Some Thoughts About Church Discipline

In western culture, one of the aspects of Christianity that has been eroded is the concept of God’s holiness. Many things have contributed to this unfortunate phenomenon: 1) a reluctance of the church to deal with the issue of sin in its members; 2) a misunderstanding of what it means to judge others; 3) an emphasis on God’s love at the expense of His justice; and 4) the reluctance of many high profile ministers to preach about sin so as not to alienate their congregants.

Let us consider what Jesus said about the issue in Matthew 18:15-20:

¹⁵"If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. ¹⁶"But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. ¹⁷"If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. ¹⁸"Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. ¹⁹"Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. ²⁰"For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst."

Based on Jesus’ words, we can make a number of observations:

1) Church Discipline is Biblical

Since all Scripture is inspired (2 Tim. 3:16), we must accept Matthew 18:15-20 as readily as we accept John 3:16.

2) Church Discipline Begins in Private

If a church member stumbles privately, the issue should not be announced to the whole church. Sometimes, “prayer requests” are actually just a way for people to gossip about others. The fewer people that know about a non-public issue, the better. This makes the restoration process easier to obtain.

3) Church Discipline Sometimes Must be Made Public

If a church member has done something publically, or persists in a sinful lifestyle, we must deal with the issue publically. The church is to be salt and light, and if someone negatively affects the way that the body is perceived in the community, we must take a stand publically.

4) Church Discipline Should Not be Hypocritical

We have no business telling others about their sin if we ourselves are in sin. We must be walking with the Lord before we can help others to walk with the Lord.

³"Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴"Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' and behold, the log is in your own eye? ⁵"You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. (Matthew 7:3-5)

5) Church Discipline Should be Done with Humility

Without Christ, we are sinners. Even as believers, any one of us can fall to any temptation: Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. (1 Corinthians 10:12). Church discipline is not believers judging others, but telling them what God says about a topic.

6) Church Discipline is Love

David Roach put it well when he noted that a church member that persists in sin may not actually be a believer. He said: “Sin always hurts. If we love people, we seek to deliver them from sin. And the cruelest thing we could do is leave them in sin. Most people have an aversion to church discipline because they feel like it really hurts people’s feelings. It’s not their feelings I care about, it’s their souls. Obviously, I want to do it as sensitively as possible, but I’ve got to think about their eternal souls more than I care about their feelings. It’s certainly worth the risk of hurting someone’s feelings or even alienating their family if it’s going to deliver their soul from Hell.” David Roach. “Gambling, Embezzling, and Church Discipline.” Baptist Press, March 26, 2007.

7) Church Discipline Does Not Have to End Badly

Last week, a member of the church that I pastor had a spiritual problem. I confronted him privately about this issue, and he said, “Thank you for helping me up when I fell down. I’ll be here to help you when you fall down so that we can serve Christ together. Brothers helps brothers.” That’s what church discipline is all about!