Hi Tom,

This was (and still is) a very difficult situation. All parties were members of the same church. Steps one and two were taken, but there was a breakdown in the church when it came to the 3rd step. The pastor (no elders, just the one ruling pastor) refused to acknowledge the(obvious) sin(s) of this member and not only failed to carry out that step but castigated us for even approaching this individual. We were told "that's just the way this person is" and we were to overlook it as he had done for years. We were also admonished very firmly to keep it all quiet. At this point, we became the bad guys and were "rebellious" for questioning the pastor.

We did leave the church, as God was using this along with other things to show us that we had been sitting under error and hypocrisy; teaching for doctrine the commandments of man.

So there was a breakdown of the process in that particular local church. The church we are now members of were told of the situation and any attempts to have dialogue between our elders and the former pastor have been useless. So we are now carrying out step 3. It does get a little confusing when another church body becomes involved, but in that case we have to consider we are all one body.

Ironic twist to this story - WE were put under "church discipline" (their convoluted form of it) for leaving their church. The reason given by the pastor was "rebellion" because he was not giving us permission to leave. He told us it was not God's will for us to leave and he would never agree to it. They are still waiting for us to "repent" and come back to the church.

It's really incredible how some will twist and pervert God's word for their own ends.

Last edited by Jacy; Fri Apr 24, 2009 11:59 PM.