The Lack Of Proper Church Discipline

# 37 – Today's Du-votional comes from 1Sa 2:24 "No, my sons! For it is not a good report that I hear. You make the LORD'S people transgress. (1 Sam 2:24) “You make the Lord's people transgress.” What a charge to levy against a religious leader! Eli's sons were engaged in illicit sexual activity with women who served in the temple. Shocking as this may seem to us, we must remember that the Israelites were surrounded by the Canaanite culture which accepted temple prostitution as a form of worship. This is still another classic example of the world having undo influence in the church. This behavior of Eli's sons gave the green light to God's people to do the same. Their blatant disregard for the Lord's will concerning sexual purity and proper worship led others down the same path of sin and destruction that they were following. Listen modern day shepherd's of God's flock. This is no small matter to lead God's people astray with words and actions that ignore sin. Jer 23:1 says, “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!" says the LORD. And in Isa 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Oh we may not engage in temple prostitution anymore, but the silence from the pulpit and the lack of proper church discipline in matters of sexual sin is deafening. Our silence and lack of corrective action is giving the green light to the Lord's people to go down the same path of destruction that Eli's sons went down. It is not enough to say, “No my sons,” Corrective action must follow! It's the reason Jesus gave us a procedure to follow for church discipline in Mt 18. it seems that many churches lack the courage to take these steps of proper church discipline. Maybe that would change if we would remember the end of Eli's sons. It wasn't very pretty, it never is for those who fail to come to repentance.