Tag Archives: Orthodox Presbyterian Church

What About Matthew 18?

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This article, which appeared originally on the Presbyterian Advocacy Coalition site, is reproduced here with permission. A PDF copy can be downloaded here.

What About Matthew 18?1

The Use and Misuse of Jesus’ Command

Jesus, in Matthew 18:15–17, gives you instructions on how to handle serious conflict with a fellow believer. If your brother sins against you, go to him and show him his fault. The goal is to win your brother over. Should that fail, take two or three witnesses. If that fails, take it to the church. (In the Orthodox Presbyterian Church [OPC], in which I serve as a pastor, we have a formal judicial process outlined in the Book of Discipline to help carry that out properly.)

Not every perceived offense ought to trigger the process of Matthew 18. Many offenses can simply be forgiven and passed over in grace. Remember that Jesus did say something about removing the plank from your own eye before searching for the speck in someone else’s. But something that is serious between brothers and sisters, something that interferes with fellowship, something that really needs correcting, can and should prompt us to go to the other party.

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Lessons on Racism?

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Guest author of this blog is Glenn Jerrell, retired OPC pastor. Recently he posted on The Aquila Report a response to  Bennie Castle’s “Lessons Learned? Allegations at the OPC General Assembly” posted on the Aquila Report, June 20, 2022. He has since revised his response and expanded it with a new third point. See here and here for the articles dealing with reports of racist behavior at the General Assembly.

The rapid response of the 88th General Assembly of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, under the guiding hand of the moderator and others, was exactly what was needed regarding incidents of reported racial disparagement. Mr. Castle makes a salient point, which should not be lost, that we live in a negative culture.

  1. A negative world is nothing new. Ask the Suffering Servant about a negative culture. From our first parents Adam and Eve through Christ to the apostolic witness, sin is exposed in every generation and that is why the Word makes clear from beginning to end that a Savior from sin is absolutely necessary. Racial disparagement is a destructive and negative manifestation of sin.
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Ministerial Voices

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Several years ago the presbytery of which I am a member was so seriously affected by divisions that the General Assembly appointed a committee to visit and seek to assist us. While there was a theological issue that was the focal point of much contention, the Committee to Visit the Presbytery of the Northwest reported to the General Assembly its view of underlying problems which had resulted in two congregations withdrawing from the OPC with their pastors and a third minister renouncing the jurisdiction of the OPC. The Committee spoke of “divisive speech and attitudes” in the presbytery. It reflected on “the mistaken notion that the PNW merely suffers from a theological dispute leads to an unhelpful tendency to inadequately address and acknowledge the more significant causes of division…. On the personal level, brothers within the presbytery have failed at crucial times to deal openly and honestly with one another about various personal grievances.” (quotes from the Minutes of the Eighty-third General Assembly, p. 326).

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