Committed '26 — Discussion Guide
Polity
- The sermon opens by admitting church government sounds "dry and boring" but argues it's actually about discipleship — "ordering our collective lives together... to hold one another accountable." Before this series, did church polity feel like an administrative topic to you or a discipleship one? Has that changed?
- The sermon argues that when a church goes off the rails doctrinally or otherwise, "the blame falls on congregations for tolerating it" — not just leadership. Where do you think it's easiest for members, including you, to quietly disengage from that responsibility?
- Jesus lays out a specific process in Matthew 18:15-20: go alone first, then bring witnesses, then bring it to the church. Why do you think he insists on starting privately, one-on-one, instead of going straight to a group or to the elders?
- The sermon says a sin has to be real, outward, significant, and unrepentant before it becomes a matter for formal church discipline — not just gossip, suspicion, or immaturity. Does that framework make church discipline feel more or less intimidating to you, and why?
- Both the opening text (Galatians 6:1-2) and the sermon's close emphasize that the goal is restoration, not shame — "we don't press the steel deeper into its flesh." Is there someone in your life right now who's caught in something and needs someone to gently go after them? What's stopping you from being that person?
