6/24/24 by Larry Barker
In a culture that promotes every individual deciding their 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? (Matthew 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 towards the one being disciplined? (Matthew 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 the exact opposite.
This is a very emotionally charged topic that causes some to become outraged and others to weep brokenhearted. 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 Proverbs 13:24 and Hebrews 12:6. Our heavenly Father disciplines us because He loves us. 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 Galatians 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. (1 Tim. 1:20; 1 Thess. 5:12; 2 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 Matthew 5:24, Matthew 18:15, and Galatians 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 to show them what God’s word says. This is the most important step and 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 affects 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 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 quite often it will 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 Thessalonians 5:12, II Timothy 4:2, or Proverbs 17:10. Hopefully this will cause them to reconsider their decision that might require them to be 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 that 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 not try to play the Holy Spirit. This makes a church environment intolerable to be a part of but also does 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, and if you would like more resources on this email me at larry@bmaam.com.