, "Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." If we pray for this, shouldn't we be actively devoting our lives to this, to be in service to do His will on earth? To further, to expand, to bring closer to perfection this kingdom, on earth, as it is in heaven. Seems to me we have a responsibility to keep working. After all, we have a long way to go.
I agree with just about everything you said here. But, what do you mean by purify the church? Isn't that the Holy Spirit's role? Believers will be transformed by the renewing of their mind, presumably by reading Scripture, praying, and gathering with other believers to worship and pray.
How will a mature Church impact culture unless there are enough of us? Rallying the Church is one thing, but we dare not force unbelievers to go along with a Biblical Principles Party. Seventeenth-century Massachusetts and Calvin's Geneva, for example, demonstrate why that's a bad idea.
For more on this... https://jackwilkie.co/p/fix-the-world-with-one-simple-trick
https://jackwilkie.co/p/how-do-churches-enforce-their-teaching?utm_source=publication-search
https://jackwilkie.co/p/church-enforcement-revisited
The Holy Spirit purifies the "invisible church" (all who are Christians, anywhere). But God instituted authorities to purify the "visible church" (the gathered Christians in a specific place).
For years it's been lamented that so many people call themselves Christians but live nothing like Christ. By and large, that's because their church leaders aren't stepping up to tell them they aren't actually Christians. Without a return to church discipline, we'll continue to struggle to develop a united identity.
Ah, your amillennial position explains a lot regarding your worldview. I read the "teaching disciples to observe..." passage as passing on an allegiance to His commands, not enforcing a system of rules.
I, too, lament so-called Christians not acting like Christ, but I think it is more because they are not actually Christians or because they do not read the Bible to be transformed by it. The cure for the first is gospel presentation, not behavior modification. The cure for the second is self-evident. I served under a pastor who was excessively authoritarian. The best metaphor I have is that he was driving the sheep, not leading them. I believe the chief roles of a sermon during a worship service should be to 1. Worship God and 2. Whet people's appetites for Scripture.
I think the premillenial position is most consistent with Scripture as I understandit. Maybe I'm wrong, and that's OK. I am pessimistic about success of the Church in the Church Age, because all of the other ages have ended in the failure of man and the renewed faithfulness of God. I think there will be precious few Christians left on the earth when Jesus returns with His saints. However, that doesn't mean I'm not still called to make disciples. In particular, I try to encourage all Christians to read their Bibles a lot, relatively quickly, and repeatedly, because I believe that will produce better Christians than any preacher can. I am not very outgoing to engage in evangelism, but it is something I desire to change.
Not looking for a debate here, just hoping that maybe you or others will find a different perspective useful in some small way.
I agree that eschatology drives a lot of these things, but I don't think premillennialism is anti-church discipline. Even if we're always going to be a remnant, it should be a faithful remnant and sin should be confronted.
No, not inherently. There is some form of church discipline in the Bible, so I accept the principle. We just disagree on practical matters, which is fine.