How do churches elect office-bearers? Unfortunately, in this time the only qualification the congregation is looking for is that he is an upstanding man in the community. He is powerful; he is prestigious; or he is a good business man and so he will make a good deacon. We bring the world's standards into our selection of officers. Many a congregation today is limping along spiritually because they have put unqualified, worldly men into office because of their worldly qualifications. It can also happen in church discipline. The very thing that God warns about in Leviticus 19:1–37 does happen. Some people will find themselves free from church discipline, or merely get a slap on the back of the hand when in fact they should have been suspended from the sacraments—maybe even excommunicated. But you know, they are prestigious and their family is important in this church, so we just cannot do that.
But you know, many can do the same thing in their preaching. If application needs to be made, would you recognize that this powerful, prestigious, or important family in the church will be offended. If it were another family in the church, you would not think about it twice. But it is this family or their connections, and they would be offended, so you avoid the application. Or else we do it very practically and that is: they are just the sort of people that we do not want to be around, and if they walk in our direction, we pretend we did not see them or we walk across to fellowship with someone else. They talk too much and they talk about things in which we have no interest. Or you know, they are just not like us. You do that and you know you do that…And so we are selective in our fellowship.1
Joseph A. Pipa
2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in,