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Good point, Tom. I think this would go a long way toward proving the sincerity of those who advocate closed communion.Originally posted by Tom Butler:
To exclude other non-members, like my sainted mother, but allow those 100 to partake (before they were removed), would make a farce the concept of closed communion. A congregation cannot practice closed communion and not exercise church discipline.
In my view, yes. A local church ordinance, that is. That's why I hold that the local congregation is the guardian of the ordinances, and has the authority to decide who will participate. Although, members are to examine themselves, in order not to take it in an unworthy manner, the ultimate authority rests with the local church, not with the individual.doesn't Scripture tell us it is a church ordinance?
I also don't think church discipline should be practiced separately from other ecclesiological practices. Instead of deciding to do it on the back end, let's also do it on the front end. Let's quit getting people down the aisle, all in favor say aye, and rush them up to the baptistry. New professing converts should be discipled, taught the basic obligations of membership, and observed for a while. While on a mission trip in Romania, a pastor told me a new convert must wait for two years before being granted full membership privileges. "We don't play church over here," he said. That's why his church of 150 members had 300 in its worship services.To argue for closed communion without church discipline is kind of self defeating.
I think two years is two long as well. They did baptize the new convert within a few weeks, but gave him no voting privileges or any responsibilities for two years. I'll explain why they did it this way in Romania shortly. But if two years is two long, what is a good length of time? I'd like to hear how other churches handle it. Now, to Romania. During 40 years of communism, Evangelical Christians were low profile, but not completely underground. Dr. Joseph Tsan, the great Romanian Baptist leader, told me during a visit to my church in Kentucky that when someone would want to confess Christ as Lord, they tried to talk him out of it! Yes, you heard right. He explained to the convert that a public confession of faith could get him killed, beaten up, jailed, lose his job, lose his family. Now, said Dr. Tsan to the convert, do you still want to do this. He wanted the new Christian to count the cost. If he said yes after hearing the worst-case scenario, Dr. Tsan figured that the confession was real.But I can't agree with any such concepts as a person must wait two years, or graduate from new convert classes, etc., before they can join the church. THE reason for not baptizing a person is that we don't think he or she is converted.