Deal With the Distractions to Discipleship

There is amazing brevity & clarity given the challenges in Crete! MAP Complex issues yet no long book is written - no second book is written (like Timothy). Final comments are aimed at RELATIONSHIPS — The challenges & The celebrationsThe damage of division is the distraction to discipleship! The Great Commission is the evangelistic pillar of the church. Division distracts from TRUTH from GRACE from LOVE as well! Remember that Timothy and Titus are more than Leadership Books (Pastoral Epistles). They are getting back to discipleship books, too! This is why the deceiver sows the discord of division. • Jesus - John 7:34; 9:16; 10:19 • Matthew 7:1-5 (see the sin in others) - legalism; lacking truth or lacking grace• What division is and what division isn’t - Disagreeing is not division - Philippians 4:1-3 • A Corinthian Concern (not just a problem in Crete) - I Cor. 1:10-18; 3:1-9; 11:17-22; Romans 16:17-20; II Thess 3:14-15; II Timothy 2:24-26; III John 9-10; Jude 17-19 I. REMIND / REMEMBER (II Tim. 2:1-9) II. REJECT (3 Steps) 1. Warn them -2 . Warn them again - 3. Remove them - I Cor. 5 III. RESTORE Matthew 18:15-17; Acts 6; II• FALSE TEACHERS -• FACTIOUS PEOPLE - • FELLOW SERVANTS - • FAITHFUL FRIENDS -• 12-15 — Paul’s common practice was to mention his faithful team • “We must have the heart of a child and the hide of a rhino” - Wise as serpents but gentle as doves!