HEALTHY CHURCH: Church Discipline
In aculture that promotes every individual deciding their own truth, the concept of church discipline seems even more archaic and foreign to the average church member. It is not a popular topic and, having recently led a church through the process, it creates turbulent waters to say the least. There are at least three reasons many challenge whether a church should ever practice church discipline. They are not aware of what the Bible says about church discipline, they have never seen it practiced or they have seen it practiced incorrectly. Scriptures spell out the importance of church discipline.
In a local body of baptized believers, there are people who sometimes do things inside and outside the church that bring dishonor to God and the church, and it harms the congregation. What are you supposed to do about it? How should you deal with these situations and should you? How can God’s honor be protected through this process? (Matt. 22:37-38) How can the person being disciplined be loved and cared for in a way that this process is redemptive and helpful by showing love and patience toward the one being disciplined? (Matt. 22:39)
There are some hard verses on discipline in the Scriptures that you might want to ignore, but they are not to be overlooked. I Corinthians 5:9-13 is one of those hard passages and describes a scenario that few of us have ever actually practiced. It describes an individual who says they are a believer but refuses to submit to the authority of the Word of God and spiritual authority in their life. It tells us to not even eat (fellowship) with that individual and that the church is to “put away” the unrepentant individual from their fellowship. That is seen as cruel, ridiculous and unloving but it is actually the exact opposite.
This is a very emotionally charged topic that causes some to become outraged and others to weep brokenheartedly. Please know that in our recent process of church discipline many tears were shed.
What is the purpose of church discipline? It is always for repentance, restoration and reconciliation to occur in the life of the believer who is going astray. Church discipline is the picture of a wise parent disciplining their child, as spoken of in Prov. 13:24 and Heb. 12:6. Our heavenly Father disciplines us because He loves us, and that discipline is reserved for His children. (John 1:12)
Discipline, though painful at the moment, is for our good and is meant to restore the one straying to the path of walking in a way that is honoring to the Lord and to His church. Any attempt for restoration must be done with genuine love for the individual, as pointed out in Gal. 6:1 and James 5:20. One dynamic of a local body of believers that has been neglected and forgotten is that God works through the fellowship of believers to bring someone back from going astray. Even “excommunication” should be done with the hope of eventual repentance. (I Tim. 1:20; I Thess. 5:12; II Tim. 4:2; Titus 1:3; James 5:19-20)
Handing them over to Satan means putting them outside the fellowship of the church so that they are in the realm of the enemy. Why? To be condemned? No. To learn to not blaspheme and so they might change their behavior and come back into the body of believers in good fellowship! Remember, it must be done with genuine love and concern. This is not a witch hunt or building a legalistic, critical culture that beats everyone down more than building them up. Church discipline must be approached carefully, prayerfully and humbly. Without those elements, it will become cold, abusive and perfunctory.
Often, the most effective kind of church discipline can be started and ended with a brief private word from one person to another. Think about the personal responsibility we have to one another as shown in Matt. 5:24, Matt. 18:15, and Gal. 2:11. The core value here is that church discipline begins by talking to one another and refusing to talk about one another. It is caring enough to approach them in order to show them what God’s Word says. This is the most important step, and it is all too often ignored. A lot of people will never see nor be aware of the corrective conversations that have taken place, nor should they.
As a fellowship of individual followers of Christ, this is where it effects and impacts all of us. A body of believers is a family and families are responsible to and for one another. One tiny little word can be crucial and should not to be overlooked. It is easier, usually, to take an admonition of correction from someone you know loves you. Church discipline does not have to ever go beyond this and, hopefully, it will not. When done in a spirit of love, gentleness and humility, it will quite often be resolved and church discipline can function invisibly except for the one confronting and the one being confronted.
Maybe just a gentle nudge or one tiny word of concern and correction will cause a change of direction in their life. Maybe a raised eyebrow or a word of correction or admonishment as instructed in I Thess. 5:12, II Tim. 4:2 or Prov. 17:10 will be enough. Hopefully, this will cause them to reconsider their decision that might require them being rebuked sharply. (Titus 1:13) Slow down and pray for them first. Discern whether or not the Holy Spirit is telling you to speak to them. Make sure you approach them in the right spirit and ask yourself if you will be able to say what needs to be said in love.
Refuse to create a condemnatory and critical culture and do not try to play the Holy Spirit. This makes a church environment intolerable to be a part of, but also do not grieve nor quench the Holy Spirit. Are you the right person to confront them? Remember, the purpose is to bring about godly change in people’s lives — repentance, restoration and reconciliation! In the next article we will begin to explain the process. If you would like more resources on this, email me at larry@bmaam.com.
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Larry Barker
Director of Church Planting and Church Health Larry Barker submits a weekly column titled, Healthy Church Solutions, designed to strengthen and encourage the local church.
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