1 Corinthians 11:31But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. 32But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world.…
My critics first response, when I am administering discipline, is who disciplines me? The obvious answer is myself. I am my own biggest critic, constantly seeking improvement and deeper spiritual depth. The next obvious answer is God. He disciplines the son He loves. Well He must really love me. He's broken my ribs, taken my job, fluctuated my income, He really knows how to bring it. He also knows how to make my path smooth as silk when I'm pleasing Him.
Hebrews 12:6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son."
But at the end of the day, in this club, the buck stops with me. When a bro has a history of inappropriate actions that gets brought to me to deal with, I'm the guy that gets to deal with it. And that's OK, I've been doing it for years in the corporate, MC and church world.
And I've noticed that the guys who have the most stuff to say are the ones to whom the most discipline has had to be applied.
But imagine if you will, what an organization like this would be if no one had the guts to sit in the final chair, and decide among brothers when the complaints get brought up? Imagine is no one had the authority to bring discipline? And if everything I do doesn't make sense to you, just remember, there are facts that you may not have that went into that decision, no matter how much you feel you know about the situation. And there was hours of prayer, there was decades of God and men of God who poured training into me to prepare me to sit in the hot seat of leadership.
Now I'm not perfect, of course Im not. If you have the privilege of holding a microscope over my life for years, bless me, you are going to have lots to point the hot finger of indignant judgement at. Oh laws yes. And if every pastor had to be perfect to preach the Word, no preaching would happen. And so the Lord carries right on disciplining us.
And the best thing to do when things seem tough is to assess, is this an attack of the enemy, or a spanking from Daddy? Not all bad circumstances are actually bad in the long run.
So lets be open and honest with God, others and ourselves. Let's respect authority, and leadership. Let's keep right on being judgemental and indignant. Not toward everyone else as the "church" would have us do, but to ourselves.
James Disciple Johnson
Natl President and Founder
Disciple Christian Motorcycle Club
