Sullivan church of Christ – Sullivan, MO
Date: April 30, 2006
UNAMINOUIS DECISIONS
Ben Justice
Throughout my preaching career, I have had the pleasure and sometimes
unpleasant experience of participating in men’s meetings and elders’ meetings.
Certainly, there is great pleasure in being able to discuss the work of the church
and to implement plans to bring about such work. However, it is a sad state of
affairs when there is backbiting and bickering going on in the meetings. The
devil certainly takes great delight in such.
It is often the case that in these meetings there will be disagreements over how
to carry out a work or project. Everyone understands that no people are the
same and therefore differences of opinions will arise. When such occurs, some
may vote for a particular work or how to carry out the work and some will not.
However, when the majority votes for or against something, then everyone
should back it, no matter who voted for or against it. Paul, in writing to the
Corinthians, declared, “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but
that ye perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (I Cor. 1:
10). The word “judgment” means “opinion.” Thayer defines the original word as
“view, judgment, opinion” and then he cites I Cor. 1:10. Does this mean that
everyone is to have the same opinion? Obviously not, for this would contradict
Rom. 14, wherein Paul discussed matters of opinion among brethren. The point
of I Cor. 1:10 is that God’s will for brethren to stay together, even in matters of
opinion. In other words, there is no need for a person to rupture fellowship and
divide the church just because they didn’t get their way. It is a sad state of
affairs when a brother will storm out the church like a spoiled child because the
men didn’t choose the color they wanted to paint the walls. This is not to say
that all opinions are equal in weight. There are some very bad opinions and we
should seek to avoid bad opinions.
There is one other area that needs addressing and that is making decisions, not
dealing with matters of judgment and opinion, but matters of faith and doctrine.
May we never forget that God’s word has already settled the matter when it
comes to matters of faith and doctrine (2 John 9-11). Sometimes, it has to be
decided by the men or elders to stop funding a particular work because of
compromise. This is the time when there should always be a unanimous
decision. No one has the right to vote in such a way that compromises the
doctrine of Christ (2 John 9-11; Rom. 16:17).
No matter what decisions are made, either in matters of opinion or in matters of
doctrine, the Bible is always and forever our guide, and may we always be ruled
by a “thus saith the Lord” in all that we decide upon.
WHY IS “FORNICATION” THE ONE EXCEPTION?
Ben Justice
Jesus declared in Matt. 19:9, “And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his
wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and
whoso marrieth her which is put away commit adultery.” The basic teaching of
Jesus is very simple: A man and woman are joined together by God for life (v. 6).
The marriage bond can only be broken by the authority of God. The authority of
God states that only when there has been “fornication” can there be the
severance of the marriage bond. If one puts away (divorces) his spouse for any
other reason other than fornication, then he/she keeps on committing
adultery. But, we might ask ourselves this question: “Why is ‘fornication’ the
one exception?” In the sight of men, drunkenness, violence, unhappiness, etc.,
would be sufficient and legitimate grounds for divorce, but in the eyes of God
only “fornication” is grounds for a scriptural divorce on the part of the innocent
spouse. What is it about the sin of “fornication” that God would make this the
sole exception for a divorce and subsequent remarriage by the innocent party? It
is the sin of “fornication” that strikes at the very heart and foundation of the
marriage bond. One brother wrote an excellent article entitled, “Why Is
Fornication The Exception?” He noted four reasons: (1) Fornication is a violation
of the one-flesh covenant of marriage. (2) Fornication also destroys the
uniqueness of the sexual relationship in marriage. (3) Fornication also removes
respect from the marriage. (4) Fornication is particularly vile in that it defeats a
divine purpose of marriage. Paul states in I Cor. 7:2, “Nevertheless, to avoid
fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own
husband.” This same brother also wrote, “Fornication affects the marriage
relationship in a way that no other violation of the marital covenant does. It so
completely contradicts the very nature of marriage that God allows divorce and
remarriage for this reason. In a soap-opera society where adultery is glamorized,
Bible teaching on this subject should be the incentive to esteem the institution
of marriage with the dignity and honor it deserves” (Kerry Duke, “Why Is
Fornication The Exception,” Fulton County Gospel News, Aug., 1990).